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James Mills Posted: Jan 07, 2014 04:44 PM	Is spray foam suitable for a typical pole barn shop? In northern Idaho, just east of Coeur d'Alene, I had a pole barn put up without insulation figuring I would build 2x6 walls between the posts and insulate with batts and then plywood the walls later for a work shop. Can spray foam be used instead? Could I frame 2x4 walls instead of 2x6? Can it be sprayed onto the metal siding and roof without any negative effects showing up later? I will have a heater in there, but probably not on full time.
Anthony Scarpelli Posted: Jan 11, 2014 05:41 PM	Open cell foam is great for pole barns (when you do not have a tight space requirement) like in a roof/attic where you can put 5.5" or more inches of foam. In walls which you wish to keep 3.5" thick you can get ? R14 wall with Open cell but if you want +R22/25 you have to use a closed cell foam. Closed Cell gets higher R value per inch of space. Up to 7.5 r value per inch.
SprayFoamSupply.com Posted: Jan 11, 2014 07:30 PM	Closed cell foam is great for your application. I have a 50' x 100' steel building with a 40' x 68' addition that is insulated with closed cell foam sprayed right to the steel siding and decking. I heat the entire building with an 84,000 btu high efficiency boiler. I would stay away from open cell foam. In your cold climate in the winter, vapor drive could push water vapor through the open cell foam and lead to condensation where the foam meets the metal siding. George
James Mills Posted: Jan 12, 2014 07:34 PM	Thanks George. I am pretty confident that closed cell is the best choice. My concern was whether heating periodically in the winter, most likely not full time heat, but I'm not living there yet, so who knows. And then would the hot summer sun affect the spray foam adhesion between that and the changing seasons??
Posted: Jan 13, 2014 10:40 AM	You should be just fine during the changing seasons as long as the application is done properly. Once a good adhesion is made you should be set. Just make sure the metal is clean, dry and warm. Good luck with the application!
Posted: Feb 02, 2017 08:52 AM	Yes you can use this for your barn shop.I have also used it for Storage Sheds and it doesn't affect adhesion between the changing seasons.
mark moyer Posted: Apr 15, 2017 12:31 PM	"I would stay away from open cell foam. In your cold climate in the winter, vapor drive could push water vapor through the open cell foam and lead to condensation where the foam meets the metal siding." if the interior humiditys are so high that there is that type of vapor drive you have bigger problems than insulation. build tight, ventilate right. open cell foam is air impermiable at 2.5", closed cell 1" >95% of moisture is carried by air movement. the remainder is via diffusion. the beauty of a properly applied spray foam system is that it is "glued" do the substrate. the air space needed for condensation to lay out on is not at the foam to sheating interface. why you dont apply to tyvek behind the sheating, the tyvek to sheating air space will be the condensing plane. open cell or closed cell foam tis the same. in a lined building open cell is a cost effective way to insulate a pole barn. 5-7" is easily obtained, sometimes more. i can deliver that r25 open cell for less $ than the same R25 of closed cell some of these buildings are large, pennies make the dollars, and get the job. and shall we consider thermal bridging? envelope as much of the frameing members in insulation material. to paraphrase: a properly installed open cell foam system will work just fine

Author

Comments

James Mills

Posted: Jan 07, 2014 04:44 PM

Is spray foam suitable for a typical pole barn shop?

In northern Idaho, just east of Coeur d'Alene, I had a pole barn put up without insulation figuring I would build 2x6 walls between the posts and insulate with batts and then plywood the walls later for a work shop.
Can spray foam be used instead?
Could I frame 2x4 walls instead of 2x6?
Can it be sprayed onto the metal siding and roof without any negative effects showing up later?
I will have a heater in there, but probably not on full time.

Anthony Scarpelli

Posted: Jan 11, 2014 05:41 PM

Open cell foam is great for pole barns (when you do not have a tight space requirement) like in a roof/attic where you can put 5.5" or more inches of foam.

In walls which you wish to keep 3.5" thick you can get ? R14 wall with Open cell but if you want +R22/25 you have to use a closed cell foam. Closed Cell gets higher R value per inch of space. Up to 7.5 r value per inch.

SprayFoamSupply.com

Posted: Jan 11, 2014 07:30 PM

Closed cell foam is great for your application. I have a 50' x 100' steel building with a 40' x 68' addition that is insulated with closed cell foam sprayed right to the steel siding and decking. I heat the entire building with an 84,000 btu high efficiency boiler. I would stay away from open cell foam. In your cold climate in the winter, vapor drive could push water vapor through the open cell foam and lead to condensation where the foam meets the metal siding.

George

James Mills

Posted: Jan 12, 2014 07:34 PM

Thanks George. I am pretty confident that closed cell is the best choice. My concern was whether heating periodically in the winter, most likely not full time heat, but I'm not living there yet, so who knows. And then would the hot summer sun affect the spray foam adhesion between that and the changing seasons??

Posted: Jan 13, 2014 10:40 AM

You should be just fine during the changing seasons as long as the application is done properly. Once a good adhesion is made you should be set. Just make sure the metal is clean, dry and warm. Good luck with the application!

Posted: Feb 02, 2017 08:52 AM

Yes you can use this for your barn shop.I have also used it for Storage Sheds and it doesn't affect adhesion between the changing seasons.

mark moyer

Posted: Apr 15, 2017 12:31 PM

"I would stay away from open cell foam. In your cold climate in the winter, vapor drive could push water vapor through the open cell foam and lead to condensation where the foam meets the metal siding."

if the interior humiditys are so high that there is that type of vapor drive you have bigger problems than insulation. build tight, ventilate right.

open cell foam is air impermiable at 2.5", closed cell 1"
>95% of moisture is carried by air movement.
the remainder is via diffusion.
the beauty of a properly applied spray foam system is that it is "glued" do the substrate.
the air space needed for condensation to lay out on is not at the foam to sheating interface.
why you dont apply to tyvek behind the sheating, the tyvek to sheating air space will be the condensing plane.
open cell or closed cell foam tis the same.
in a lined building open cell is a cost effective way to insulate a pole barn.
5-7" is easily obtained, sometimes more.
i can deliver that r25 open cell for less $ than the same R25 of closed cell
some of these buildings are large, pennies make the dollars, and get the job.
and shall we consider thermal bridging?
envelope as much of the frameing members in insulation material.

to paraphrase: a properly installed open cell foam system will work just fine

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