Insulation blowout or thermal bridging? My Colorado build taught me a hard lesson

I was sealing up my 40-foot high cube in Denver last November, thinking I had everything figured out with closed cell spray foam. Then the first freeze hit and I noticed cold spots right where the steel ribs meet, basically a thermal bridge I completely ignored. I ended up ripping out two panels and adding a continuous layer of rigid foam on the inside, which cost me an extra 600 bucks and three weekends. Has anyone else dealt with condensation forming on those interior steel frames in winter, or did you find a different fix?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivancoleman11d agoMost Upvoted

Is three weekends and 600 bucks really that big of a deal for a container build? I've seen guys ignore way worse thermal breaks and their place is still standing fine three years later. You have to pick your battles with these steel boxes, they're never going to be a perfect house. A little condensation on the ribs seems like something you could manage with a dehumidifier instead of tearing out perfectly good spray foam. Maybe I'm just cheap, but I'd rather buy a couple of damp-rid containers and call it done.

olivia_barnes9710d ago

You're not wrong about picking battles. Some of these builds are never gonna be perfect and you'll drive yourself crazy trying to get there. The damp-rid thing is a band-aid but sometimes band-aids are fine. I get the frustration with throwing away good spray foam, that stuff isn't cheap and ripping it out is a mess. Three weekends and 600 bucks adds up when you're already over budget and tired of working on the thing. I've seen way worse shortcuts hold up too, so I don't blame you for just wanting to move on.