This Wednesday the Pole Barn Guru answers reader questions about how to best seal gaps at wall tops and a roll-up coil door, creating a moisture problem, and advice for girts, columns, and wiring.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: What can I do to seal these gaps? We live in the garage and it’s getting cold out. TIFFANY
DEAR TIFFANY: There should be inside closure strips on top of eave strut under your roof steel. On endwalls, emseal expandable closures can be placed between rake trims and endwall steel. There should be a flat (wide face to sky) jamb across top of roll up door opening. These would help to seal around door opening https://www.snirtstopper.com/
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have one more question for you I have a cabin that has 2×6 stud walls 12′ high that I put 2″ foam under slab and 2″ on the side walls so from under slab to top of walls on the exterior is completely covered in foam with 2″s of closed cell spray foam sprayed to the interior of the 2″ pink. Then 5″s of closed cell sprayed on the roof for a hot roof. My problem is I’m heating this building with electric boiler and my bills have been quite high. In the house side I have vaulted ceilings so not much I can do there but my garage ceiling is 12′ with no insulation at that level because of the hot roof in your opinion if I blew in insulation at the 12′ ceiling height what would you do between the blown in and hot roof I’m worried about creating a moisture problem and mold and thinking I should vent that area above the garage too the outside what’s your thoughts thanks. CHRIS in HIXTON
DEAR CHRIS: Very valid concern. You would need to vent at eave and ridge. Make sure to leave at least an inch of unobstructed airflow between top of blown in insulation and underside of roof deck, from eaves to ridge.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 1. Are properly blocked and attached bookshelf girts between 6×6 posts 4 ft on center without any exterior girts an acceptable approach? Same question for the purlins for the trusses. 2. Instead of adding the one and a half inch on the girts board, is it an acceptable practice to drill through the 6×6 posts for wiring? ERIC
DEAR ERIC: 4 foot on center makes for an awful lot of holes to dig and posts to set, not to mention becoming very limiting on width of openings like windows. We would recommend (of course with engineer’s approval) glulaminated columns every 12′ or even 16′). Outside of this, it is an acceptable approach, provided you can attach your splash plank to adequately transfer shear loads. We always recommend insetting roof purlins between trusses using engineered hangers.
Think of a hole being drilled through as being an “open knot”. Lumber grading rules refer to these as being “Unsound or Loose Knots and Holes” due to any cause.
For #2 graded lumber holes may be no less than every two feet and up to 5/8” diameter in a 2” nominal face; 7/8” in a 3” nominal face; 1-1/4” for 4”; 1-1/2” for 6”; 2” for 8” and 2-12” for 10”.
For higher grades holes may be no less than every three feet and up to ½” diameter in a 2” nominal face; ¾” in a 3” nominal face; 1” for 4”; 1-1/4” for 6” and 1-1/2” for 8” and wider.
Any holes drilled through pressure preservative treated lumber or columns, especially near grade, should be treated with a Copper Naphthenate solution. Copper Naphthenate is available as a brush-on or spray-on.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello, my concern/ question is vapor barrier between my steel ceiling and attic before insulation “fiberglass”. I have a 40/64/16. Walls are closed cell 2-3 inches. My builder put my steel ceiling up and not even thinking of insulation process at that time. My roof is steel with drip stop. Vented by soffit and ridge vent. Reading a lot of mixed answers I’m asking did/do I need a vapor barrier between bottom truss and steel ceiling before fiberglass or will have bigger issues down the road. It will be heated at all times for Michigan cold months from late October till April roughly. If it does need it how do I go about it now. Thanks. COREY in RIVERDALE 
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: If I have a manufactured home that has been bricked in all around can I add a Pole Barn Home onto it? EDWARD in TENNILLE 
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: How many bedrooms will fit in your largest residential barndominium. Thinking about using it as a dorm-type or assisted living. PHILLIP 
Commonly (when addressed at all during construction) solutions to this problem have often involved creating a thermal break. A thermal break reduces contact between a structure’s warm interior air and cooler metal roofing, thereby reducing or eliminating overall condensation. Installing a reflective radiant barrier, often termed Vapor Barrier, involves laying rolls of faced ‘bubble wrap’ across your building’s purlins prior to roof steel installation. Ideal weather conditions are required for this as even a slight wind can make this a challenging or altogether impossible task. This can cause jobsite delays and may bring progress to a halt while a structure remains unprotected to weather. Even when ideal weather conditions are present, installing a reflective radiant barrier can be a very dangerous task, requiring builders to expose themselves to awkward material handling on a building’s bare roof framing. These risks and delays often generate additional costs for both owners and builders, but have often been necessary with reflective radiant barrier being the only relatively affordable option to prevent interior dripping. 
