Pole barn insulation do's don'ts

Bought a new-to-me house this summer. Has an existing pole barn that I'd like to insulate the ceiling.

Givens:

1) 12' tall ceilings.
2) 4/12 pitch roof trusses on 24 centers.
3) OSB roof sheeting and asphalt shingles.
4) Ceiling covered with pole barn steel.
5) Prior to ceiling installation, truss bottom cords were covered with a foil faced bubble wrap.
6) Location is central lower Michigan.
7) Walls are insulated with 1-1/2 foam panels.
8) Heating is with a wood stove. Mostly weekend heating events for projects.

What are my options to insulate, and more importantly, what insulating techniques should be avoided because of long term damage for this construction?

Seeking your wisdom.....

Pete

For starters, I would suggest blowing in maybe 12 on the ceiling panels.

Jaden is probably right,, you have to be very carful of weight, on the existing tin celling . Blown in will be your best option .

Agreed, the weight is minimal, and the install is less likely to be risking physical damage from being physically on top of the trusses. Jim

Make sure the blownin has Borax In it,it will kill mice when they nest in it and it is fire resistant . We are south of you quite a bit,my brother building has all bubble insulation in it. 40X60 and it heats pretty easily with a small wood stove. (it just takes a half s day to warm up)

Got any roof or gable vents? Probably doesn't matter to much for occasional heating.

Just about the same construction as the ceiling of my shop. Trusses 4 ft on center with steel ceiling. I blew 16-24 in of fiberglass. Lighter than cellulose and will not burn.

If you use blowin, just make sure you dont overfill the eaves. Leave a couple inches of space under the roof deck.

I agree with moresmoke, blow in 16-24 inches of fiberglass.

X3. That is what I did 20 years ago. Easy to heat. Stays 70* in the summer with no AC.

As others have said, ventilating the attic and blowing in additional insulation over the ceiling are likely to give you the greatest benefit. That bubble wrap stuff isn't doing much for you.

How you ventilate the attic will depend on whether or not you have overhanging eaves and soffits. If you do, install <a href=https://www.homedepot.com/p/Master-Flow-16-in-x-8-in-Aluminum-Under-Eave-Soffit-Vent-in-White-EAC16X8W/100023618>soffit vents</a> every other or every third truss. If the eaves don't overhang, you'll have to add <a href=https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ply-Gem-18-in-x-24-in-in-Rectangular-White-PVC-Weather-Filter-Gable-Louver-Vent-REGV18H04H/202674720>gable vents</a> to let air in. To let the hot air out, I like to use <a href=https://www.homedepot.com/p/GAF-Cobra-SnowCountry-11-5-in-x-48-in-Roof-Ridge-Exhaust-Vent-in-Black-2027000/100027903>ridge vents</a> along the peak, which will require you to tear off the cap shingles, cut an opening in the peak of the roof, install the vents and install new cap shingles. Be careful not to cut your trusses when you cut the opening.

You can add gable vents and even gable fans to give more ventilation, but I've found soffit vents and ridge vents alone do a good job on my 30x40 building. Be careful to not block the soffits when you blown in insulation. And of course soffit vents won't work if blocking between the trusses blocks the soffits.

It sounds like you have pretty good insulation in the walls. I'd look for possible leaks you can block off, such as between the girders the trusses rest on. If you have an un-insulated overhead door, you might want to replace it with one that's insulated. Sliding doors are notoriously leaky, but you can't easily replace a sliding door with an overhead door.

Install "propavents" or equivalent to keep soffit vents from getting blocked. They make it go a lot faster too.

How is insulating the ceiling of a pole barn any different than insulating the ceiling in a house?
I was told when insulating a house, vapor barrier on the walls, no vapor barrier on the ceiling. Attics need ventilation. Don't remember the rule of thumb for eve and roof vents per square feet.
Not all pole barns are built with eve and ridge vents.

Condensation is your biggest problem. Your heating system could be another problem.

I don't insulate my pole barns. I have even and ridge vents and no condensation problems.

I have a heated 2 car garage attached to my house if I want to work in winter.

Or a solar heated pole barn in winter. Have to wait for the sun to heat the barn.

I would ask people in the insulation business what works best in your hood.

BIL has both his walls and roof covered with spray foam in N Indiana next to a lake.
He heats his pole barn to keep it dry.

I have what might be called the bubble wrap stuff in the ceiling of my shop: Metal R panel building, uninsulated walls, air entrance at ground level furnished by ridges naturally in the R panel, 3/12 R panel roof on 2' spaced 2x4 wood purlins. Ridge vents/combination narrow fiberglass/wire reinforced skylight, along 60% of the roof C/L. Prior to the sheet metal on the roof I had this plastic backed, rolled, insulation that had a white bubble wrap under side installed to prevent sweating and water dripping on everything when the tin was cooler than the atmosphere, not for insulation purposes necessarily.

Had the building built in 2005. Last couple of years the plastic bubble wrap layer has started decomposing and falling off, especially after a hard rain....little white circled all over the place....a real nuisance. So forget the bubble wrap idea!

George ..... you replied ..... 'I was told when insulating a house, vapor barrier on the walls, no vapor barrier on the ceiling' ...... leaves me scratching my head. When you say house, you must mean a regular configuration where there are room ceilings with an vented attic above right? Up here, it is code to put vapor barrier in place on the heated side (inside) of the insulated walls and ceilings.

On a side note, I was told that in very hot climates where air conditioning is used for much of the year, the vapor barrier is located on the outside of the insulated walls.

Not code to vapor barrier ceiling in my hood.
Insulation companies tell me the moisture need to travel through drywall, the insulation and vents to attic.

Must have different codes depending where you live.


I've never seen any plastic on ceiling.


I had a neighbor think he needed a vapor barrier on ceiling. So he painted his ceiling with a water blocking paint and soon learned he made a mistake.

Turned his house into a rain forest.

Use what works best for you.

My advice is worth every penny I'm getting paid. Lol.

(quoted from post at 13:08:14 12/02/21) Not code to vapor barrier ceiling in my hood.
Insulation companies tell me the moisture need to travel through drywall, the insulation and vents to attic.

Must have different codes depending where you live.


I've never seen any plastic on ceiling.


I had a neighbor think he needed a vapor barrier on ceiling. So he painted his ceiling with a water blocking paint and soon learned he made a mistake.

Turned his house into a rain forest.

Use what works best for you.

My advice is worth every penny I'm getting paid. Lol.

Click to expand...

Geo, A vapor barrier is needed in the attic the same as in the walls. Vapor will condense into water and then freeze when the temp gets to freezing. The vapor "traveling through" your insulation will come to a point after an inch or two or three where the temperature is below freezing. Once it condenses it will no longer continue to travel. it will be water and then ice IN YOUR INSULATION.

On houses using blown in ceiling insulation do they install a vapor barrier under the sheet rock? I used bats wen I built my house and
VB was against the sheetrock. Course in Texas it just doesn't get all that cold.....other than last winter......-4*F in Dallas, Tx. for 4
days!!!!!!!!! My standby generator and propane tanks kept the creature comforts going. Was surprised that I didn't have any frozen
pipes even with me taking precautionary measures.

I used fiberglass blown in insulation in the attic and fiberglass bats
in the walls. 20 years ago. So far, so good.
Burning wood for heat warms you up thrice. Once while you're
cutting it, once while you're burning it and once while you're
emptying the ashes and cleaning up the mess!
I have a gently used fuel oil furnace if you're interested in going
that route. It's not a space heater/stove, an actual furnace.
I do not have a fuel oil tank to go with it unfortunately.
I'm not sure if you still have my contact information.
My email is open on modern view though.