There are two reasons people foam an arch, and only one of them gets talked about. Quonset spray foam insulation in Edson is bought to stop the dripping, and then owners discover the other benefit almost immediately: the building goes quiet. A bare steel arch is one of the loudest structures anybody works in, and the shape is the reason.
The curve focuses sound instead of scattering it
A flat wall reflects sound away at an angle. A curve reflects it back toward the middle of the space, which is where people stand. Add a hard floor and a large uninterrupted steel surface with nothing to absorb anything, and a quonset concentrates and sustains noise in a way a rectangular building does not. Rain and hail on a bare arch are genuinely difficult to work through, and an air tool or a grinder in one is worse than the same tool in a stick-framed shop.
What foam does and does not do to the noise
Sprayed foam on the inside of the shell adds mass and absorption to a surface that had neither, and it damps the panel so it rings less. That makes a substantial difference to rain noise and to the ring of the building itself. It is not soundproofing and we will not call it that: it does not stop sound passing between spaces, and it will not make a compressor quiet. What it does is take the harshness out of a room that was behaving like a drum.
Open cell and closed cell are not interchangeable here
Closed cell is the standard choice on an arch because it does not absorb water and it holds on the curve, and it is what stops the condensation. Open cell is the better acoustic material but it is not the right product against a cold steel shell in this climate. Where the priority is genuinely acoustic rather than thermal, that is a conversation about the assembly rather than a straight swap, and anybody offering the swap casually has not thought about where the water goes.
Foothills weather makes the noise a bigger factor
Wet snow, hail and heavy rain come through here often enough that the noise is not an occasional complaint. If somebody is working in the building through the day, it is a real part of what makes the space usable, and it is worth naming as a benefit rather than leaving it as a surprise.
The condensation is still the main job
Dripping stops when the interior surface is no longer below the dew point of the air touching it. A fan moves air but leaves the cold surface where it was. Foam applied to the shell removes it. There are no stud bays or flat planes on an arch, so foam is also the only thing that fits the shape without leaving voids, and it needs clean dry steel with active rust dealt with first.
Quonset Spray Foam Insulation Edson: Common Questions
Will foam make my quonset quieter? Noticeably, especially for rain and hail and the ring of the panel. It is not soundproofing and it will not stop noise passing between spaces.
Should I use open cell for the sound then? Not against a cold steel arch in the Edson climate. Closed cell is what handles the water, and the acoustic gain comes with it.
Is the noise reason enough on its own? For a building somebody works in all day, it is a real part of the value. The condensation is still the reason it pays for itself.
Estimate the thickness with the R-value calculator, then get a free Edson quote. More on Quonset Spray Foam Insulation Alberta province-wide.