An arched steel building is one continuous curve from the slab on one side to the slab on the other. There is no wall, no roof, no stud, no purlin and no cavity. Quonset spray foam insulation in Banff is the only practical way to insulate that shape, and the buildings it applies to here are the equipment and storage arches on the acreages and working properties outside the park gates, along with a handful of older service structures in the valley.
The shape defeats every conventional product
Batts and boards are made flat and sold in sizes that suit framing. An arch offers neither. Fitting a rigid product to a curve means cutting it into narrow strips and accepting a joint at every strip, and every one of those joints is an air path and a thermal break. Building a frame inside the arch to carry a conventional product consumes a large part of the usable width of the building and leaves an air gap against cold steel, which is the condition that causes the condensation in the first place.
Water runs down the arch and collects at the base
This is the behaviour specific to the shape. Moisture condenses on the inside of the steel, and because the surface is a smooth continuous curve the water does not drip from the top. It runs down the inside of the arch to where the steel meets the slab, and it collects there, in the one place where nobody looks and where everything stored is standing. Owners describe a damp floor around the edges and assume the slab is wicking. It is the roof arriving at the floor by the only route available.
Foam is applied to the curve in one pass
Sprayed to the inside of the steel it follows the arch exactly, bonds to it with no gap, and crosses the ribs and the seams as a continuous layer. Closed-cell at roughly R-6 to R-7 per inch reaches a useful value in a depth that costs almost nothing in internal width, and at about two inches it is already a vapour barrier, so indoor air cannot reach the metal. On a building whose whole problem is a cold continuous surface, a continuous layer applied directly to it is the answer the geometry asks for.
The end walls are a different building
The two ends are usually framed flat, in timber or steel, with a large door in one of them. They are built to a lower standard than the arch, they leak at the junction where the flat end meets the curve, and that junction is awkward for every trade. It gets treated as part of the same job, because an arch sealed perfectly with two open ends is a building that has not been sealed.
Snow drifts, and it drifts at the ends
The curve sheds snow well off its flanks, which is why these buildings were used in open country in the first place. What it does instead is pile that snow against the end walls and the base of the arch on the lee side, where it sits for months and melts into the ground at the junction with the slab. In this climate that is a long wet season at exactly the line where the steel meets the concrete, so that detail is where the preparation and the sealing effort go.
Who does the work
We take care of Quonset spray foam insulation Banff end to end -- the assessment, the quote, the scheduling and the spraying. Our crews do the work.
Quonset Spray Foam Insulation Banff: Common Questions
Can a Quonset be insulated without building a frame inside it? Yes, and that is the reason to use foam. It is applied to the curve directly, so you keep the internal width.
Why is the floor damp around the edges? Condensation on the inside of the arch runs down the curve and collects where the steel meets the slab. It comes from above, not up through the concrete.
Do the end walls need doing? Yes. They are framed differently from the arch and the junction between the two is the weakest line in the building.
How much does Quonset spray foam insulation cost in Banff? Priced per board foot over the arch surface at the chosen depth, with the end walls measured separately. Cleaning and drying the steel before application is a real line item.
How do I get a Quonset spray foam insulation quote in Banff? Give us the span and length, what is stored inside, and whether the building is heated. Those set the depth and the detailing at the base.
Size the assembly with the R-value calculator, then get a free Banff quote. More on Quonset Spray Foam Insulation Alberta province-wide.