Moved - New Shop - Structure Problems

[clint738]

Moved at the end of summer and the new place has a big shop. Have noticed the c-purlin inside is twisting. It wasn't 6 months ago. Went outside and looked at the roof line and I see a big dip. I didn't check before if the dip was there though. We did have like 4" of snow, which is a lot for this area. We also had probably 12" or rain which is unheard of in west texas. We had lakes fill that had been low for 10+ years. Wondering if maybe the roof could maybe have a leak that is saturating the insulation making it heavy?

Anyone here ever dealt with reinforcing a poorly built building? I have a plan of what I'm gonna do but thought I'd check here to see if anyone has done something similar.

[clint738]

Here is the twisting purlin
That is just pvc conduit going across, not bridging or steel.

[Noel]

I'm inclined to think leak and soggy insulation. Have you poked it with a sharp stick to see if it drips? The area in the first picture show a few screws clustered in a close area? With the weird Texas weather, snow and rain, it could be a small separation in the roof skin from a load of snow that cause a path for moisture to enter, insulation then is a sponge soaking it up. Around 10lbs a gallon makes for serious weight?

It might be worth your while to remove the insulation and the excess weight before things go from twisted to collapse. Or slice it to allow drainage if that is the case?

[MAC702]

No serious shop hasn't poked the ceiling a few times anyway.

[FusionKing]

I would mess around with it very carefully.
If you could get it back somewhat flat and then support it better, you may have diverted a disaster.
As I drive across the country I see buildings that have fallen in. Builders tend to cheat the snow load specs for certain areas.
Rule of thumb I was told was make it 10% underbuilt. Then only about 50% will claim warranty. That was an ex Morton crew chief and was around '87 when he told me that. he was building me a building at that time. I'm sure that isn't everyone....just who he was working under.
What kinda freaks me out about that is I'm sitting in a 10,000 sq. ft. Morton building typing this response.

[Noel]

The response has been slow to come?
Clint738...did you poke the bear to see if it spit back? Or are you buried under the rubble of a collapsed roof?
Re reading your post, looking at the pictures, I'm thinking it was there, you never noticed, the previous repair was the extra screws added where a previous repair was attempted when the panel buckled.
Insulation does look like it got wet? My experience... it, the wet, doesn't just dry up.
What's the plan? Cross your finger and hope for the best? Or slice it to drip dry, straight, reinforce the bent, re tape into place when the insulation dries out?

[clint738]

Well, I had leadership training this past weekend for boy scouts and got a bit busy, but noticed on Sunday it looked even worse. Didn't think it could wait much longer for a fix so took a 2 7/8" pipe and a floor jack and raised the jack about 3" by the lip of the c-purlin. That did remove a little bit of the twist out.
makes me feel a little better with a temporary support as the c-purlin was starting to twist more than 45 degrees.

I didn't get a chance to slice the insulation yet. That will probably be my next adventure. I'm trying to think how to best slice it so I can then put it back up.
It will probably be best to try to remove it at least temporarily so I don't set it on fire when welding. I'll try to take some pictures later today.

[FusionKing]

I would use an ice pick or similar sharp object for starters

[clint738]

Here is the temporary support.

[clint738]

Floor jack visible here. I'm going to weld some angle iron to the side of the pipe (parallel to it to have a flat surface to weld to) and then have some thick plate sticking up past the end of the pipe. This will give me an offset to reach into the c-purlin to raise from the underside instead of the lip on the outside.
It will allow me to jack up until the c-purlin straightens out without it hitting the pipe as I raise up.

For now, this is just a temporary setup as I have deadlines to get other things done first.

[Meltedmetal]

I presume that you are eventually going to cover all the plastic vapor barrier with something. Maybe you should just frame up and install the access hatch that you will need to the area above the insulation soon rather than cutting random holes in the insulation.

---Meltedmetal

Nice empty space by the way. Ahhhhh.

[Noel]

When they split me open, it was in the middle. Slip a piece of sheeting threw, firm enough to hold back the flaps? As far as things go, the plastic sheath might melt or spark open a hole, but unless you get out of control, I don't think you'll have much for worries. Besides, Boy Scouts need to earn badges. Or is it just starting fires?
Just don't fall off a ladder or have a pipe kick out. And a squirt bottle of water, set to stream...keep it handy just in case.
I really doubt you'll be going dry chemical crazy fire as a Scout Leader.
Thanks for the update as well.

[clint738]

Maybe you should just frame up and install the access hatch that you will need to the area above the insulation soon rather than cutting random holes in the insulation.

---Meltedmetal

Nice empty space by the way. Ahhhhh.

Can you explain more about the access hatch you are referring to? I'm not sure I understand. The insulation is flat against the sheet metal roof.
It appears they just layed the insulation perpendicular across the purlin the width of the building and then joined sections next to it until they got to the end of the building. The sheet metal is just layed over it sandwiching it against the purlin.

[Meltedmetal]

My mistake, I expected there to be an air/crawl space between the insulation and the sheet metal roof. Is the insulation some kind of bats like fiberglass or some sort of semi-hard board?

---Meltedmetal

[ryanjones2150]

There probably should be at least some sort of air space between the roof and the insulation. Friend of mine built a shop and put insulation right up against the roof like that and the next morning the insulation was laying on his floor soaking wet. Discovered there was an airflow gap doohickey he didn't install. Goes between the insulation and the roof, keeps the moisture out. He figured he didn't need it because he's a cheap prick. But it's also very humid down here on the gulf coast. Might not be an issue up there, but it also might be why the structure is twisting up.