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello again Mike, Our Southern MN town is planning to add an open- air pavilion to a city park and the talk is a heavy-duty concrete pad that would have embedded attachment for the support posts for the roof (presumably steel). The thinking is for a post beam type spec about 30×48 in a park that does NOT have any open lanes for wind. It seems to me the Hansen type of post installation with concrete below and around the post that both supports the weight and serves as anti-lift makes economical sense by requiring less forming and pre-mix costs. PLUS, a certified design that accounts for MN snow and prairie wind exposure would be prudent. (I am assuming your engineers will adapt the construction design to not having metal walls transfer roof loads to the ground.) I will also be recommending to the city to consider adding a partial enclosed area for restrooms and winter warming house for the nearby ice rink that goes over basketball and pickle-ball courts. Thanks for any suggestions or examples you have. BRIAN in LE ROY 
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: My pole barn roof installer missed the purlins with about a third of the screws. His fix was redrive the screws at an angle to catch the purlins and smear some caulk in each screw. I’m pursuing some genuine relief. I’m now concerned the metal seals on each of these angled screws has permanently deformed the roof steel under and around each of these angled seals so that not even a properly straight driven screw will seal in each of these locations. How legitimate is my concern? BOBBY in LINCOLN 
DEAR RUSS: Assuming your building is already up, if you have no means of controlling condensation on underside of your roof steel, you should be doing something. In order to be effective, whatever is used must be totally sealed, else you risk creating problems between roof steel and any barrier if moisture passes through and gets trapped. Your best bet – two inches of closed cell spray foam directly applied to underside of roof steel. Make sure dead attic space is properly ventilated.
What causes condensation? When warm air comes in contact with cool surfaces then condensation can form. Consider a time when you carried an ice-cold beverage outside on a hot summer day. Hot air outside comes in contact with a glass’ cool surface, and then moisture forms on glass’ outside. This reaction is why so many people are adamant about using coasters to avoid damage to tables and furniture.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have an existing 40 x 60 pole building, built in the late 80’s. It has double trusses spaced 12 ft apart. I would like to extend it from 60 to 72 ft. We originally were thinking we would extend using stick frame construction but now I am wondering if this will affect the integrity of the existing building. I would like to leave the end of the pole building in place and add a door into the new space at each end. Your advice on the best way to go about this? The extension is planned for a bathroom and laundry space and would have a concrete floor. Thanks for your help. WENDY in VANCOUVER 
Purlins are then in perfectly straight lines, allowing for pre-drilling of roof panels (this eliminates misses). Others may try to align purlins over top of trusses using butt end splices. This makes for a very poor connection attempting to get adequate fasteners into 3/4″ (1/2 width) of truss top chords. When purlin joints are lapped, it causes a stagger of the purlins, resulting in inability to pre-drill and a significant chances of screw misses.
I am a bit geographically inconvenient to be able to come and see your building. However, based upon experience and what I would do if it was my own building, I will give you some free advice. You are welcome to use it, or discard it as best you see fit.
