Expert: Dan Griffin - 2/13/2011

Question
QUESTION: Dan I would think you have delt with or seen pole barn insulating,so maybe you can give me some advice. I moved into a place with a Morton pole barn with 13' high ceilings. It is insulated. The ceiling has a roll out type of material white in color stapled to the cross joices and then about an 8" thick of insulation just rolled out sitting on top of this material. And this same material is rolled out and stapled on the walls with insulation behind it. I don't really want to put any money,or just a minimum amount of money into this place because it was/or is to be a temporary place to be for now. Do they sell something for ceilings of pole barns or do you have any ideas to help me make this more efficient? I want to start with the ceiling first and see how that goes. Or if you have any heating ideas that I can use? I have a 150,000 BTU hanging natural gas forced air unit heating, but building don't hold heat for a long time. Heating 2500 sq.ft. Any ideas would be great, Remember I don't want to stay here long and put much money into place.
Thanks, Jerry

ANSWER: Jerry, I'm not sure what the white roll out material is.   Many metal buildings use a fiberglass insulation that is 3' wide with a white plastic layer.  This plastic layer is not strong enough to be what you are desrcibing.  I don't know how far apart your joists are and do not know what kind of load the white material can take.  The big issue is how deep can you make the insulation without pulling the ceiling material down.  A regular 1/2" drywall ceiling nailed to joists that are on 16" centers can take 12" of cellulose blow in insulation, but it is NOT recommended at 24" centers.  Fiberglass is almost half the weight of cellulose but it takes almost 17" to equal the 12" of cellulose.  Here is some decent information:
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/loosefillinsulations  


The easiest way to increase the amound of insulation on the ceiling would be to rent a blowing machine and blow in additional material. Most places will give you the use of the machine if you buy the insulation from them. This assumes you intend to do the work yourself.  It is fairly easy if you make some plank paths in the attic to move around on and tape the discharge hose to a long pole to get back in corners, etc.  You do need someone outside to keep feeding the machine or you have a lot of climbing up and down.

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QUESTION: Dan is there anything that I can just put up against the ceiling just to help hold the heat in first? Is there any big sheets of something they use in pole barns for ceilings? Or do you any ideas what I could put up against the ceiling?

Answer
Jerry, you could use either gyp board or Homosote.  Gyp board will require tape and bed work to look complete.  Either will require sufficient nailing surfaces.  It is normal to install the long dimension across the joists.  If the joists are 2' on center, they wil require 5/8 rock to prevent sagging.  YOu can install strapping.

Another good approach would be a drop ceiling that would reduce the volume of space you are trying to heat.  Lower the ceiling to 8' to reduce the volume to 20,000 cubic feet where you have been trying to heat 32,500 cubic feet.  YOu will need to consider lighting and heat.  It sounds as if you have been using a single hanging heater that could be lowered.  With the drop ceiling, you can easily add insulation, though the reduction of cubic footage with just ceiling tile might make such a huge difference that additional inuslation would not be required.

Is this living space, a shop, storage????