Visible Condensation

To effectively control visible condensation, it is necessary to reduce the cold surface areas where condensation may occur. It is also important to minimize the air moisture content within a building through the use of properly designed ventilating systems.

Ridge Vent

Ridge vents come completely assembled for ease of installation. Ridge vents supplied by Metal Building Depot are of a low profile design to provide gravity type ventilation. Because gravity ridge vents are designed to allow free airflow, some penetration of water during blowing rains is to be expected. Standard available finishes for the ridge vents are polar white and galvalume. Other colors may be available at an additional cost. Nominal ridge vent length is 10'-0". Ridge vents are available with 9" and 12" throats. Bird screens are provided as a standard. The ridge vents can be ordered as continuous or single units. Exterior parts are 26 gage painted or galvalume. Interior parts are all made of G90 galvanized steel. The substructure consists of 10 gage saddle straps with interior baffles of 24 gage steel. Lifter arms and damper slides are made of 18 gage steel. Manual operation is through activation of a pull bar which is attached internally to bell cranked type lifter arms connected to the damper with Teflon coated pins through the damper slides. Dampers are spring loaded to remain in the open position until the pull bar is operated and locked in the closed position. Dampers operate in a vertical manner. Each vent is opened by a pull chain that extends approximately 12" below the roof unless noted otherwise on the order documents. Other opening mechanisms are available at an additional cost upon special request. Ridge vents should not be placed closer than 5’-0" to the endwall steel line to allow room to properly flash the building. For example, a 90’-0" long building with ridge vents required the entire length should have no more than (8) units. The ridge vents are available with the following accessories:

Metal Building Depot Sky Light

The Metal Building Depot sky light is an economical method of allowing natural lighting into your building. Sky Lights are commonly used for wall applications in lieu of roof. The sky lights are field installed with self-drilling screws and 3/8" grommet seal fasteners (field drilling required). The sky lights are available in 5'-0" and 10'-0" nominal lengths as a standard. The panel at the end of any wall with sky lights will be a full height metal panel for better corner trim attachment.

Installation Overview

The metal building is rapidly becoming more popular for a variety of reasons. They can be built very quickly and are extremely low in cost. They can easily adapt to any number of external architectural treatments without restricting their interior floor planning. A primary reason for this flexibility is the development of insulation specifically designed for metal buildings. The development of advanced insulation systems with more efficient thermal performance is so advanced that it has enabled metal buildings everywhere to evolve into many of the showrooms, retail outlets, schools, offices and shopping centers we see today.

Today's high-energy costs have made insulation a critical consideration during any construction planning. An insulation system that is properly selected and professionally installed will return more on its investment than any other building component.

Insulation provides many benefits:

Improved appearance, Greater comfort, Substantial reductions in fuel and electricity costs, Condensation and noise control, Reduction of the amount of investment dollars and space needed for heating and cooling equipment.

Recommended Installation Methods of Insulation

Roof insulation rolls are cut to lengths that will cover the distance from eave to eave, leaving a one-foot overhang on each side of the building.

1) Start at the end of the building and temporarily secure one end of the roll by attaching the insulation to the eave strut with double-faced tape.

2) Pull the insulation across the purlins with the vapor barrier toward the building interior. Double-faced tape attached to the opposite end of the insulation will keep tension on the roof roll while the metal panels are being attached over the insulation.

3) Install the next roll in the same manner, making sure the rolls are stretched tight, aligned properly and closely butted.

4) Fasten tabs using one of the methods described on the following page. Any rips or tears must be covered with matching facing tape to ensure a tight vapor seal.

5) Trim excess insulation flush to prevent it from acting as a wick and moving water into the building.