Screw leaks are caused by either poor installation, wrong placement (on high ribs rather than flats), or entirely wrong parts. Poor installation will show up right away – either in a good rain storm, or by checking weather tightness by running a water hose on roof. I would recommend second of these prior to any interior finishes.
While ridge cap is off, replace solid foam closure strips with vented ones. Use 1-1/4″ long #12 stitch (metal-to-metal) screws to reattach ridge caps.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Looking for 4pcs 4x6x18 treated ground contact. JERRY in COATESVILLE
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: After reading some opinions on some forums I am getting ready to insulate the roof of my metal pole barn. Paper backed fiberglass insulation will not stop condensation without putting plastic sheeting over top of it. How do you feel about this method? Insulation against the underside of the metal roof with plastic over the insulation. DAVE DEAR 
DEAR MICHAEL: Thank you for reaching out to me Michael. Our engineers will only seal plans when we provide the materials, as it is the only way they can guarantee materials they specify will actually arrive onsite. Please send your specifics to Caleb@HansenPoleBuildings.com along with your site address and best contact number. You will find we are very competitive and have provided hundreds of fully engineered post frame buildings to our clients in Oregon.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello, I asked an insulation question on social media and it quickly turned into a debate among other members. In your opinion is there any way to stop the condensation drip on a porch we would like to cover with T/G, box in with soffits? This is a new post frame building with an offset porch. Initially we planned to leave framing exposed but due to birds and wanting a more finished look we would like to put a ceiling in place. Thank you. MEL in ISLAMORADA 
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DEAR POLE BARN GURU: How wide and tall can a pole building be? TODD in ALLENWOOD
DEAR JENNIFER: Post frame barndominiums lend themselves very well to building on slopes. I solved a personal situation where I had 14 feet of grade change in 24 feet, by building on stilts: 
DEAR TIM and LOUSIE: This is where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. There are numerous product capable of being applied below rafters, trusses and/or roof purlins, however in order to be truly effective, you must be able to achieve a perfect seal (impossible in real life). If not, warm, moist air from inside your building is still going to rise, get through any gaps, and now be trapped with no way to escape. Even with a tight seal, unless there is a thermal break, chances are fair you will now have move the condensation from underside of roof steel, to underside of new product. There are some solutions – least expensive, highly labor intensive is to remove roof steel, install a well-sealed thermal break, reinstall roof steel or have two inches of closed cell spray foam applied to underside of roof steel.
DEAR KAITLIN: Most pole barns are built either without being engineered or to Risk Category I. For residential purposes, it would need to meet more stringent structural requirements of Risk Category II. You will probably have to add some perimeter slab insulation in order to meet Energy Code requirements. My best recommendation is to engage a Utah Registered Professional Engineer to do a physical evaluation of your existing building and to design needed structural upgrades.
DEAR WESLEY: I have seen many far less well thought out wall systems without exterior sheathing not experience issues with condensation. As far as air sealing, you could get a blower door test done to find out exactly what your situation is. For extended reading, please see 
DEAR TRIPPE: We always suspend our columns eight (8) inches above bottom of holes and mono-pour footing and concrete encasement in a single pour (saves on paying for short haul charges). While concrete typically reaches 75% of compressive strength in seven days, when I was building we would pour one day and start building next day. For slabs on grade, it is recommended to not walk on them for 24-48 hours after a pour. Keep in mind, concrete compressive strength is in psi (pounds per square inch) and soil bearing capacity under footing is in psf (pounds per square foot). Most soil will support a maximum of 2000 psf or 13.88 psi, so your concrete (at 2500-3000 psi) is going to be much stronger, even after a very short time span, than soils beneath. You can increase concrete strength by ordering a higher cement mix and speed curing time by use of hot water (avoid use of chemical additives to speed curing).
