i have a metal building that was already built when i bought it without insulation . whats the cheapest way to insulate it ? i was thinking of some type of spray on would be the easiest way ? is their anyway of me doing it myself ? thanks
Might I suggest a trip over too the Hamb's sister site. www.garagejournal.com were there are lots of discussions on it.
I have a same situation with my shop. It is a steel building that was put up and not insulated by the previous owner. What I ended up doing was my shop has 2x4s that run horizontal every 2 ft that the ouside metal screws to. I bought 2 ft wide plastic covered insulation and hung it horizontally. My side walls are 14 ft so I put metal siding on the inside 8ft high to protect the insulation. Works good and cost way less than having it sprayed.
My guess is the spray foam might be the easiest cheapest, fastest, but I think it probably is a bit specialized with equipment and supplies. Probably better off to just have a company come in and knock it out in a day. I would bet they can do it cheaper than you too. Of course, the old fashion way is to get that covered plastic blankets and tack those in. Those always seem to age badly though. Neither solution probably looks all that great. Like going from the insides of a cool, but uncomfortable tin can to a nice cozy plastic igloo cooler. The cooler would save a ton of cash in heating/cooling too obviously.
Irondoctor beat me to it and seems like he has a good approach. I like the 8ft metal sheets on the inside. Extra expense, but I think a great idea. I am **** and like to waste money and time, so I would of course cover the whole inside so it looks like all metal again.
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My dad and I have spray-in insulation in our metal building. It seems to work well and it also takes a lot of the creaks and noises out of the building, and makes rain a lot quieter. They came in and sprayed the insulation and painted it all in an afternoon. Then we covered the walls with plywood so we have a surface for mounting shelves and whatnot.
I've got a pole barn for a shop, and I decided on using the spray insulation. By the time you buy the lumber, insulation and sheetrock, for all that area, it's actually cheaper to have it sprayed! Not that spraying is cheap, either...about 8-10,000 for my 40 x 60. That included doing the roof and garage doors. The guy's set-up looked pretty expensive....55 gallon drums, heaters, and a powerful pump. Don't know if it's a job for a DIYer, can you rent the equipt.? I also figured it would take me forever to do it all, esp. the roof. And doing it myself would have been near impossible.
Spray insulation is the way to go. call your local insulation contractor or supplier and inquire about ICONENE We use this stuff in all types of applications, and has an added benefit of keeping out drafts as well as rodents. .
We used fibergl*** insulation at the Strange Days shop. I really dont trust the spray insulation. It off g***es, and I question its R value. On the plus side it is a seamless type, and if you are not a careful fibergl*** batt installer, the small gaps can really add up. I live in Montana, and it can get pretty frickin cold. The shop is over 2000 sq ft with 16 ft ceilings and it osts less than 150.00/month for heat in the winter
I have a 30x60 pole building. I am going to stud up the walls this winter and in the spring when it warms up and am going to spay the foam insulation. It is now too cold to do it. I will be doing the roof and walls. I will then use 3.5" fibergl*** batting for the rest of the space in the walls and then cover that with OSB. I was quoted $10k to spray it through a local company. I figured out doing it myself it will be 1/2 that and I can do it as I have the time and money rather than all at once. If I remember I will look up the place i am getting the foam from and post the link. I also have a large garage that I will be using it in as well.
With my pole barn, I think I have 4 x 4's for the main supports. The spray foam just about filled the spaces between the 4x4's, no room left for any other insulation, so you might not need the fibergl***. Oh, yeah....and the spray foam guy recommended to me to paint over the raw foam with that rubberized white paint, they use it for painting roofs of buses, mobile homes, etc. He siad it would be a good barrier to keep the foam from deteriorating, or just plain getting messed up, from welding, grinding sparks and such. I rented an airless sprayer, and did what he said. helped brighten up the shop with the white color, too.
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