Insulation in building

[yachtjim]

I have a building that I need to insulate. The entire interior looks like what you see pictured below. 16" centers. What is an economical way to insulate this? I do not plan to cover it with any hard surface like plywood unless I need to.

[KMac]

Have you looked at spray foam insulation? It wouldn't be the cheapest but it work wonders on noise and helping with cooling bills..

[LFBB]

The pink stuff I think is still cheapest, that said, if you don't put something over it in time it will start to fall, even if you tack it with staples. You might want to put some brown paper stapled up to hold it in place. Foam sheets and spray foam you'll need less of but it costs more.

What state are you in? What will the building be used for?

[Coastboater]

Looks like 2 X 6 framing so I’d go with a R19 faced rolled insulation and staple it up. A ~40’ roll of 15” wide should run a little over $30 ea.

[erie skipper]

Have you looked at spray foam insulation? It wouldn't be the cheapest but it work wonders on noise and helping with cooling bills..

Yep; this

[riplipper]

Spray foam.......walls and underside of roof deck. Your HVAC bill will easily pay for it in about 4-5 years vs fiberglass
You don't need closed cell, open cell would be fine, and its a bit cheaper.

[blaster]

You can glue pegs to the walls with a strong adhesive and push faced fiberglass onto the pegs then cap them. Had this done in our green warehouse and it cut the energy bill way down. Just need a scissor lift to do it safe and easy.

You can hire someone to do it if no time for DIY. Maybe get some quotes as the difference between the materials costs and the labor might not justify your time and headache from the glue fumes.

maybe see what these guys would charge.

https://www.sprayed-in.com/

[blaster]

I should have looked at the picture closely and read your post. I was referring to insulting a flat wall. On framing like that I’d just staple up Kraft faced R-11 and call it done.

[SIM]

Does it make sense to spray foam the walls, unless the ceiling is getting foamed too?

Cheapest is f-glass bats. Does your building code require some kind of cover(drywall, plywood or OSB)?

[TheRealMacGyver]

I would definitely go fiberglass batts with paper facing. Honestly I would put some type of sheeting over walls. You did not say if you plan to AC this or heat or where this is. OSB is pretty cheap and that is what I used in my garage. I will try to find a few pics and post them.

[TheRealMacGyver]

Here ya go

[illibilli]

Can’t answer question unless you describe location/climate where this is. All answers apply buy it depends on what you are insulating, heat, dew points, etc. To be specific to you building.

[SMLakeBoater]

While working at a high energy efficient home building company, I was directed to a talk given at a world wide passive house seminare. The engineer presented that while all foam insulations have thier place, they are realistically still based on a 15yr life expectancy. This comes as foam insulation originally was used in "flat" roof construction and would be replaced when the membrane needing replacement. He also noted that most "R" values for the product are overstated and in cold climates the effective "R" value drops. It was also stated that the "R" value will countinoue to drop as the foam ages, so eventually it will get to zero, no real studies have been performed (at least to that point in time) as to how long it will take to get to a zero value.
So with that said, I would not recommend foam unless you are using it in a ground contact situation. If you are looking for a board type insulation, a cellulose insulation board will give you comparable "R" values in the same thickness as rigid foam.

[yachtjim]

This is in our shop at BOE in MD. We just installed a huge propane heater to keep the area warm in the winter. The ceiling is already closed and not insulated. It will never be insulated. The 3 huge garage doors are not insulated. We just have these sections of wall that we can reasonably insulate. I only need to get the area up to 60 degrees M-F 9 to 5.

[blaster]

Are these exterior walls you are insulting or interior walls between units?

[SMLakeBoater]

The cellulose panels will do what you need, good fire resistance and can be attached to the walls like any wall sheeting...nailed or screwed. Will also provide sound deadening.

[KMac]

The cellulose panels will do what you need, good fire resistance and can be attached to the walls like any wall sheeting...nailed or screwed. Will also provide sound deadening.

Yes..