If you have not seen ridiculous claims of double digit R-values from reflective radiant barriers yet (aka ‘bubble wrap insulation”) you will. Read more about these claims here: 
DEAR RON: Unless you are going to mechanically dehumidify, expect to see condensation challenges.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Can you add a 16 ft wide garage door to an existing pole barn? It would be on a gable end of a 30×50 building. ALEC in TOLEDO
I have been scouring insulation, vapor barrier and building envelope sources for months now, trying to get to truthful data I can rely upon. Let me tell you – it has been a task, and there are moments when I felt blood would squirt from my eyeballs!
If it was my own roof – I would remove all fiberglass roof plane insulation, increase thickness of closed cell spray foam to at least two inches, then fill balance of 2×8 cavity with either open cell spray foam or rock wool batts (rock wool is not affected by moisture and does not lose R value during cold temperatures).
“I’ve moved into a house that also has an existing 30’x40′ (uninsulated) pole barn. I want to insulate and am considering 2″ thick polyiso foam boards attached to the bottom cord of the roof truss. The roof trusses are 4′ spacing. 1) Do you feel that is a good choice? 2) Do I need to add any type of vapor barrier (or anything else) above the polyiso boards?”
DEAR ROSS: You are correct about where moisture is coming from – and it is made even worse in Winter, when ground outside of your building is frozen and inside your building is where all ground moisture is trying to escape (basically think of your building as being a cork pulled out of a genie’s bottle). While pouring a concrete slab on grade of a vapor barrier would be your best (and permanent) solution, concrete is costly. With this said, my best recommendation would be to remove top two inches of dirt inside of your building, making sure there are no sharp rocks projecting up above surface. Place a 15mil black vapor barrier across entire floor, overlapping seams by 12 inches and taping them tightly shut. Run vapor barrier up onto splash planks on walls (if possible) as well as sealing to each column. Cover vapor barrier with two inches of clean sand. You may need to mechanically dehumidify, in order to fully resolve your challenges.
DEAR WESLEY: Post frame buildings “work” due to their skin. Placing openings, without approval from your building’s engineer, could result in catastrophic structural failure.
DEAR TONY: Most important for avoiding frost heave is having a properly prepared building site: 
Is there a form fitted closure strip under each side of your ridge cap? If you have light coming through the ridge during daylight, then no. Easiest fix, if none, would be Emseal 
3) Once the above two have been either ruled out or repaired, your problem is condensation. Stains on trusses and purlins are typically a giveaway to this being an issue, especially if they seem relatively consistent from eave to ridge and along length of building. Short of replacing roof steel with a product with an Integral Condensation Control factory applied (read more here: 
DEAR JIM: Good news and bad news…. while your proposed solution will likely take care of possible condensation issues, it is structurally unsound. Post frame (pole barn) buildings rely upon shear strength of steel roofing and siding in order to remain stable. When you add in even a half-inch gap of non-rigid material (foam board) between framing and steel skin, you greatly reduce (or eliminate) shear strength of your steel panels. Even if your building were to remain standing, shifting of steel panels with small diameter (#9 or #10) screws will cause slots to form around screw shanks, eventually causing leakage.
I am pleased my information has proven helpful to you. I would consider one of two options – installing steel in these two areas over solid sheathing (OSB or plywood) with 30# felt or a synthetic underlayment, or using two inches of closed cell spray foam applied directly to underside of roof steel. Either of these should assist in mitigating sound.
Ultimately this decision should be made by whomever your engineer is who is sealing your building plans. Special care should also be taken to insure adequacy of purlins in drift zones (closest to ridge), where purlins may need to be closer spaced, higher grade and/or larger dimension material.
I am really considering using a Hansen Pole Barn Kit for the shell, but need to figure out how to ensure 60% humidity inside the building doesn’t rot it from the inside out. I know that HVAC Dehumidification will be very import, but so is how to seal the build walls from both the outside and inside, how to insulate the walls and ceiling (especially since we plan to have a flat ceiling thus an attic area where the Ceiling and Roof may need to both be insulated to avoid condensation, etc.
