Winterizing The Hangar

As some of you know, our hangar building was rammed by a semi-truck
this past August, during the repaving of our taxiway. Fairly extensive
damage was done to one corner of the building, but we were able to keep
the plane inside, thanks to the guy only hitting our "kitchen" area.
(No beer was harmed, thankfully!)

The airport maintenane guy put a tarp over the car-sized hole, and thus
it remained -- until this week. We were out of the hangar for four
days, while they replaced a major steel girder, and a bunch of sheet
metal.

So, today we moved back in. To facilitate repairs, we had moved
EVERYTHING out of the kitchen corner, which meant our counters,
microwave(s), refrigerators, and a screened in tent (which we put
inside the corner of the hangar not to keep bugs out, but to keep heat
IN) -- along with, of course, the airplane. (Which we got to store in
our historic Boeing/United Hangar, which was built in 1929 for the
airmail service. Man, if those walls could only talk...)

When we moved into our hangar six years ago, we attached high density
styrofoam sheets sheets (commonly known as "R" board) to some of the
sheet metal walls. We used caulk-gun construction adhesive to hold the
4' x 8' boards to the sheet metal, which has worked great.

Initially we did this not for insulation value, but to have a surface
to which we could staple photographs, maps, and the like. We
discovered that it was simply not possible to tape photos to the sheet
metal walls, since the cold and heat would eventually degrade the paper
and tape -- but the R-board worked great.

It also (naturally) made the hangar warmer. However, it's fairly
pricey stuff, and we ended up only insulating about 25% of the walls.
We also used the "Great Stuff" expandable aerosol foam stuff to fill
ALL cracks and voids in the hangar, to help keep the wind and snow out,
but also (more importantly) to keep the birds and bugs out. It has
worked great for this purpose. (Although you can see where birds have
pecked their way through it, in spots.)

And that's the way everything sat, until today. As long as the whole
hangar was ripped apart, Mary and I took the opportunity to buy half a
dozen more sheets of the R board, a few more cans of Great Stuff, and
got to work. Cutting the stuff to fit the angled roof line was a bit
tricky, but otherwise it's a simple "measure, cut, and glue" process
that goes pretty quickly.

Our two most exposed walls are now fully insulated (giving us several
more years of photograph-pin-up room!) and tightly sealed with Great
Stuff. You could almost instantly feel the place get less drafty,
although until I do something about the thin tin ceiling (which has a
roof ridge vent for ventilation) it will never be really *warm*.
(That's why we bought the tent. When you stick a torpedo heater into
the tent, the tent roof keeps the heat down closer to you. Without it,
the heat just instantly dissipates.)

Can anyone think of ANY way to insulate the ceiling/roof? The vent was
put in because (according to the gray heads on the field) moisture used
to build up so badly inside the unventilated tin box that airplanes
would be wet from condensation.

What do you guys do to keep your hangar warm, animal and snow free?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

What do you guys do to keep your hangar warm, animal and snow free?

Just one thing:

I live in Arizona. It works amazingly well !
---
Ken Reed
M20M, N9124X

--
Ken Reed
M20M, N9124X

Larger version of "Great Stuff". When we renovate our potato storage
warehouses, we have custom applicators come in and spray 3"-5" on the
interior walls and ceiling. Any openings such as a ridge cap are "boxed
out" and left open.
Jim

I know an old guy who uses "solar" heating. He has a South-facing
hangar, and has painted the doors black. So the sun warms the hangar
when it's cold out. When it isn't cold, he opens the doors - how much
depends on the temperature. He also has a false cieling of
plastic sheeting to keep the heat from rising to the top. Of course he
is retired, and spends nearly every day there - so he is the "manual"
thermostat.

As for critters, he keeps a 22 rifle with birdshot shells handy - and
doesn't hesitate to use it.

("Jim Burns" wrote)
Larger version of "Great Stuff". When we renovate our potato storage
warehouses, we have custom applicators come in and spray 3"-5" on the
interior walls and ceiling. Any openings such as a ridge cap are "boxed
out" and left open.


Cost? ....for the larger version of "Great Stuff"?

My thought was "insulation netting" with wire run up and twist-tied to
anything available, then blow in some ...(wait for it) ...old newspapers
into the new attic space you've created.

That blown in stuff is cheap - around here they (give) you the blower, free!
"Hey Joe."

40x30 = 1,200 sq-ft
Yours = 1,000 sq-ft (?)

Montblack-in-the-saddle-again

An old parachute as a 'ceiling' under the steel roof... It will slow
the rising warm air from instantly exiting the ridge vent yet allow
moisture exchange...

denny

What do you guys do to keep your hangar warm, animal and snow free?

Just one thing:

I live in Arizona. It works amazingly well !

And...you save on electricity costs by using it as an oven in summer!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

You can also rolled insulation in the ceiling. I also strongly recommend
ceiling fans- a few cheap ones from Home Depot will do wonders to help
circulate the air. Do you have gas available for heat in your hangar? A
Modine heater is relatively inexpensive, and in my previous hangar I had an
office buildout with baseboard electric heat. It makes tinkering on the
plane in the winter a lot more pleasant. I generally kept it at 40-45
degrees, but when needing to work on the plane jacked it up to 60. I found
that I flew a lot more in the winter when the hangar was more comfortable.

Now, all I need to do is figure out is how to get an electrically heated
ramp, and put a hot tub in the hangar.

An old parachute as a 'ceiling' under the steel roof... It will slow
the rising warm air from instantly exiting the ridge vent yet allow
moisture exchange...

Good idea! Any idea where I can get old parachutes anymore?

When I was a kid, the old "Army Surplus" store had dozens of 'em.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Cost? ....for the larger version of "Great Stuff"?

Yeah -- given that a little can of that stuff is, like, four bucks, I
can't imagine what the big stuff must cost!

My thought was "insulation netting" with wire run up and twist-tied to
anything available, then blow in some ...(wait for it) ...old newspapers
into the new attic space you've created.

Hmmm. Remember, we've got lights up there, and electricity...

Montblack-in-the-saddle-again

Glad you're back! How's the Newps 'puter working with a separate
monitor?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"