How to Prepare Your Pole Barn for Year-Round Use
Winter is here, and cold weather won't be letting up anytime soon — especially out here in the Great Plains! There are lots of steps you can take to winterize your house and prevent cold drafts from sneaking in. But what should you do to stay comfortable in your pole barn, metal building, or shop?
If you spend time daily in your hobby shop, farm shop, or other pole bar, keeping it a comfortable temperature is essential to making sure you can actually use the space year-round. That's where insulation comes in.
Pole barn insulation has all sorts of benefits:
It prevents heat loss, making the space easier to keep warm
It massively increases structural integrity
It keeps dust, wind, and debris from entering through cracks in the exterior
To get the most out of your pole barn insulation, you'll want to work with a professional insulation contractor who has experience insulating pole barns (Hint, hint: we know a guy). They'll help you figure out what exactly needs to be covered, with what material, and how.
Your preferred insulation contractor will help you make all those decisions up front. But here are a few elements that are commonly insulated in pole barns, shops, or other metal buildings:
The Permiter Slab
That concrete slab your pole barn sits on? It can be a major contributor to heat loss in your metal building. To insulate the space, it is often recommended that building owners insulate the perimeter to help keep heat inside the building.
The Walls
Metal walls are terrible at preventing heat transfer. Fortunately, spray foam insulation is great at countering this concern by creating a barrier of polyurethane foam.
The Top Inside (or "Attic")
You may not commonly think of the top of your pole barn as an attic, but here we are. Insulating the top inside of your pole barn or metal building helps prevent warm air from escaping out the top of your building (this phenomenon is called the chimney effect).
There are many factors to consider when preparing to insulate your pole barn for year-round use. Fortunately, you've got us around. Put Ward Insulation on speed dial. We're always happy to help!