DEAR MARK: You can easily check your concrete slab for a vapor barrier – place a wrench on floor overnight, next morning remove wrench and if a dark spot is seen where wrench was placed, you have no vapor barrier. If so, seal slab with a high quality sealant (here is an example 
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Do you do 6 bedroom Barndo’s? I’m looking for a 6 bed, 4 bath barndominum floor plan. I have an idea of what I like in my head but 6 bedrooms one story are difficult. HEATHER in CLEBURNE
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I would like to build a 20 foot wide x 40 foot long pole barn house in Fredericktown, Ohio. Do you know if the local building department would give a permit for a residential pole barn house, & what are the steps to obtaining that permit, who to call, & etc.? I’m at the beginning of that building process & would like to begin this summer. Thanks. RENEE in MOUNT VERNON
My educated guess is your building’s concrete slab on grade does not have a well sealed vapor barrier underneath. If this is indeed true, you need to start by removal (or minimization) of your moisture source – put a good sealant on your slab’s surface. There are other things to be done once ground thaws, we will get to them in a moment.
“Greetings – I’ve got a pole barn style home that’s about 2.5 years old and I’m having moisture issues in the attic. Hoping I can talk with someone to get a consult or second opinion to resolve as quickly as possible. Let me know if it is something you can connect on. Attached is an image from the attic where you can see moisture on the underside of the metal roof. It freezes at night and then during the day when the sun is out, it melts and drips into the attic insulation. 
Easiest solve is to have two inches of closed cell spray foam applied to underside of roof purlins. Any other solutions will take removal of roof steel panels, adding a thermal break, and then reinstalling roofing.
Kudos to you for doing a D-I-Y. Sadly you were lead to a product (Prodex) claiming to be insulation, however in reality it is a condensation control, and only if totally sealed.
As time allows, remove roof Prodex, have two inches of closed cell spray foam applied to roof steel underside, and increase thickness of blown in attic insulation to R-60.
Closed cell spray foam applied directly to steel roofing and siding can be a great product for controlling condensation, achieving an air tight barndominium and at R-7 per inch is a great insulation solution. So good, I strongly encourage its use, especially for those buildings in Climate Zones one and two (deep South).
Last questions. I found a 36×36 square gable vent that has a NFVA of 585. I need 576 on both sides of my building so this vent should be sufficient, correct? Also, with me using the 1/300 ventilation rule the gable vent company who has this vent recommended using a vapor barrier in the attic too. I believe he said that it needs to be no more than 1 perm and to install it on the warm side of the attic. He said this is needed because I’m not using the 1/150 rule. He said if I have 16 sq ft on ventilation instead of 8 I wouldn’t need a vapor barrier. That’s not really an option though. That many gable vents wouldn’t look good. So what do you think? Do I really need a vapor barrier using the 1/300 rule? My roof panels have a felt-like material on the underside of them that I believe is called “drip x”. I was under the impression that this was a vapor barrier and when warm air rises and hits those cold roof panels the “drip x” keeps it from condensing. Do I really need a vapor barrier along the warm side of the attic too? That sounds like overkill to me but I want to do it right too. The plan is to fully finish the inside of my outbuilding eventually with a ceiling that will be white ribbed panels with a r-38 blown in fiberglass. I only plan on heating the building to about 55-60 degrees and that’s only if I’m out there working. The thermostat will be set to 45-50 if I’m not out there. Also, this outbuilding doesn’t currently have air conditioning but I may consider adding it down the road. You’ve been a big help so far. Thank you and I look forward to your response. “
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: What base size and height is correct for a cupolas for a 32’ wide by 36’ long by 35-40’ high with a 10 over 12 pitch roof? Thank you for your answer. NANCY in SPENCER
DEAR ERIC: 40 years ago I provided a post frame building kit package for a tire dealer in Pahrump!
