Metal Roof In Wisconsin Winters - Insulation? Foam caps? Plywood? Or will just purlins do?

[Coopin Is a Habit]

Title pretty much says it all. Do I need to have vapor barrier on plywood, purlins, then foam closure strips, and then roof? Or will birds do just fine with just the metal roof on purlins. It will have very good insulation as it is a Woods Open air coop. Thanks in advance for any answers!

 

[WI chickens]

Not sure what you mean by "very good insulation" because Woods Open Air coops aren't normally insulated. I have a Woods coop. Mine has OSB, covered by rubber roofing material, covered by metal roof.

 

[Brooks_]

Not sure what you mean by "very good insulation"

Guessing ventilation is what was meant. I would not count on ventilation to clear condensation under a metal roof in a cold climate.

 

[WI chickens]

You are probably right.

A bare metal roof on a coop in WI would be a very bad idea. It transfers cold much more than wood does, it gets condensation in the coop, it's really noisy in wind, rain, or when something like a branch falls on it.

 

[aart]

Even with good ventilation a bare metal roof could produce condensation given the right circumstances(snow on roof during a thaw), after all the moisture is in all the air.

 

[mowin]

I've always sheathed with OSB, felt paper, purlins then metal roofing. Figured it was worth the effort to eliminate the chance of condensation.

 

[Sueby]

Both of my coops have metal roofs here in CT & I've never had condensation. But, both coops have very good ventilation up at the roof level.

 

[Coopin Is a Habit]

Not sure what you mean by "very good insulation" because Woods Open Air coops aren't normally insulated. I have a Woods coop. Mine has OSB, covered by rubber roofing material, covered by metal roof.

@Brooks_ Yes, ventilation is what I meant. Sorry about that. Wisconsin, what is the rubber roofing material you have? I have a 6 mil vapor barrier but a full rubber one sounds better. At least for the roof.

 

[Coopin Is a Habit]

I've always sheathed with OSB, felt paper, purlins then metal roofing. Figured it was worth the effort to eliminate the chance of condensation.

What kind of felt paper are you using? Also, do you use the foam inserts to block off the tops/bottoms so critters don't get underneath? Someone suggested that to me and I'm wondering if others have done the same

 

[WI chickens]

@Brooks_ Yes, ventilation is what I meant. Sorry about that. Wisconsin, what is the rubber roofing material you have? I have a 6 mil vapor barrier but a full rubber one sounds better. At least for the roof.

I use commercial rubber roofing. It's very thick. I know you are short on time, but in the future, if you are driving around and see work being done on a large commercial roof, just ask one of the workers if you can get the stuff they are tearing off. They have to pay to dumpster it and have it hauled off, so they are happy to give it to you. If it gets a tiny leak anywhere, they pull the whole roof off and redo all the rubber. Or for any other reason they have to tear into the roof. I have thousands of square feet of it. The stuff lasts forever. You can buy it at the big box stores but it's expensive and I would rather get it free and keep it out of the landfills. Win/win.