Most of the steel roofed pole buildings supplied by Hansen Buildings include a reflective radiant barrier between the roof purlins and the roof steel to prevent condensation issues. Interested in more information on this product? Visit our page on the reflective radiant barrier difference.
Surprisingly (or not surprisingly) very few DIY building owners ever run short of insulation, the cases where a shortage comes up is generally when a builder is hired to do the erection.
Each chapter of the Hansen Buildings Construction Guide begins with listing the errors encountered from previous installations. When it comes to roof insulation here is the list:
1. Overlapping insulation rolls.
2. Cutting off at eave girts to create “waste”.
3. Placing insulation in overhangs (beyond column building lines).
4. Not placing roof insulation under all steel roof surfaces within building lines (including roof only shed or carport areas).
5. Failure to square roof plane before installation.
6. Not straightening eave girt to a string line before installation.
7. Failure to adequately seal joints, rips or tears in insulation.
8. Not using roof insulation.
One of the Hansen Pole Buildings Designers was recently speaking with his client, about their newly completed building and reported:
“Customer says he came up short A1V and had to pay another $299 to buy more locally. He would like to know if the 4 rolls he received was the appropriate amount. If so, he concedes the builder may have applied incorrectly. If he was supposed to get more, please dig a bit deeper there.”
This particular building was a “monitor barn” – 12 foot wide wings on each side of a 16 foot wide raised center.
When we receive reports, such as these, my first instinct is we must have done something wrong. So, I go back to the beginning and work my way through, to determine, if indeed, this is the case. I always make sure I give every client the benefit of the doubt.
The length of the insulation in the wing roofs (measured with the run) was 12.773 feet
The raised center roof was 17.114 feet
12.773 + 17.114 + 12.773 = 42.66 feet
42.66 feet x 48 feet of building length = 2048 square feet to cover
The insulation rolls are supposed to be four feet wide by 128 feet in length, or 512 square feet.
2048 / 512 = 4 rolls
Here is where recent real life practical experience jumps in…
Having just put up a building myself (you may recall the recent adventures of Steve’s new garage), I was quite surprised to find out the 128 foot long rolls are actually several feet longer – we cut eight pieces 16 feet long from each roll and had probably 8-10 feet of left over from each!
My educated guess…..one or more of the “most common mistakes”, was utilized.
It is a shame $299 was paid for a roll locally as our price is far less, even with freight. And the local roll most assuredly did not have the adhesive tab on one side, which makes installation a breeze.