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have a barn that doesn’t have soffit vents but it does have a ridge vent. I installed reflective insulation which seems to have dropped the temperature quite a bit. I also have a gable powered fan that does 2000 CFM. However it is about 8 to 10 feet lower than the ridge vent. Are these two things fighting each other do you think or should I take a pipe and vent it up to my ridge vent and to my fan to take the hot air out from the top or should I turn my gable fan off completely.
DEAR DENNIS: Properly pressure preservative treated columns, embedded in ground are unlikely to decay within lifetimes of anyone alive on our planet today 
DEAR THOMAS: In most instances eave and ridge vents are inadequate alone to prevent condensation. Contractors who fail to include some sort of thermal break between roof framing and roof steel are doing a severe disservice, in my opinion. It is so easy to accomplish at time of construction with products such as a Reflective Radiant Barrier or Integral Condensation Control. There is not a good option for an underside of purlins vapor barrier, as it is nearly impossible to adequately seal it. Your only real solution, at this point, would be to use two inches of closed cell spray foam on underside of your roof steel.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 
DEAR TAMI: Most pole building roof systems are designed to support a bare minimum roof dead load – usually 2.5 to 3.3 psf (pounds per square foot). If this is your case, then your structure would not be able to support this added weight. We made a decision a year ago to use a minimum top chord (roof) dead load on all our roof trusses spanning 40 feet or less of five psf – just in case our clients decided to sheet their roofs with OSB or plywood with an underlayment and didn’t tell us about it in advance.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 
Walls – use a well-sealed Weather Resistant Barrier (WRB) between framing and steel siding. Read more about WRBs here –
Hansen Pole Buildings are carefully designed and engineered to exacting and stringent standards. Included with these structural design solutions are some components an average individual cannot just go buy off a shelf at your local lumber dealer or big box store. Due to liability issues with materials specified on plans not being able to be readily acquired by general populace members, our third-party engineers are unable and unwilling to put their seals and signatures on plans where we are not providing components. Even if they were to do so (and you could find parts as specified) we have so much buying power, we are able to provide materials at a price level competitive to anything you would be able to acquire on your own.
DEAR JODY: First step is to take care of your source. Pour a concrete slab on grade with a well sealed 10-15mil vapor barrier underneath. As you have no thermal break between your warm moist air inside building and roof steel, have two inches of closed cell spray foam insulation applied to underside of roofing. You would be better served to vent eaves and ridge, than just gable vents. If gable vents are your choice, look for vinyl vents with a snap ring as they can be installed on ribbed steel siding.
DEAR NANCY: Thank you for your interest in a new Hansen Pole Building. Every building we provide is custom designed to best meet the wants, needs and budget of our clients. We offer a floor plan design service for folks just like you: 
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 
DEAR MATT: 
Rated at 44NG (2/3rds of a perm), 7/16 inch OSB sheathing can be a reasonably good vapor barrier, however you may want to consider instead using 3/8″ CDX plywood as it has a 57 NG rating. Do not seal it (paint is a seal) or tape seams and your wall is probably okay.
#1 Controlling source – if there is not a well-sealed vapor barrier under your concrete slab on grade, you should be planning on two coats of a good sealant for it. If you do not know if there is a vapor barrier under it or not, leave a wrench on it overnight. Next day, pick the wrench up and if there is a dark place on the floor surface where the wrench was, you have no under slab vapor barrier.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: How thick does the edge of concrete need to be to support a pole barn if using the bolt on top of existing slab? CHRIS
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 
Commonly (when addressed at all during construction) solutions to this problem have often involved creating a thermal break. A thermal break reduces contact between a structure’s warm interior air and cooler metal roofing, thereby reducing or eliminating overall condensation. Installing a reflective radiant barrier, often termed Vapor Barrier, involves laying rolls of faced ‘bubble wrap’ across your building’s purlins prior to roof steel installation. Ideal weather conditions are required for this as even a slight wind can make this a challenging or altogether impossible task. This can cause jobsite delays and may bring progress to a halt while a structure remains unprotected to weather. Even when ideal weather conditions are present, installing a reflective radiant barrier can be a very dangerous task, requiring builders to expose themselves to awkward material handling on a building’s bare roof framing. These risks and delays often generate additional costs for both owners and builders, but have often been necessary with reflective radiant barrier being the only relatively affordable option to prevent interior dripping. 
