Metal Building Spray Foam??

LBZ_Duramax

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2011
Location
Benson, NC
Does anyone on here in the spray foam (or insulation in general) business? Getting ready to start my building and researching my options. Building is 40x50 metal tube style building. Putting insulated panel style garage doors and plan to be able to heat/cool it via mini split(s).
 
Does anyone on here in the spray foam (or insulation in general) business? Getting ready to start my building and researching my options. Building is 40x50 metal tube style building. Putting insulated panel style garage doors and plan to be able to heat/cool it via mini split(s).
Good luck. I got a quote for 2" closed cell *roof and walls) from the folks that did my house and it was $12,000.
 
really happy with how mine turned out. shop is 28x40 and the frame is 6" wide (2x3" beams)

A picture of the foam being glued to the wall to hold the radiant foil away from the metal (to create a air gap/dead air space) have not had any issues. have radiant heat for the floors and use the mini split in the summer to keep it comfortable.
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Attic/radiant foil layer next
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followed by some foam board insulation to hold the foil in place. then some 3.5" pink stuff and topped with 21/32 flooring
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after paint.
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Does anyone on here in the spray foam (or insulation in general) business? Getting ready to start my building and researching my options. Building is 40x50 metal tube style building. Putting insulated panel style garage doors and plan to be able to heat/cool it via mini split(s).
Check with your building manufacturer… many of the tube style are designed zero additional load bearing. I’ve heard horror stories from sprayer of a tube style building collapsing while being sprayed
 
Check with your building manufacturer… many of the tube style are designed zero additional load bearing. I’ve heard horror stories from sprayer of a tube style building collapsing while being sprayed
Really? Seems hard for me to imagine that an inch or three of spray foam weighs more than a gullywasher rain. Stuff’s gotta be like a few ounces per square foot, and when cured probably ADDS strength.
 
Check with your building manufacturer… many of the tube style are designed zero additional load bearing. I’ve heard horror stories from sprayer of a tube style building collapsing while being sprayed
This is a tube style but more of a commercial application because it’s 40’ wide. So it has to be engineered from the manufacturer. I’m headed to meet with the sales rep now so I will verify
 
Well there has to be a spec for things like snow load so I'm sure there's parameters for what it can take and how to bolster that with more reinforcement
 
many of the tube style are designed zero additional load bearing.
This is most steel buildings.... Including red iron butler/morton style buildings. It's why they fall down every time it snows. The margins on them are shit, and people shop by price. So if you didn't tell them you wanted 10psf for mechanical and electrical and 5psf for insulation, you didn't get it.
 
Really? Seems hard for me to imagine that an inch or three of spray foam weighs more than a gullywasher rain. Stuff’s gotta be like a few ounces per square foot, and when cured probably ADDS strength.
Gotta support the foam and the gully washer rainstorm at the same time, while the wind is blowing. You're usually designing for snow and wind around here (instead of seismic). Rain doesn't add much load unless it's ponding.
 
There are some wall pannels with insulation as a system I’d have that quoted for comparison.


Since the foam is bonded to the panel they would not need as much corrugation so there should be less metal on them

 
So... Why do y'all want to coat the insides of your buildings with polyurethane?
 
So... Why do y'all want to coat the insides of your buildings with polyurethane?
My neighbor at our shop built a 48x60 red iron commercial grade building. Not a backyard shop, he’s probably got 200k in the building.

It includes a wood shop that’s 35x30. He spray foamed the whole thing. I don’t know the details of what he used. I know a small 120v mini split through wall - even on 100 degree days this summer …would keep that wood shop chilly.

That’s all i got for a pro
 
My neighbor at our shop built a 48x60 red iron commercial grade building. Not a backyard shop, he’s probably got 200k in the building.

It includes a wood shop that’s 35x30. He spray foamed the whole thing. I don’t know the details of what he used. I know a small 120v mini split through wall - even on 100 degree days this summer …would keep that wood shop chilly.

That’s all i got for a pro
R value is R value. It's agnostic what the insulating material is. Steel building has super low permeance and air infiltration, so closed cell poly isn't bringing anything to the table there. It is, however, expensive per R, super combustible, and requires a decent installer to make sure the mix stays right, it adheres like it should, and to make sure the intumescent is properly applied. Just saying ... There are lots of options out there, each has pros and cons, and I'd be careful about just jumping on the closed cell bandwagon.
 
So... Why do y'all want to coat the insides of your buildings with polyurethane?
Because I could just have someone spray it up there without having to stud it out. Also because of how poorly trimmed out my building was, it wasn’t built very tight, and the spray foam solved that. My regular shop power bill was about $40-50 pre mini split and spray foam, and the July power bill this year with the mini split keeping it at 72 degrees was only $60. There’s an immeasurable value to it also, because those who have spray foamed structures are willing to pay for more of them because of how well it works in actual practice, regardless of the list of cons.
 
I have read horror stories about wood rot with it.
 
I have read horror stories about wood rot with it.
I would agree and I’d be very skeptical about using it on wood surfaces for that reason. But a metal building /all metal structure seems ideal application wise - to me.

As a sparky I hate the shit - but as an owner it seems incredibly effective .

I’m really not sure what the downsides are. Shawn always is quick to discourage it I’m just not sure why and I’d love to learn.
 
Me and @jeepinmatt roof decks are going to rot off because we both used open cell on the undersides.

Its really only a thing in colder climates when you have excess humidity in the conditioned space. The moisture travels through the open cell and roof deck only to get captured under the roof membrane and thus rotting the deck. Proper humidity control by and large solves this though.
 
R value is R value. It's agnostic what the insulating material is. Steel building has super low permeance and air infiltration, so closed cell poly isn't bringing anything to the table there. It is, however, expensive per R, super combustible, and requires a decent installer to make sure the mix stays right, it adheres like it should, and to make sure the intumescent is properly applied. Just saying ... There are lots of options out there, each has pros and cons, and I'd be careful about just jumping on the closed cell bandwagon.
Through my research spray foam seems to be the best option for a metal building. Granted im not real familiar with the vapor barrier stuff but I know metal buildings are prone to condensation and I’m not sure how you would use any other insulation without completely studding out the walls. I know some use the foam board but it’s not cheap and pretty labor intensive. My idea was to have the building sprayed and then put plywood on the walls and spray the ceiling with the appropriate fire retardant paint.
 
Anybody ever researched some old chicken house foam boards? Usually pretty darn cheap on the FBMP when the messiCANS are tearing down old chicken or turkey houses… just not sure about the smell??
 
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