Pole barn spray foam insulation in Drumheller is post-frame work, and in this area the posts are the story. A post-frame building carries its load on timber columns set into the ground, which is a sensible and economical way to build on farmland. It is a less forgiving way to build on bentonitic clay, and the whole valley and its surrounding tableland sit on exactly that.
A foundation made of individual points
Bentonite swells as it takes on water and shrinks as it dries out, and it does not do this uniformly across a yard. One post sits where the downspout off the roof discharges and spends spring in saturated soil; another is on a high dry corner. The two move different amounts and at different times, which is the definition of differential movement. A continuous footing resists that by spanning it. A row of separate posts has nothing to span with, so each one follows the soil immediately around it. The result on an older post-frame building here is a wall that is no longer a flat plane, with girts out of line, cladding that has been pulled at the fasteners, and a bottom edge that is a different height at every bay.
Why that decides the insulation
On a flat, square wall almost any insulation strategy can be made to work. On a wall with that history, a fitted product cannot be sealed. Rigid board cut to a bay that is no longer the dimension it was, held with a bead of sealant, is a detail with a gap in it on the day it is finished and a larger gap after the next wet spring. Spray foam is applied as a liquid and bonds to what is actually there. It fills the bay as found, seals around the post and the girt, carries over the fasteners and the laps, and it moves with the member it is stuck to. On this ground that is not a convenience, it is the reason the job lasts.
Closing a post-frame wall
The other thing that defines post-frame work is that the wall cavity is not a stud bay. Girts run horizontally on the outside or the inside of the posts, so the depth available varies depending on where they sit, and in many buildings there is no interior lining at all, which means the foam is going onto the back of the cladding between girts. Closed-cell at roughly R-6 to R-7 per inch gives the most performance in the shallow depth a girt leaves and acts as its own vapour retarder past about two inches, so no separate membrane has to be fitted around every post.
Exposure and the cold pool
Where the building is sited changes the dominant load. On the tableland above the valley there is nothing to break the wind, so one elevation is pressurised for days and air is driven across the building rather than drifting through it. Down on the valley floor the wind is less and the overnight cold pool is more, because cold air drains off the prairie and settles on the bottom until the sun clears the valley wall. Both argue for sealing the shell properly. Neither is improved by adding depth to a building that leaks.
Animals, equipment or both
A post-frame building here might hold cattle through a cold spell, store machinery, or be a working shop with a heated bay. Those have different targets. A shelter needs the shell sealed so the animals' own heat is retained and the cladding is not the condensing surface. A storage building often needs nothing more than a dry roof plane. A heated bay needs a full enclosure with the thermal barrier requirements that come with occupied space. We quote the job, schedule it and stand behind it, and pricing follows the board feet sprayed against the target depth.
Pole Barn Spray Foam Insulation Drumheller: Common Questions
Our posts have lifted. Is the building a write-off for insulation? No. It rules out fitted board systems, and it argues for an adhered foam that bonds to the frame and keeps sealing through further movement.
There is no interior lining. Can foam still go on? Yes. It is applied to the back of the cladding between the girts and around the posts, which is one of the situations where sprayed foam has no real alternative.
Why does the depth vary across the wall? Because post-frame uses horizontal girts rather than uniform stud bays, so the available cavity changes with where the girt sits relative to the post.
How much does pole barn spray foam insulation cost in Drumheller? It follows the sprayed area and depth. The biggest variable is purpose: a dry roof plane for a storage building is a far smaller scope than a sealed enclosure for livestock or a heated shop bay.
How do I choose a pole barn spray foam contractor in Drumheller? Ask what they have seen of the post movement and how they intend to detail the base of the wall. On this ground the bottom edge is where a post-frame building leaks and where a careless quote says nothing.
Set the depth with the R-value calculator, then get a free Drumheller quote. More on Pole Barn Spray Foam Insulation Alberta province-wide.