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 
DEAR MARK: 
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 
I did not include materials for a bearing wall at the floor truss center. Features listed above ran roughly $6000 more to go two floors. Also, with the two floor version, you will lose 50 square feet of usable floor on each level due to stairs.
True doubled trusses (not two single trusses spaced apart by blocking) afford many structural advantages (
Wall girts flat on column exteriors are inadequate to carry imposed loads and will not meet deflection limitations. I would suggest you reinforce each of them to create either an “L” or a “T”. Assuming you have 6×6 wall columns, you could place a 2×8 bookshelf style girt on top or bottom of each girt, nailing through 2×8 into existing girts with a 10d common nail at say 12 inches on center. This will create an insulation cavity and allow for easy interior finish.
Least expensive financially, but does take some extra labor hours, especially if it is windy – a single air cell layer reflective radiant barrier. Six foot widths will install much quicker than four foot. Make sure to order with a six foot width NET COVERAGE and an adhesive tab along one edge with a pull strip. Without an adhesive tab all butt edges will require seam tape, not expensive, but adds lots of time. Do not waste your money on adding an extra approximate R 0.5 for double bubble (two layers of air cells).
I have personally used BIBs (
Condensation is visible evidence of excess air moisture. It may appear as water, frost, or ice on window or door surfaces. This occurs more frequently during winter months because of extreme differences between inside and outside air temperatures. Warmer air holds more water meaning air in any given room center will hold more water than air adjacent to window or exterior door walls, since this area is always cooler. When warm, moisture laden air moves toward cooler window or door walls, it becomes cooler and cannot hold as much moisture as it held when it was warmer. This moisture is dropped and appears as water on glass and frames of windows and doors.
Insufficient attic ventilation and/or soffit ventilation traps moisture in barndominiums. Having sufficient soffit vents to allow adequate air flow in and ridge vents for exhaust will allow moisture and humidity to escape. Excessive humidity may be a result of poor ventilation but can also be a result of an imbalanced heating and air system or a need to add additional ventilation. Inadequate (or missing) vapor barriers under concrete slabs on grade. While Building Codes require a vapor barrier under any concrete slabs in heated buildings, it is all too often overlooked.
DEAR CRAIG: You can if you want your building to collapse in a moderate snow event. Along with your trusses, you should have received an engineer sealed truss drawing with all specifics as to what can be carried by it and spacing. If you did not, and they are prefabricated metal connector plated wood trusses, there should be a manufacturer’s stamp somewhere on truss bottom chords. You could then contact them and give them truss specifics (and probably a few photos showing lumber grades, web configuration and steel connector plate sizes. From this, they may be able to determine what you have actually spent your hard earned money on.
Energy efficiency concerns have literally become a “hot” (pun intended) topic in new construction, and post frame construction methods are no exception to inclusion. Traditionally buildings have had insulation placed or blown into dead attic spaces, directly above a ceiling. Unvented attics have entered fray as an alternative.
Now, I believe, time has come to stop selling price to post frame building clients and sell benefits. Safety becomes easiest to sell – no one wants to live with a fear of their building collapsing and injuring them, their loved ones, or destroying their valued possessions. Flexibility in future use – also an easy sell, if a future building owner decides they want to add a ceiling they can safely do so. 
