Barn spray foam insulation in Lethbridge is work on livestock and equipment buildings across southern Alberta's irrigated and feedlot country. Anyone searching for barn insulation around Lethbridge is describing the same job, and in this part of the province it has one variable that outweighs the others.
Which side of the building takes it
In a still climate a gap in a barn is a hole. In sustained wind it is a driven path, and the two behave very differently. The windward face is pressurised and the leeward face is under suction, so air is pushed through the building from one side to the other continuously rather than drifting in and out. That is why animals on one side of a barn are noticeably more exposed than on the other, and why sealing the windward wall and the corners does more here than adding depth anywhere.
Feedlot country and the buildings that serve it
Southern Alberta carries a concentration of feeding operations, and the buildings around them are mostly processing, treatment and equipment structures rather than housing. Those are working buildings with wide doors, heavy traffic in and out, and equipment that has to start on a cold morning. The envelope question there is about recovery and about keeping condensation off machinery rather than about holding a temperature for animals.
Dry air outside, humid air inside
It is tempting to assume a dry climate means no condensation problem, and inside a barn that reasoning does not hold. The moisture comes from the animals, the bedding and any wash area, not from the outdoor air, and the drier and colder the outside the colder the cladding and the more readily that indoor moisture condenses on it. Southern Alberta barns sweat for the same reason northern ones do.
Ventilating a building the wind is already moving
Where wind is driving air through a barn continuously, natural ventilation is happening whether it is wanted or not, but it is happening wherever the building leaks rather than where it would do any good. Sealing the shell and ventilating deliberately gives control over both the rate and the path. That is the change worth making, and it is a different proposition from simply making the barn tighter.
Barn Spray Foam Insulation Lethbridge: Common Questions
One side of the barn is always colder. Why? Sustained wind pressurises the windward face and puts the far side under suction, so air is driven through the building rather than drifting. The exposed side feels it first.
It is dry here. Do we still get condensation? Yes, because the moisture comes from inside the barn rather than from the outdoor air. Cold dry weather makes the cladding colder, which makes it worse rather than better.
Will sealing it stop the barn ventilating? It stops it ventilating by accident. Around Lethbridge the wind is already moving air through the building wherever it leaks, and sealing lets that be planned instead.
Size the assembly with the R-value calculator, then get a free Lethbridge quote. More on Barn Spray Foam Insulation Alberta.