Post-frame buildings are common on the acreages and farm yards around Clairmont because they are quick to put up and do not need a full foundation. That second point is also the thing that makes insulating them different from insulating anything else, and most of the trouble with a pole barn in this climate happens within a foot or two of the ground.
There is no foundation, so the wall meets the dirt
A post-frame wall is carried on posts set in the ground, with horizontal girts between them and cladding screwed to the outside. At the bottom there is usually a skirt or grade board sitting on or just below grade, and that joint is where the wall meets the soil. It is almost never sealed properly, it is where the cladding is most likely to have been damaged by equipment, and it is where water, snow drift and sometimes small animals get in. Insulating a pole barn without dealing with that line is insulating three sides of a four-sided problem. It is worth spending real attention on the bottom foot of the wall, because that is where the air is coming in.
Deep frost and posts in the ground
Posts in a northern region have to be set below frost depth, and frost here drives deep and sits for months without the thaw cycles that relieve it further south. Where a building is heated, the ground immediately inside the wall is warmer than the ground outside it, and the frost line around the perimeter does not behave uniformly. That is not usually a reason to avoid insulating; it is a reason to insulate the perimeter as deliberately as the walls, and to look at the drainage around the building before adding heat inside it.
Wide bays and a deep cavity
Post-frame bays are set far apart compared with stud framing, and the girts run horizontally across them. There is nothing resembling a stud cavity to fill, and anything placed between the girts leaves them bridging. Sprayed foam applied to the inside of the cladding covers the girts and the posts rather than fitting between them, which is the only way to get a continuous layer on this structure. It also bonds to the steel, so there is no gap behind it, and there is no cavity on cold cladding for condensation to collect in.
The ceiling may not exist yet
Many pole barns are open to the trusses with no ceiling installed. That leaves a choice to make before anything is sprayed: install a ceiling at truss level and insulate that plane, with the space above it vented, or spray the underside of the roof deck and bring the whole volume inside the envelope. The first is cheaper to heat because the volume is smaller; the second keeps the full height usable and avoids building a ceiling. What does not work is spraying the deck while leaving the ridge and soffit venting open, which delivers moist air into a cold cavity.
Dirt and gravel floors are a moisture source
A pole barn with no slab is evaporating ground moisture into itself continuously, and once the shell is sealed that moisture has nowhere to go. If the building is going to be insulated and heated, the floor needs either a slab or a sealed ground cover, otherwise the water simply moves from the ground to the inside of the walls. This gets overlooked more often on pole barns than on any other building type, because the floor was never thought of as part of the envelope.
Who quotes it and who sprays it
We do pole barn spray foam insulation Clairmont ourselves. We scope and quote it, we book it, and our own installers spray it -- one company, one point of contact.
Pole Barn Spray Foam Insulation Clairmont: Common Questions
Where does a pole barn leak most? The bottom of the wall, where the grade board meets the ground. It is the least-finished joint in the building and it runs the whole perimeter.
Can you insulate between the girts? Nothing fitted between them gives a continuous layer, because the girts and posts themselves bridge. Foam goes over the framing rather than between it.
Should the roof deck or a ceiling be insulated? Either, done completely. Spraying the deck means the venting is closed and the whole volume is inside; installing a ceiling means the attic above it stays vented.
How much does pole barn spray foam insulation cost in Clairmont? It follows the sprayed wall and roof area and the thickness. The decision between a ceiling and a sprayed deck changes the area substantially, and the grade line detailing is a separate consideration.
Who does pole barn spray foam insulation in Clairmont? We do. We look at the building, the floor and the grade line, quote the work, schedule it and stand behind it.
Size the assembly with the R-value calculator, then get a free Clairmont quote. More on Pole Barn Spray Foam Insulation Alberta province-wide.