When you apply sealer can be important as well. Allow new concrete to cure completely (28 days or more, as recommended). Most sealers must be applied under dry conditions, since applying sealant to damp concrete could cause haziness or loss of adhesion. Air temperatures are also important and should typically be above 50°F during and for 24 hours or more after sealer application. Always allow sealer to dry completely before exposing it to foot or vehicle traffic. Drying times before exposure to heavy traffic can be as long as three days.
DEAR MICHAEL: Before consider this move confirm your trusses are designed to support added ceiling weight across bottom chords. Also, make certain to adequately ventilate dead attic space you will be creating (read about adequate ventilation here: 
DEAR LISA: Gypsum wallboard (sheetrock) will certain be most common as well as most popular option. If you go with 5/8″ thick Type X, it will also be fire rated. You can use any material for covering walls one would find in any type of building – however most of them are still installed over sheetrock. If for a shop building, 7/16″ OSB proves to be quite popular. Some people like steel liner panels, however I find them difficult to attach things like shelves and cabinets to and they get dented.
“I am having some condensation issues. And I was curious about insulating the building. Also wanted to ask if my building is able to have a ceiling installed. Thanks for the fast reply.”
If you poured a slab without a well-sealed vapor barrier underneath, it will contribute to excessive moisture challenges. If no vapor barrier, top of slab should be sealed: 
If this does not resolve problems, then you need ventilation. I will surmise your building does not have enclosed vented soffits and a vented ridge. Can’t go back and correct lack of overhang issues now, but you can add gable vents – a minimum of 242 square inches net free ventilation area in each endwall with vents located in top half of each gable.
Some observations from your photos – minor discolorations appearing as “runs” down sides of roof purlins are due to condensation. No steel roofed building should be constructed without some sort of mechanism to minimize condensation. Only realistic fix for future condensation control would be to have closed cell spray foam insulation placed below roof surface. This insulation should be a minimum thickness of two inches and in most areas a going rate of about a dollar per square foot, per inch of thickness. You could be seeing a $30,000 bill.
Detached cold storage buildings are constructed with a sole purpose of producing or storing goods in low temperatures. Think of them as typical heated buildings turned inside out. Instead of keeping heat in during cold weather, they keep heat out during warm weather.
Building access should be through a wide 14 foot tall insulated overhead door in each endwall. Industry standard storage bins are four feet square and three feet tall. Bins can be stacked five high, leaving room for mechanical equipment above with a 20 foot interior clear height.
DEAR CANDICE: This would not be a good idea as you are creating a space between two vapor barriers in which condensation could occur and moisture problems develop. Your best bet is to remove the steel siding, one wall at a time, install a well sealed building wrap (like Tyvek), then reinstall the steel.
DEAR REBECCA: Here are quick links to your answers:
DEAR KRISTEN: Thank you very much for your interest. We do have sliding doors which would fit, however due to shipping challenges we only provide them with the investment in a complete post frame building kit package. We would suggest you visit the ProDesk at your local The Home Depot®.
DEAR JON: 
Since January 1973 anemograph stations within the United Kingdom have tabulated for each clock hour the mean hourly speed and the maximum gust (of approximately three second duration). The ratio of maximum gust speed to the mean speed for individual hours as an effective height of 10 meters is referred to as the gust ratio. The mean wind ration is the ratio of the extreme gust speed to the extreme hourly mean speed, both having a return period of 50 years. This ratio turns out to be 1.60.
Take off the steel siding, remove the reflective radiant barrier from the walls and install a quality building wrap (like Tyvek), then put the siding back on. The barrier is keeping moisture in your building, whereas a building wrap allows moisture to exit. Completely fill the wall cavities with insulation. Place a well sealed vapor barrier between framing and gypsum wallboard to be installed on the walls. Do not place a vapor barrier between the ceiling drywall and the roof framing above.
Faced insulation is the absolute wrong product to use for insulating your ceiling. Any insulation placed at the truss bottom chord level should be unfaced. The best bet would be to blow insulation in above the finished ceiling.
