A quonset does not drip evenly. Quonset spray foam insulation in Camrose is usually bought by somebody who has noticed that the water always lands in the same places, and understanding why tells you a good deal about what the building is doing and what it will take to stop it.
The curve routes the water before it falls
Condensation forms across the whole inside face of the arch, but it does not stay where it forms. On a curve, droplets run, and they run along the seams, the fastener lines and the ribs, which act like channels. The water travels down the arch until it reaches a point where it is thrown clear, and it falls there. That is why the drip lines are consistent, and why moving the equipment out from under them changes nothing except which patch of floor gets wet.
Stored product is worse than machinery
A quonset holding grain, seed or fertiliser is a harder case than one holding a tractor, because the stored material is itself a source of moisture and a victim of it. Warm damp air rises off the pile, hits the coldest part of the shell, condenses, and runs back down onto the product. Fertiliser cakes. Seed loses germination. Nobody sees any of it until the building is emptied. It is a closed loop and the only place to break it is the cold surface.
Where the water comes from in a building nobody heats
People ask how there can be condensation in an unheated building. The moisture does not need a furnace. It comes off the stored product, in on machinery, and up out of a dirt or gravel floor all year round. The steel does not need to be much colder than the air, only colder than the dew point of the air touching it, and on a clear night an arch radiates heat to the sky and gets there easily.
What actually stops it
Dripping stops when the interior surface is no longer below the dew point. A fan moves air but leaves the cold surface exactly where it was, and a liner hung off the arch creates a void that condenses behind it out of sight. Foam applied direct to the steel removes the cold surface itself, which is the only version of this that ends the problem rather than relocating it.
Why nothing else fits the shape
There are no stud bays and no flat planes. Batt has nothing to sit in and rigid board cannot follow a curve without leaving voids behind it. Foam takes the shape of the arch and bonds to it, and it goes onto clean dry steel with any active rust dealt with first rather than sealed underneath.
Quonset Spray Foam Insulation Camrose: Common Questions
Why does the water always land in the same spot? The curve and the seams channel it. Droplets run along the arch and fall where the shape throws them clear, so the drip lines repeat.
Can an unheated quonset still sweat? Yes. The moisture comes from stored product, machinery and the ground, which on a Camrose farm yard is most of what is in the building, and on a clear night the steel radiates heat and drops below the dew point.
Would a liner or a fan fix it? A fan leaves the cold surface in place, and a liner creates a hidden void that condenses behind it. Removing the cold surface is what works.
Estimate the thickness with the R-value calculator, then get a free Camrose quote. More on Quonset Spray Foam Insulation Alberta province-wide.