Arch buildings around Sylvan Lake get repurposed more than most. A quonset put up to hold equipment becomes a workshop, then a place to store boats and trailers, then somewhere people actually spend time. Quonset spray foam insulation in Sylvan Lake usually arrives at the point of that last change, and it is worth being clear that a building people occupy is held to a different standard than one that only ever held machinery.
Occupancy changes the requirement, not just the comfort
Foam is combustible and needs a covering over it in a space that is used. A storage building entered occasionally for service is treated differently from a workshop somebody spends afternoons in, and differently again from anywhere the public goes. That is a real distinction with real requirements attached, and it is decided by the authority that inspects the building rather than by us. What we will do is specify the envelope and the covering together, and say plainly when a question is not ours to answer.
Seasonal use is harder on a building than constant use
A lot of these buildings are busy from May to September and shut for the rest of the year. An arch warmed up suddenly in spring, or heated for a weekend and left, drives moisture into contact with cold steel at exactly the moment the building cannot dry. Closed cell does not absorb water and does not lose value after cycling, which is why it suits an intermittently used building better than anything fibrous.
Boats, trailers and anything with upholstery
Storing something with fabric, foam padding or electronics in a dripping arch is worse than storing steel in one. Condensation running off the shell onto covers and seats gives mildew a start every year, and nobody sees it until the cover comes off in May. Removing the cold surface is what stops that, and it is often the argument that decides the job on a recreational property.
Do not confuse this with heating it
Insulating an arch stops the condensation, takes the edge off the extremes and makes the building far quieter. It does not turn a large uninsulated volume into a heated room by itself, and if the plan is to genuinely heat the space then the end walls, the door and the ventilation all come into it. We would rather set that out than let the arch carry expectations it cannot meet.
What the curve rules out
No stud bays, no flat planes. Batt has nothing to sit in and rigid board cannot follow the curve without leaving voids that condense out of sight. Foam bonds to the shell and takes its shape, and it needs clean dry steel with any active rust dealt with rather than sealed under.
Quonset Spray Foam Insulation Sylvan Lake: Common Questions
We are turning our quonset into a workshop - does that change anything? It does. Foam needs a covering in an occupied space, and what your building requires is set by the authority that inspects it.
Is it worth doing for boat and trailer storage? Usually yes. Condensation dripping onto covers and upholstery does damage that is not noticed until spring.
Will insulating make it a heated building? Not on its own. If the plan is to heat it, the end walls, the door and the ventilation all have to be part of it.
Estimate the thickness with the R-value calculator, then get a free Sylvan Lake quote. More on Quonset Spray Foam Insulation Alberta province-wide.