Barn steel roofing

[Paul in MN]

I built my pole barn in 1980 and used sheet steel roofing along with 6 panels of fiberglass to let light through. As I recall, the roofing metal was Wheeling steel "channel drain" or maybe "panel drain" with the raised ribs 6" O.C. The specs at that time were for the purlins to be 32" O.C. spacing to adequately support that steel with 50 lb/ sq ft snow load. I think the steel panels gave 30" width/sheet.

Fast forward to 2009. The current roofing available has ribs 9" O.C. and requires about 22" purlin spacing. And they give 36" width coverage per sheet.

Does anyone know a source of the older design panels? I especially need to replace the fiberglass sections as they have become quite thin and brittle. I really do not want to reroof the 41' X 85' barn and have to add a second purlin between each original one.

I am open to all ideas! Thanks for your thoughts and responses.

Paul in MN

 

[Mark - IN.]

Gosh Paul, that's going to be a tough one. If the manufacturer doesn't have in stock or make that anymore, can they perhaps suggest some of their installers or distributor dealers that you can contact that might have some stock buried somewhere? From what I read and think that I understand, your fiberglass matches the ribs? See, my barns have fiberglass ridge vents the length that provide light, and fasten down the length of the rooves. They were sealed by foam inserts, most of which blew down into the barns with high winds. Before I'd be tearing off and reroofing an otherwise good roof at some real big $$$, I'd be thinking in terms of thick plexiglass or something similar under those sheets of steel and using the perlins as support even if I had to frame in additional support around it to the purlins, and using the same kind of foam inserts as used on mine, only using some sort of adhiesive to keep it in place, RTV, silicone, whatever wasn't used on mine to close up any gaps. This spring I'm going to have to go up there and put those foam inserts back in, more permanently. I can't remember who I bought my barns from, but were out of Ohio and they offered fiberglass inserts like yours, but after what you just said, I'm glad I went with the ridge lights/vents. That i can get and replace easy enough.

Might not be want you to hear, and someone will no doubt frown on my hillbilly way of dealing with that...but aint no way I'd be replacing ($$$) an otherwise perfectly good roof if I didn't have to.

Good luck Paul.

Mark

 

[Paul in MN]

Mark,

I never thought about the plexiglass sheet idea. Interestingly enough, I salvaged about 30 sheets of new plexi about 30" X 48". It is new material and just sitting in the barn now. I'll have to do the measurements...when the snow and ice melt off the roof.

Thanks for the idea.

Paul in MN

 

[Mark - IN.]

Hey Paul, its about helping out or ideas. Purlins are what, 1"x3" or 4"? Maybe even 2x's. I would be trying to frame out around it to fill in the gaps and then fastening more 1"x3" or 4" to the purlins over them to support it, even if I had to put one or two down the length of the plexiglass to make up for the lost strength of the ribs in the fiberglass if I had to. Again, someone aint going to like it, someone more knowledgable about it...but I aint replacing that roof if I don't have to. You're welcome, and much good luck. Maybe someone else will have a much better idea, and that's not bad either. Hope something works out for you.

Mark

 

[JCB]

Paul. go to www.dipcraft.com - They have profiles to match just about any steel siding. You can search their site or call them toll free. I bought some from them 2 years ago to match some 40 year old steel. Nice people to deal with and will cut them to any lenght

 

[PaulW_NJ]

When I put a new roof on one of my outbuildings, I purchased steel panels from a nearby steel building erector. They had a large supply of roof and wall panel "leftovers" from completed buildings. You may not find all you need in the same color, but it"s worth calling around.

I don"t know how good the UV stability of plexiglass is. I"ve seen it get pretty brittle.

 

[Anonymous-0]

You have little to no chance of finding that product. It has been ten years since we found anything to repair the old ones, including old buildings to be torn down, and us taking the steel in trade for the tear off labor.

