A shop in Medicine Hat has to survive both ends of the year, and most were built for neither.
The summer problem is real here
Most shop insulation advice is written for winter. In one of the sunniest places in Canada, that misses half the job.
A steel shop with an uninsulated deck absorbs solar heat all afternoon and radiates it downward into the space. By mid-afternoon the working temperature inside can be well above outside, and there is no practical way to ventilate your way out of it - you are fighting radiant heat from above, not warm air coming in.
For anyone actually working in there, that is lost hours. For anything stored there - adhesives, finishes, electronics, fluids - it is a specification problem.
A continuous sealed insulation layer against the deck cuts both directions. Winter heat stays in; summer heat stays out. If you are pricing a shop here, count the summer benefit rather than treating it as a bonus, because it is roughly half the value.
The winter problem is the usual one
Intermittent heating is the hard case. Warm the shop to work in it, let it cool afterwards, and every cycle loads the air with moisture that condenses on the coldest surface available - the underside of the steel deck - then drips onto whatever is below.
In a shop full of tools and machinery that is corrosion, and it accumulates quietly rather than failing dramatically.
A continuous adhered air and vapour seal against the deck stops interior air reaching cold metal at all. See stopping condensation in a metal building and preventing rust in a steel building.
An industrial city with an industrial building stock
Medicine Hat's long industrial history means a lot of older shop and service buildings, many put up when energy was inexpensive and insulation was a minimum-spec item. Those buildings are still standing and still working, and most have never had the envelope addressed.
Same story as the housing: the easy wins are still available because the arithmetic did not use to support taking them.
Before the quote
Settle three things:
How is it heated, and how often? Continuous and intermittent are different jobs.
Is the heater vented? An unvented combustion heater puts its combustion products, including a lot of water vapour, straight into the room - a large moisture source added to the air you are about to seal in.
What has to be covered? Foam in a shop needs an appropriate thermal barrier over it. Get it specified in the quote. See thermal barrier vs ignition barrier.
What we do
We are a referral service. We do not install. We connect you with vetted installers - certification, insurance and WCB standing checked.
No price without a site visit. Get a quote, and tell us how the shop is heated and what you keep in it.
See also shop insulation and metal buildings.