Barn spray foam insulation in Wainwright is cattle work, and cattle work has a calendar. The building has to be right before calving, because that is the stretch when the barn is full, the weather is at its worst and there is no opportunity to fix anything. Everything about how we schedule and specify a barn here follows from that deadline.
The moisture is the animals, not the weather
A barn full of cattle is a continuous source of water vapour. It comes off the animals, off the bedding, out of any wash or water area, and it does not stop. That is why a barn can be sweating on a clear dry January day: the outdoor air is dry, the indoor air is not, and the cladding is cold. The colder and drier it gets outside, the colder the steel gets, and the more readily the indoor moisture condenses on it. Cold weather makes a cattle barn wetter inside, not drier.
What the water does once it forms
On an uninsulated barn it condenses on the underside of the roof and on the walls, then runs down or drips. It wets the bedding, which raises the humidity further and is a direct animal health issue in a calving pen. It drips onto feed. It corrodes fasteners and whatever metalwork is in the building. And because the cold here holds for months without a thaw, none of it gets a chance to dry out between events; it accumulates through the whole season.
Why removing the cold surface is the fix
Ventilation moves the humid air out, which helps, but it does nothing to the temperature of the steel. A liner panel hung off the purlins creates a hidden void that condenses behind it where nobody can see. Closed-cell foam sprayed directly to the inside of the cladding takes the cold surface away entirely: it adheres so there is no air gap, and at adequate depth the inside face stays above the dew point of the barn air. That is the difference between relocating condensation and ending it.
Then ventilate on purpose
Once the shell is sealed, the barn stops ventilating by accident through every gap at the eaves, the end walls and around the doors, and starts ventilating where you put the inlets and the fans. On open prairie that is a bigger change than it sounds, because an unsealed barn out here is not drifting air gently, it is being driven through from the windward side to the leeward side whenever the wind blows. Air exchange in a cattle barn is not optional, and sealing is what makes it controllable rather than what removes it.
Driven snow inside a closed building
The other thing we find in barns here is snow indoors. Fine dry snow travels on the air path, so it comes in at the eave line, through the gap above a sliding door track and around end-wall penetrations, and lands on bedding and feed. Sealing those routes for air seals them for snow as well, and a barn that stops collecting snow indoors is usually a barn whose heat is also staying put.
Who does the work
We do barn spray foam insulation Wainwright ourselves. We scope and quote it, we book it, and our own installers spray it -- one company, one point of contact.
Barn Spray Foam Insulation Wainwright: Common Questions
It is dry outside. Why is the barn wet inside? Because the moisture is produced inside by the animals and the bedding. Dry cold outdoor air makes the cladding colder, which makes condensation more likely rather than less.
Will sealing the barn stop it breathing? It stops it leaking. Air exchange is then designed in, with inlets and fans you control, instead of happening wherever the building happens to be loose.
Would a liner panel be cheaper? Often, and it creates a void behind itself that condenses out of sight. The problem has then been hidden rather than fixed.
How much does barn spray foam insulation cost in Wainwright? It is priced over the sprayed area at the depth required, so wall height and roof area drive the number. Clearing and cleaning the surfaces before spraying is the item people forget to budget.
How do I choose a barn spray foam contractor in Wainwright? Ask where they think the water in your barn comes from. If the answer is the weather rather than the animals, they have misread the building.
Size the assembly with the R-value calculator, then get a free Wainwright quote. More on Barn Spray Foam Insulation Alberta province-wide.