There is a consequence of insulating an arch building that almost never comes up until the job is finished, and on a yard around Athabasca it is the one that causes the trouble. An arch has no cavity. Whatever thickness goes on goes on the inside, into the space the building encloses, which means every inch of foam is an inch less clear width at shoulder height and an inch less headroom at the crown. Quonset spray foam insulation in Athabasca has to start with the dimensions of what lives in the building, because those buildings were sized to their contents with very little to spare.
Measure the machine before choosing the thickness
A combine, a grapple truck, a picker, a swather with the header on, a sled trailer: each one went into that building with a known clearance, and on an arch the width available narrows as you go up, so a few inches at the spring line can matter more than a foot at the peak. Before a thickness gets specified, it is worth measuring the widest and tallest thing that has to fit and comparing it with the inside dimensions at the height it actually passes. We would rather have that conversation at the quoting stage than have somebody discover it with a machine halfway through the door.
What that means for the specification
It usually means closed-cell. At roughly R-6 to R-7 per inch it delivers nearly twice the R-value per inch of thickness that open-cell does, so for any given clearance sacrificed it buys the most performance. It also bonds to the corrugated steel and follows the profile of the ribs, which nothing cut from a sheet does. Where clearance is genuinely tight, the sensible approach is sometimes to insulate the upper portion of the arch properly and accept less at the spring line, which is a compromise but a deliberate one rather than an accident.
The arch is a condenser until it is covered
An uninsulated steel arch over a building that gets warmed occasionally is a very effective condensing surface. Fire up a heater in a cold arch building to work on something, and within an hour water is forming on the whole curve and running down to the floor, or dripping straight onto whatever is underneath. The curve makes it worse than a flat roof would be, because the water runs along the corrugation and releases at the point of the arc rather than at an edge. Foam in contact with the steel removes the surface the water was forming on, which is the only approach that actually works.
Preparation on a corrugated curve
Bonding to a corrugated surface means getting into the valleys of the profile, and that means the arch has to be clean. Years of dust, chaff and bird mess sit in those valleys, and foam over loose material is foam that will let go in sheets later. Active rust has to be dealt with rather than covered. This preparation is a real part of the day on an older arch and it is the part that determines whether the work is still attached in ten years.
The ends and the floor
The curved shell is one building and the two flat ends are another, usually framed separately with a large door in one of them. If the ends are not in the scope, the arch alone will not hold a temperature, and that should be stated rather than assumed. At the base, many of these buildings sit on a low concrete curb or directly on a gravel floor, and the junction between the bottom of the arch and whatever it lands on is a continuous opening around the whole perimeter. It is easy to reach and easy to miss.
Temperature before thickness
As with every steel building here, the shell has to be above a minimum temperature for foam to bond. An unheated arch in January is at outdoor temperature and has to be tempered first. The good news is that the volume enclosed by an arch warms reasonably quickly once it is closed up, so winter work is realistic. It just has to be planned with the heat included rather than added on the day.
Who you are dealing with
We quote the job, schedule it and stand behind it, and our own installers do the work on Quonset spray foam insulation Athabasca. You deal with us from the first site visit to the last pass of foam.
Quonset Spray Foam Insulation Athabasca: Common Questions
Will insulating it make the building smaller inside? Yes, by the thickness applied, and on an arch that reduction happens at the sides where machinery is widest. Measure what has to fit first.
Which foam, and why? Closed-cell, because it gives the most R-value for the clearance sacrificed and because it bonds into the corrugation of the steel.
Why does it rain inside when we light the heater? Because the steel is well below the dew point of the air you have just warmed. The curve collects it and sheds it onto whatever is below.
How much does Quonset spray foam insulation cost in Athabasca? It follows the developed area of the arch, the thickness chosen and whether the end walls are included. Cleaning the corrugation is a real part of the labour on an older building.
How do I choose a Quonset spray foam contractor in Athabasca? Ask what the finished inside dimensions will be and how they are preparing the corrugation. A contractor who has done arches will answer both without hesitating.
Size the assembly with the R-value calculator, then get a free Athabasca quote. More on Quonset Spray Foam Insulation Alberta province-wide.