Shipping Container Spray Foam Insulation Alberta

The container sweats, badly

Corten steel walls with nothing behind them go straight to outdoor temperature. Any moisture in the interior air condenses on them - and containers generate their own moisture, because the plywood floor and anything stored inside give off vapour as temperature swings.

The result is well known to anyone who has used one: water running down the inside walls, pooling on the floor, and everything in the container damp. Container users call it container rain, and it is purely a dew-point problem.

Interior or exterior application

Interior is the common choice. Closed-cell sprayed to the inside of the walls and ceiling removes the condensing surface entirely and fills the corrugations, giving a flat surface to finish against.

The cost is interior space. A container is only about 2.3 metres wide inside, and two inches off each wall is noticeable. It is usually accepted because the alternative does not work.

Exterior preserves the interior dimension and keeps the steel warm, but it needs a protective and UV-resistant coating and a cladding plan. It is the better technical answer for a permanent building and the more expensive one.

Why closed-cell and not batt

Framing out the inside and batting it is a common DIY approach and it fails the same way every time. The framing creates a cavity between the insulation and the steel, humid air reaches the cold wall through and around the batt, and it condenses in the cavity where it cannot dry.

Closed-cell bonded directly to the steel leaves no cavity and no path. It is the only approach that removes the mechanism rather than hiding it.

Corrugations, and why foam suits them

The corrugated profile has no flat surface to fasten to and no parallel-sided cavity. Foam sprayed onto it fills the profile completely, bonds along the whole surface, and gives you a flat plane to strap and finish against.

It also stiffens the panels and cuts the drumming noise that makes a bare container so loud in rain and hail.

Shipping Container Spray Foam Insulation Alberta: Common Questions

How thick for an Alberta container? Typically two inches of closed-cell for a tempered space and three or more where the container is heated and occupied through winter. Set against use and available interior width.

Does the foam need to be covered? If the container is an occupied building, thermal-barrier requirements under the building code apply. If it is unheated storage, requirements differ. We confirm what applies to your use.

What about the floor? Container floors are treated plywood over steel cross-members and they are a real thermal weak point. Insulating underneath needs a protective covering; insulating over the top costs headroom. Both are done - it depends on the build.

Can I spray it myself with a kit? Kits exist. What they do not give you is controlled thickness, correct substrate temperature, or adequate ventilation and PPE inside a sealed steel box. That last one is the reason to think hard about it.

Get a container quoted

Get a quote with the container size, how it will be used and whether it will be heated. See metal buildings and self storage.