Welcome to Foam University, today we're going to talk about some frequently
asked questions on how to spray foam your pole barn. So we're gonna talk about
close up versus open cell. we're going to talk about how the cost is calculated,
we're gonna talk about the overhead door, can you do it, how should you do it and
also we're going to talk about how to handle ventilation. So first things first
close cell versus open cell, age-old debate, we're not gonna settle it here. Rule of
thumb, if you're doing a pole barn, closed cell is probably the way to go. A couple
reasons, one, on the walls a lot of times pole barn insulation will be left
exposed. Closed cell insulation is very durable it's very dense and rigid and
tough, that durability can really help out. So if you're anything like us, you
may bump into the walls from time to time, sometimes with vehicles or
different things like that. You may want to hang tools on your walls or shelves
or anything like that. That closed-cell, that rigidity really goes a long way for
that. If you have open cell on the walls, especially if it's exposed, it can get
torn up pretty quickly, so again, a pole barn, especially if it's gonna be used
for any type of work environment, that durability, that ruggedness for with
closed cell will really come into play. For the ceiling, the roof doesn't make
too much of a difference as far as opens are closed out for application benefits.
The efficiency, you're in the same boat either way,, but for the walls closed cell
I generally recommend. Cost, most of the time the cost is always going to be
figured out based on the square footage. That's the square footage of the treated
area, so that's the actual surface square footage of the walls or the ceiling not
the what we would consider the living space of a barn or like a house or
something like that. So again, the square footage of the treated area is generally
how cost will be figured out. Overhead doors, simple answer, they can be done
pretty easily. Closed cell foam is usually the way to go, however, there are
some question marks. Open cell can be used quite often as well. The biggest
concern for an overhead door on a pole barn is going to be weight.
Obviously, closed cell's is a lot heavier than open cell, so if you spray that door and
you could have issues with the door mechanism opening and closing. Your door
may not be able to lift as much and that could cause issues, could cause damage
down to Road, down the road to your mechanism. So again, keep in mind the
added weight could cause issues. If that's the case, open cell is usually not
a problem. With open cell there are a couple more steps involved with the
overhead door because you will have to cut the doors at where the panel's Bend
and come together as the door starts to come up, so you're gonna have to cut all
those angles, so it takes a little bit longer to do, but open cell can be done
and obviously it comes out a little bit thicker so you have to work with it a
little bit more, but the weight really is going to determine that answer. Last
thing, ventilation. Simplest thing, close up all your all your free air vents just
like we talked about in a roof and an attic and in estate in a house you want
close up all your free air vents. Use mechanical vents, usually one intake and
one exhaust on either end of your building will be enough. That's what we
have in our barn, we have we have an intake and we have an exhaust setup. It's
just on the wall, it's a 2 by 2 vent and that is more than enough for our space.
Now again, the size of your barn, what you're doing in that barn, relative
humidity levels, all that will come into play to see what size vent that you may
need, also you know if you need to add more or if you have different rooms or
additions to your barn, things like that. But the base answer is mechanical
ventilation is the way to go. Get rid of all the free air vents, if you have gable
vents I always recommend to seal those up, stick to your mechanicals. So
obviously there's a lot more information on pole barns and spray foam, again these
are just some of the big questions that we get a lot. You should definitely check
out our website: retrofoamofmichigan.com Check out our blog where we have
much more information on some of these topics. Be sure to like this video, leave
us a comment if you have a question about your pole barn that I didn't go
over or maybe on the website or something like that, ask us about it we'd
love to help you out. Don't forget to subscribe to our Channel and smash that
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Wow, hey if you guys are really into foam you
should check out some of our guides. We have some for existing homes, new homes
and pole barns. It's really hot!