This Week the Pole Barn Guru answers reader questions about a two-car garage with a loft for office space, a non-insulated, cold storage loft, and wall insulation solutions.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello. Wanting to build a two car garage with loft that I could use as my office. Would like this adjacent to my house at the end of our driveway. Looked at a few pictures on website but not envisioning ideal setup. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Would need bathroom in it too. Could have office on back of building with no loft of that would be easier. Thanks! LUKE in NEWTON
DEAR LUKE: For your application, provided you have space available, one level is nearly always more cost effective and much more usable. Building height does not have to be increased beyond what is needed for your garage door(s) with one level and no space is chewed up by stairs.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am building a 30×32 pole building with attic trusses. I plan on having the walls Tyvek wrapped and insulate the bottom floor so i can heat it on occassion. Upstairs is going to be open storage with no insulation. My question is should I have some type of vapor barrier on the roof metal? I am seeing lots of bad reviews on the double bubble barrier but do not know if there is an alternative. Thanks SHAUN in BLAIRSTOWN
DEAR SHAUN: Radiant reflective barriers do need to be entirely sealed in order to be an effective vapor barrier. They also have a history of having facings flake off.
Order roof steel with an Integral Condensation Control factory applied, vent eaves and ridge in appropriate proportions.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have a 36 x 56 x 16 ft pole barn with 4 ply 2 x 6 posts, and have installed Therma shield/cougar shield to the roof purlins and wall girts before installing metal. Now that I have a vapor barrier on the outside should I just install unfaced batts in the walls? What about filling the gaps between the 2 x 4 girts, I plan to put OSB on the bottom 8′ and metal on the upper 8′. Thanks RON in FRANKLIN
DEAR RON: Install 1-1/2″ thick Rockwool Comfortboard between girts and Rockwool batts to fill balance of wall cavity. No interior vapor barrier. Please keep in mind, your building will now ‘dry to the inside’ so expect to have to mechanically dehumidify.
