Quonset spray foam insulation in Redcliff is the clearest case in the trade for choosing foam over anything else, because a Quonset defeats every alternative by its shape. These arched corrugated buildings are scattered through the yards around Redcliff doing the same work they have always done: storage, equipment, pallets, inventory for a growing operation, and whatever else needs a roof and a dirt or concrete floor. Most of them have never been insulated, and the ones that have usually show an attempt that failed.
There is no cavity and there is no flat surface
A Quonset is a single continuous arch of corrugated steel from the floor on one side to the floor on the other. There are no studs, no girts, no joists and no plane. Every square foot of the interior is curved in one direction and ribbed in the other. Nothing manufactured in a rectangle can be made to sit against that, and nothing without a frame behind it has anything to be fastened to.
So what people try instead is hanging something from the ribs, or standing a frame inside the arch and insulating that. The first sags and opens a gap; the second builds a second building inside the first and loses a metre of usable width at the base, which on an arch is exactly where the width was already least useful.
Foam is sprayed, so the curve and the corrugation stop being obstacles. It follows the profile, fills every rib, bonds to the steel and finishes as a single continuous surface with no joints at all.
The arch is also the roof, which is why condensation is the usual complaint
On a conventional building the roof is overhead and the wall is beside you. On a Quonset they are the same surface, so the entire interior shell is a potential condensing surface and the water that forms on it runs down the curve and drips along the whole length of the floor. Owners describe it as a leaking roof. It is almost never a leaking roof. It is indoor air reaching cold steel.
Two inches of closed-cell in full contact with the arch ends it, because the air can no longer reach the panel and because at that thickness the foam is itself the vapour barrier. There is no gap behind it to become the new cold surface, which is the failure mode of every system that stands off the steel.
The end walls and the bottom of the arch
The end walls of a Quonset are usually framed and clad differently from the arch, often with the large door in one of them, and they are frequently in worse condition. They need their own treatment and the junction between the flat end wall and the curved shell is a long awkward seam that has to be closed. At the base, the arch meets the floor on a curve, so there is a narrow wedge of space at ground level that collects everything and leaks air along the full length of both sides. That line gets sealed first.
The crew on your job
Quonset spray foam insulation Redcliff is quoted, scheduled and sprayed by us. Our own installers are on the job, and the number you are given is the number we stand behind.
Quonset Spray Foam Insulation Redcliff: Common Questions
Our Quonset drips. Is the roof leaking? Usually not. It is condensation off the inside of the steel, and the whole arch is the surface. Insulating in contact with the panel is what stops it.
Why did the insulation we hung up there fail? Because there was nothing to fasten it to and no flat plane to sit on. It sagged, opened a gap, and the gap became the cold surface.
Can foam really follow the corrugation? That is the point of it. It is applied as a liquid, fills the ribs, bonds to the curve, and finishes as one continuous layer with no joints.
How much does Quonset spray foam insulation cost in Redcliff? Priced per board foot of sprayed area, and the arch is deceptively large because the curved surface is longer than the floor it covers. The end walls and the seam where they meet the arch are separate items.
How do I choose a Quonset spray foam contractor in Redcliff? Ask how they will handle the end walls and the base of the arch. The curve itself is straightforward; those two details are where the job is won or lost.
Size the assembly with the R-value calculator, then get a free Redcliff quote. More on Quonset Spray Foam Insulation Alberta province-wide.