Barn spray foam insulation in Slave Lake is work on horse and small cattle buildings in the clearings around the lake and along the river. The barns here are modest rather than industrial, and the thing that separates them from the same building further south is that the winter does not let go. A southern barn dries out several times a season. This one has one chance, in April.
The animals are the humidity source
It is tempting to think a cold dry climate means a dry building, and inside a barn that reasoning is backwards. The moisture comes from the animals themselves, from their breath, from bedding, from manure and from any wash or water point. That load is constant and it does not care what the outdoor humidity is. Colder outside air means colder cladding, which means the moisture the animals are producing condenses more readily, not less. A barn at thirty below with stock in it is a wetter building than the same barn in October.
Frost in the cladding and what it does over five months
Where that moisture reaches cold steel or cold sheathing it does not run, it freezes. It builds through November, December, January, February and most of March, with nothing to clear it, and the accumulation gets into the insulation, the purlins and the framing. Then break-up arrives and it all becomes water in the space of a week. The owner sees staining, soft wood and rusted fasteners and reasonably assumes the roof leaked. It did not. The building manufactured that water from the inside over five months.
Sealing and then ventilating on purpose
The reflex objection is that sealing a barn stops it breathing. What sealing actually stops is uncontrolled breathing, which is the kind that happens wherever the building happens to leak rather than where it would do any good. In a yard with a long open run off the lake, wind is already driving air through the building from the exposed face to the sheltered one all winter, and that air arrives wherever the gaps are, which is often directly onto animals. A sealed shell plus deliberate ventilation lets you choose both the rate and the path. That is the change worth paying for, and it is a different proposition from merely making the barn tighter.
Which face takes it
A barn in a bush clearing has sheltered sides and one or two exposed ones, and under sustained pressure the exposed face is pushed and the far face is drawn, so air crosses the whole building continuously. Scope follows that. The exposed wall, the corners and the eave on that side are where the depth and the sealing belong; the sheltered sides need much less. Spreading the same depth over all four walls spends money where there is no load.
The material and the finish
Closed-cell at roughly R-6 to R-7 per inch goes to the inside of the cladding or the underside of the roof deck, bonds to it so there is no gap for air to move in, seals the laps and fasteners, and past about two inches it is its own vapour barrier, which is precisely what a building with a constant interior moisture load needs. In an animal space the foam needs protecting from contact and from curious livestock, and a covering over it is part of the job rather than an extra.
One company, start to finish
Barn spray foam insulation Slave Lake is work we take care of ourselves. We scope it, we quote it, we schedule it, and our own installers are the ones holding the gun.
Barn Spray Foam Insulation Slave Lake: Common Questions
It is dry outside. Why does our barn still sweat? Because the moisture comes from inside, from the animals and the bedding. Colder outdoor air makes the cladding colder and the condensation worse.
Will sealing the barn stop it ventilating? It stops it ventilating by accident. Ventilation then gets designed in, at a rate and a path you choose.
We thought the roof was leaking in spring. Could it be something else? Very often it is five months of accumulated frost letting go at once. Worth checking before spending on the roof.
How much does barn spray foam insulation cost in Slave Lake? Board feet by area and depth, and the exposed face usually justifies more depth than the sheltered ones, so the scope is not uniform. The protective covering over the foam is a separate line.
How do I choose a barn spray foam contractor in Slave Lake? Ask which side of the barn they think takes the weather, and how the building will ventilate afterwards. Both answers should come before a number.
Size the assembly with the R-value calculator, then get a free Slave Lake quote. More on Barn Spray Foam Insulation Alberta province-wide.