We have removed them, and went clear up and down the roof removing the sheets. Strong panel will match the configuration of the ribs. And I'm a little cloudy on this, but if you take the 36" panels and overlap the ribs, and rip the sheets somehow it will lay down, and be water tight. Maybe we went back till the 6" and 9" laps meshed????? I just can't remember back that far. But I know for a fact at some point they will mesh.

We then took the steel panels, that we tore off (up and down from fiberglass panel) and placed them where other fiberglass ones existed. If all else fails you go to the endwall, and tear off enough sheets to do your repairs. Then replace those panels with the 36" panels starting where the old panels left off.

You can overcome the incoming sunlight that you lost with a ridgecap called sun sky. You can not break these panels with a hammer, and are as clear as glass. They are very pricey, and I do have a roof that is leaking at the seams. I know they were calked at the seams, and overlapped. I think the calk was not compatable with the product. It will be spring before I will know any answer however. I was on this roof when we placed the sun sky, so I know it is not a hired man issue.

As far as the perloin spacing, I'm not so sure that is a real big concern. Some major building makers stretch the limits to over 33 inches, and seem to get buy. I'm not saying I do this on new construction, rather if there is repair work to be done, and the spacing is 33 inches, and the building is tweny years old...well It does not seem to be worth the effort to drop the spacing.

I forgot to mention, that if you tear off the panels starting on the endwall, calk the first seam with a silicone calk.

Regardless what you do, the sidwalk police will notice a repair has taken place.

Another thing that I recall doing is to take out approx 61 inches on one complete section up and down the roof. You must cut the rib off the old steel, or the new steel on one side of the removed portion, or maybe the new steel. Then overlap the panel 8" or so, with calk under the lap. This will give you steel panels to place over the fiberglass panels elsewhere.

You must also remember the vertical panels on your shed, Or a neighbor has a old building to tear down, they probably have the same panels. Maybe replace one half of the backside of the building, and bring those used panels to your roof.

If I recall correct, we tried placing different panels, and making the water jump over the old / or new panels. Was a bad idea at best, the cost of the adult beverages before you complete this process is very costly, even if you haven't drank before you started the project.

 

[JCB]

I did not mean to imply that you could buy replacement steel, but you can buy replacement coragated fiberglass panels that will fit your steel profile from the source I gave you.

 

[Bill in IL]

My dad had the same problem years ago with his fiberglass panels. He took the steel off his doors and replaced the skylights with steel then resided his doors with the new stuff. Its a lot of work and you will loose your skylights but the steel will match if you have sliding doors.

 

[Anonymous-0]

here in upstate ny we have a deale/supplier that has all of the channel drain products available from wheeling, Co.

In addition the ABC metal products out of Indianapolis. IN has profile very simular to what your needs are, there must be a distributor nearby - search ABC roofing products.
As for the groove spacing vs. purlin spacing/per code area -- the closer the grooves (called major ribs) the further apart the purlins can be spaced i.e. ABC Imperial rib is spaced every 9" therefore 2' purlin whereas Wheeling's Channel Drain's major rib profile is @ 6" spacing spacing (stronger corrigation) (greater snow load capacity) permits 2' purlin placement.

Aside from that, ABC's profile come real close to "meshing" with your channel drain and with all of the posts o here there certainly is no need to re-roof as you can easily butt up with a little American ingenuity... Good luck.. JIM

 

[Paul in MN]

Thanks to all for the good ideas. I built this barn, but as more of a carpenter than a metal man, I did the siding with rough sawn elm and oak. It has stood up pretty well except the south side where the serve drying by the sun caused the wood to stress crack, so I replaced it with cedar from some tear off job. Bottom line, I never did any siding with any of the 6" rib metal, so I can't take any off to use on the roof. The roof metal was not painted, just the galvanize layer which has lasted suprisingly well, given that it is 29 years old. I am seeing some rust streaks, but mainly below the fiberglass panels...as if they gave off a mild acid. But the rust is of no structural consequence at this time and I'll put some silver/gray paint over it when I get up on the roof to do the plastic panel repair.

Thanks for the good thoughts and ideas.

Paul in MN