Shop renovation -- What do I do?

[Bart Leetch]

Bart,
I used cellulose insulation - once - about 20 years ago and ,yes, I agree with you that is not the best "Blown insulation" to use, but there is another insulation that you can use ,owens corning blown in fiberglass that they have on the market today that is fire rated and dooes a much better job of filling the cavities and is fire retaardent.
Brian

Yes it works great in attics. I have seen it blown into walls but it is questionable about how well it blows all the way down into the wall cavity. You know that there usually needs to be a air space in the wall cavity & between rafters & the roof sheeting if your using bats against the bottom of the roof.

[Nathan Conner]

Well, somewhat of a fiasco. I learned my lesson about going with the cheap bid, I think, but, hey. It's done. It looks fine. I'll have some cleanup work to do, and then all the finish work and insulation, but the stuff I didn't want to get involved with is done, it should be, if nothing else, dry.

Thanks again for the advice.

http://picasaweb.google.com/nathanconner/8807Roof

[Tom Richter]

Hi,
Since the concensus seems to be re-roof I would suggest that you look at a product called Ondura (ondura.com). It can be applied over existing roofing (up to two layers) eliminating tearoff and disposal. It comes in sheets (aprox 4'x 6 1/2'), has a lifetime warranty, is fast and easy to install. Although it is corrugated it is made of asphalt just like shingles and is much quieter than steel. I have used it on a new building and am definitely using it to re-roof my shop.
Hope this helps.
Tom

[Tom Richter]

Sorry I didn't read far enough into the thread to see that you went with a new conventional roof. Shop looks great. The Ondura product is good though - for future reference.
Tom

[Chuck Lenz]

Nathan, I wish I would of seen this post earlier. I have the same concerns as John Bush had with the pitch of your roof. Don't let the snow get to deep up there.

[Nathan Conner]

No worries so far. It's up, it's dry, and looks fine. Sheeting is on the front of the building, and one of the doors has been replaced with a wall.

I'll keep an eye on it, and make sure (at least this winter) that it stays relatively snow-free. Thanks for the concern!

[Nathan Conner]

Not sure who's interested. I am, of course, but the wife is certainly losing interest daily. It's only been a month since the roof was done, but I always feel like I'm procrastinating much of the necessary finish work.

Status so far: The big steel door is gone, the front of the building replaced by a 2x6 wall (with a much smaller overhead wooden door), insulated, sheeted, sheetrocked, sided and painted. The concrete I had thought was perfectly level turns out to be out about 2" in 12'. It almost matches the pitch of the roof. But, it's good for water runoff...uhh...right? Anyhow, all of the sheetrock inside has been replaced & painted where there were mold issues. I have 10 4x8 sheets of the insulation left to put in the ceiling and one gable end, but it's coming along nicely, and it's REALLY warmed up in there with the birdsmouth plugs. No more "seeing your breath"-style mornings.

I've built a new lumber rack, removed all the old "dripping" cabinets, added 3 new 4'x8' cabinets, new air lines, weather-stripped and trimmed the overhead and entry doors, and even started to remove the materials pile that's been accumulating in the weeds in back since the late 80s. Luckily, I've got a friend with an Alpaca farm who thinks he's struck gold, and who's taken 4 truckloads of stuff out of there. Only two trips to the dump so far for me.

It really feels like building a whole new shop, even though it's just a mild remodel. When I first got the place about 4 years ago, the shop needed severe work, and was little more than a poorly-covered metal shed with a toolbox and an old truck inside. I did what I thought I needed to get by, and it REALLY wasn't good enough. More headaches and anguish over that silly roof and the drafty old walls and doors than I needed, and it actually turned me off of woodworking for awhile. It was easier to sit inside by the fire and read the paper than get out and build something.

The final step will be to finish the roof insulation, touch up some paint, take some pictures, and get to work!

[Don Hein]

Since I also live in western Washington, I'm thinking that the interior water problem is not a leaking roof but is a matter of winter condensation on the underside of the steel, which then drips. If that's the case, then perhaps a relatively simple and thrifty solution is in stopping the condensation. If it were me, I would first consult some folks who sell/build steel farm buildings to find out how they deal with condensation.

A neighbor here put up a 40x40 steel building, and I notice that the underside of the roof panels are covered with plastic-covered fiberglas batts. Another way to address condensation is by vigorous ventilation, but then your shop would be not so pleasant to work in. Perhaps the gaps at the tops of your walls were part of a ventilation strategy. You might be able to find an outfit of insulators and/or steel building people who would do the roof insulation retrofit. I've seen a place along I-5 around Centralia-Chehalis called The Metal Mill, for example. I don't know a thing about them except I've seen the place there for many years.

Good luck with your project. You're in a great place, and your basic shop situation seems excellent.

Don

[Ray Knight]

From what we hear the Pacific northwest is humid at least 1/2 the year. Does your roof leak, is water blowing in the open areas, Is there good drainage around the building, is there water/moisture coming through the floor. If the roof/openings leak then everybodies suggestions are your answer. If you are going to be left with a humid shop in a humid climate, then you need heat and airconditioning to solve that. What do other people in that area find, are their shops humid? I have a few friends locally who have barns/farm sheds built into hills, that have ground water almost (in one case literally) flowing through their building. Those can be solved by regrading the hill leading to the building, gutter/draqin system on the uphill side, everything you can do to get rain to flow away from the building. Is this a seasonal problem, do you have wet season and dry season, and do you need heat part of the year, and is air conditioning a need there. Ray

[Don Hein]

My neighbor had Ondura put on his garage/shop some years ago. It deterioriated within 10 years and the warranty didn't help him. His building was in a heavily shaded place, so there were moss/moisture issues, plus the occasional falling branch in windstorms. His installation was not very resistant to falling branches, even smallish ones.

[keith ouellette]

Remove the metal and go with shingles. Once the steel or tin starts to rust things go down hill real quick. That pitch isn't steep at all so you might have to use a rolled roofing material. Most people new to roofing find that a little less work anyway. Then I would see if I could run a lower beem along the length of the building and attached to the main post and run 2x6 accross from wall to wall to create a flat cieling for insulation purposes. If your machines are getting rusty then fix the roof first.