# insulating a pole barn what do i do?



## doyoulikegumwood

ok couldnt figure out where to post this so this sounds good my new shop is housed in a 36' by 36' pole barn the prolem im having is how do i insulate the dang walls thiers no stud cavaties so bate is out i thought foam sheets but it so darn exspessive and at best gives me an r- 3 or so any other ideas on what i can do thanks in advance

jason


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## cranbrook2

How about this stuff? http://www.amerisafe.net/store/index.asp?DEPARTMENT_ID=319 
I,m not sure what the R value is though .


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## lew

Here is a site that uses a soy based spray on insulation

http://www.biobased.net/


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## dennis

Yep and it will be hard to hang tools and cabinets on the outside walls. It might have been better to just have built a regular wood frame building to start with. My guess is you thought you would save some money. Pole barns are ok for garages and animals, but not the best for woodshops.


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## North40

When I built mine, I had it insulated with the industrial blanket insulation. It gets sandwiched between the purlins and the metal sheeting - they just drape the blankets over the structure before they attach the metal. The R-value is only like 7 or 8, but it's better than nothing! And it leaves the purlins accessable for hanging tools and cabinets.

After the building is done, I think all you can do is frame the walls to the inside of the poles and hang batts. You should be able to frame at 24" since the walls won't be bearing a load.


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## bhack

Peter O has a good idea. I partitioned my 30' x 30' pole barn for my woodworking in to a 12' x 22' room. I did as Peter O mentioned and used batts. Pretty good climate control. The rest of the barn is for farm equipment.


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## SteveKorz

I built a 16×32 room in my pole barn with standard 2×4 framing and 2×12 ceiling joists. That allowed me to properly wrap it in 6mil bisqueen plastic and insulate it with the standard wall and ceiling insulation. The room is for my wife's business, I tease her that if she ever quits it, it'll be my shop. It stays exceptionally warm, and it was worth it to put in the studs and rafters. I put the 2×12's on 12" centers so that I could use the upstairs for a storage loft.

Also, if you don't stud the walls, it's going to be hard to hang shop cabinets and stuff like that. I don't know what your truss height is on your pole barn, but remember that in the winter all the heat is going to go up. It's going to be pretty hard to heat that barn without a standard height ceiling to contain it.

It'll cost you some cash to stud it in, but I don't think you'll regret it.

You're other options would be the blown on foam… and I can't remember the name of the stuff, but it has the texture of chopped up fiber paperboard. It's also blown onto the walls and ceilings with some sort of adhesive.

Good luck.

Steve.


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## doyoulikegumwood

thanks for all the advice guys im leaning in favor of the sprayed in foam just so all know the building wasnt my first choice but it was thier when i bought the house and i would love to build another building but really cant afford it at this time. i wish i could have stayed in my old shop but in these hard times i had to down size in home and lost my old shop any ways thanks agine


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## motthunter

spray foam.. it should make it toasty and well sealed.


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## eagle124

Many, many years ago ,before I retired,I used to build pole buildings (Post frame construction). Most insulation companys will sell you a blanket insulation of fiberglass batting of whatever R-value and whatever width you want (spacing of vertical columns may be 7 1/2,8, or 10 feet)...Just roll it out, hang itbetween the columns ….use vapor barrier as normal…...then put 2×4 or 2×6 purlins every 24 inches (horizontally) ....then hang your drywall , plywood ,osb or whatever you want for interior wall covering.

As opposed to many peoples thoughts Pole barns actually do make great shops and quite economically too.


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