Questions on insulating and heating a pole building

[taylor6400]

i built a 32x40 2 years ago. Used the blanket insulation. not the greatest...but i filled up the atic area with cellulose. Doesnt take much to heat it. make sure you have your gaps filled and youl be ok with whatever you choose on the walls. But load her up up top. Also, i used white steel on the ceiling and love it. Its bright and i ran perp to the 4 ft OC trusses and dont have to brace it for insulation. No worries about sag.

 

[s13rymos]

Thats what i was thinking.. Make sure the gaps are filled and i should be alright.. Thanks guys for contributing to this post.. lots of great ideas in here!

 

[Streblerm]

I have a 24X36 pole building with 12" ceilings. Here's what I did/plan to do:

The outside is steel over tyvek, over osb. On the inside I put 2X6 studs horizontally tied to the purlins. I have one inch foam in the bays created by the horizontal studs. I also went down 3' with the foam to insulate the slab.
I have R-13 fiberglass batts in the bays also covered with a vapor barrier on the inside, then another layer of steel siding on the inside. Steel for the ceiling too.

Eventually I'll get around to blowing fiberglass insulation in the ceiling...but the way it is, I never got below 25 degrees even when it gets into the low single digits for a fair amount of time.

two kerosene wick heaters will keep it in the 60's and I have three garage doors that I still haven't gotten around to putting the seals on yet.

I believe insulating the slab and ceiling will probably give you the most return on investment.

For heat I have a 60K btu radiant tube heater hanging from the ceiling. I was going to do radiant floor heat, but the initial expense coupled with infrequent use made me decide to go with what I have. Some sort of radiant heat is the way to go. When I go out there and turn it on, I immediately feel warm. Once the slab warms up, it doesn't take much to keep it warm.

 

[MotorSeven]

Sorry a little off topic. How do you like your steel quonset? Were did you get yours from? And how much did it run you?

I've looked at steelmaster and there large buildings realy are not that cost efective over stick built pole buildings. And the fact that I could not easily figure out an easy way to insulate I looked elsewere.

Now again the sprayed foam is intreging. If it sticks to the steal and seals all the seams and does not detiriourate over time and start falling off. This is making steal quonsit type buildings a viable option again. I'll have to continue some research on this.

I did the quonset route with LQ. I also had the foam sprayed on the LQ walls...it is outstanding and well worth the money. We heat the 500 sq ft of LQ with a 1500 watt cube heater & had the small window unit on only in the evenings for a couple of hrs each day during the summer.

Here is the build thread:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/97429-truth-about-arched-steel-buildings.html

RD

 

[nrouwhorst]

Second layer of batt insulation

Excellent! I will be building a 40x60/80, have not made up my mind yet, next summer. It will be split into living quarters and a shop/storage area for my party rental biz. And finding information on how people have acomplished this in the past is slim to none. That is the best information I've seen on insulating, thanks!

I will have a boiler and radiant heat trough out. If I put 2" of spray in foam on the walls. Would you recomend a second layer of bat in the outside walls for living quarters?

The shop I'm not worried about. There the readiant heat and light foam on the walls should keep it comfortable.

2" of closed cell spray foam is all you'll need for the outside walls. However, for the walls that divide the living quarters from the pole barn itself an R-13 batt will be sufficient. Especially if your going to have different zones for different parts of your building.

 

[STANG302]

I did the quonset route with LQ. I also had the foam sprayed on the LQ walls...it is outstanding and well worth the money. We heat the 500 sq ft of LQ with a 1500 watt cube heater & had the small window unit on only in the evenings for a couple of hrs each day during the summer..

Thanks, that is exactly what I want to do, loft and all. Though I am looking for something with a bit bigger living space.

How did you seal your stick built ends to the steal? Spray insulation only?
How is the insulation holding up? Any problems with it seporating from the steel?

 

[Racerboy832]

I am always interested in spray foam. Is there any approx price per square foot it cost? I would want closed cell.

 

[STANG302]

Just got a qoute on a building from steel master. On a two buildings 30x50 $15,000, 40x60 $30,000. Seems a little steep to me and these were clearance prices. I can get stick build for less.

 

[s13rymos]

The quote for my pole building is $16,500 thats a 30x40 14' walls 12x12 door includes concrete floor and site prep..

 

[trialanderror]

I did the quonset route with LQ. I also had the foam sprayed on the LQ walls...it is outstanding and well worth the money. We heat the 500 sq ft of LQ with a 1500 watt cube heater & had the small window unit on only in the evenings for a couple of hrs each day during the summer.

Here is the build thread:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/97429-truth-about-arched-steel-buildings.html

RD

Fun wasn't it? to take it down at the site I made some scaffolding to drop in the stakes of a dump box on our 1 ton. ended up with a mobile 12'x8' platform. I didn't like the wiggly ones like in your pics. After we got it home and went to put it back up, assembled each 'ring' and then lifted into place with a 3 yard loader, we used a 22ft long truck frame, mounted to the bucket to get the lift height needed, naturally needed a bigger machine (trojan 300). I'll get a pic of mine when im' back at my parents. Each panel of ours was easily over 150#, they're 2 1/2' by 9', and there's 9 1/2 panels per 'ring'....

 

[MotorSeven]

Thanks, that is exactly what I want to do, loft and all. Though I am looking for something with a bit bigger living space.

How did you seal your stick built ends to the steal? Spray insulation only?
How is the insulation holding up? Any problems with it seporating from the steel?

I did 6" walls inside and out of the LQ, they are bolted to the slab & strapped to the quonset. I sealed any gaps with the canned foam.
The installer had a little trouble getting the foam to stick because the quonsets have a ight coating of oil on them when shipped to prevent rust. So I would suggest a quick pressure wash before foam. The insulation is perfect. It was seafoam green, so I sprayed white latex on it.
For a better loft, I would go another foot or two higher....I'm 6'4 and can't stand "upstairs" unless I am in the center. Or, put the building on a knee wall.

30x50....$15,000??? NO WAY!.
I paid $7,900 thru US Building. Stick to your guns and tell them how much you will pay.....they have a lot of room to move on these. Their(all of the quonset mfg's) sales tactics are right out of the "Looser used car salesman in a plaid suit" book. They play games like a bunch of morons. Consider a much larger one and splitting it with someone else....like a 50x100. Ebay actually has really good prices.

RD

 

[nrouwhorst]

Price per square foot

I am always interested in spray foam. Is there any approx price per square foot it cost? I would want closed cell.

Its about $1.90 per square foot for 2 inches and $2.70 per square foot for 3 inches.