Covering a clear ridge cap on pole barn ?

My 40x40 pole building has a clear polycarbonate ridge cap/vent that is 10" -12" wide. Makes it nice to have the natural light during the day, but in the summer it creates a green house affect and can really heat up the inside. As you walk through you can feel the hot spots where the sun is beaming through in the afternoon. It's great in the winter , but makes keeping things cool in the summer impossible. I know a metal building in the sun is going to get hot , but would replacing the clear cap with a sold metal one keep things cooler ? I thought about leaving one section clear to get some light in during the day. What about just painting over the cap , kind of a semi permanent fix to see the difference ? Any thoughts or advice ? -Thanks

Maybe a ridge vent.

Maybe you could take like a 4' strip of something like a silver tarp or a strip of that rubber like they use on rubber roofs (use white or paint white) Put that on and see if it makes any difference. And like Charles said you would need 2 or 3 vents. You could at least experiment with something not too expensive until you decide if it helps. Really I don't think its going to help that much. I know if you have to work top side of a combine under a roof, its best to do it early, no I mean real early in the morning.

Do what we used to do with glass green house. White wash it, just take some lime and water and mix it till you can brush it on with a heavy brush and forget about it. Put it on at the start of summer and by winter it will pretty much have washed off so you get the sunlight when you want it most. Very cheap and it works well.

does the roof have any insulation under the metal portion ?

if not take an infer red thermometer the type with the laser and on a warm day shoot the under side of the ceiling. even on white roof buildings with good ventilation , a vented ridge and 2 larger doors the under side of the steel may be 50 degrees hotter than the air temp

2 buildings next to each other one with a thin layer of insulation neither having any light coming through and the ceiling temp in the insulated building was 144 and the ceiling temp in the building with some insulation was 86 that is a 58 degree difference the two buildings were 15 feet apart both had all doors open the un-insulated building has large exhaust fans to try and clear the heat out but they just can't move enough air fast enough.

so while light might be causing warm spots an un-insulated ceiling might well be heating it up a lot also.

if it is primarily the sun coming thru the clear ridge , some shade cloth hung from the bottom of the trusses might dissipate the intensity enough leaving the shade cloth to heat up with air moving through it and exhausting yet leave you enough light to see and and reduce the warm spots on the floor.

shade cloth is also use on green houses in the summer to reduce the intensity of the light coming in , typically it is done over the top but it would be worth a try to do it from the trusses first and see how much it helps before you have to go for a walk on the steel and try and find a way to fasten it from to the roof

You could go to a farm store and buy two of those low cost plastic tarps that are 10 by 20 feet or so, or buy one and cut it in half and staple gun or fasten that up on the trusses or rafters in the spring and then unfasten one side and let that hang down in the winter so you have the cooler summer and warmer winter.

Bryce

It's a uninsulated metal building, and the clear "cap" is a ridge vent. It has the mesh filters running down both sides. Someone at work suggested plastic dip paint that can be peeled off if needed.

Why not just get a set of 1x12's to put on the underside of the trusses right under the ridge.


Scab a 2x4 to the trusses where they spread out to 14" or so for a flat handy place to lay them. ( Like an A frame)

you can take them off in the fall, put them back up in the spring.

Cieling fan run in reverse. Ridge vent.

Roof insulation and venting is the key -- I am amazed at the difference and even whether the roof is galvanized or white paintet.

I have two ceiling fans running in reverse and a ridge vent. It was 91* outside today and almost 100* in the building.

I think the cheapest, easiest way to block the clear ridge cap that is reversible would be to get five sixteen foot long 1 x (whatever width needed to cover one side of the ridge vent). Butt them together with screws and lay over the top of ridge vent. the fifth 1 X will be cut in half to form the cover for the last eight feet of ridge cap (16 + 16 + 8 =40).

Butted together they will form a 90 degree angle which I doubt would lay flat on your ridge (your roof would have to be a 12/12 pitch). but it will still work. If you have carpentry skills and want the cover to lay flat rip the proper angle on each edge before screwing together.

Attach with a minimum amount of 2.5"-3" metal roofing screws, like four or six per 16" cover, two or three per side. If it works and lowers the interior temp significantly you can do a more permanent solution like painting the clear cap or replacing it with a metal cap. If it doesn't make a big difference, simply remove. Be sure to put roofing screws into the holes left from attaching the cover.

1 x pine material is relatively inexpensive and can always be used for something in the shop.

Whitewash it! Blocks the sun in the summer and Mother Nature takes it off in the fall. Doesn't get cheaper or easier than that.

I like Lugnuts idea

an un-insulated building and your only 8-9 degrees warmer in than out your doing great. exceptional you must have a good ridge vent and a lot of doors open and good air flow.

white wash that clear cap or put up something high to block the sun from streaming in. but I will bet it doesn't help more than 2-3 degrees in overall building temp.


insulation is what is lacking , shoot the underside of the steel on a sunny day with an infer red thermometer and you will see your real issue , when the ceiling is 30+ degrees hotter than the air temp outside it is like trying to cool down an oven with the broiler still running you can open the door but it will still be hot.

If it is a vent then I would not suggest closing that off. Hot air rises and a pole barn with a 3/12 or 4 /12 pitch (the more the better) will create a chimney effect, especially if you have side doors open etc. If you notice that there are bands of hotter places down where you are walking due to sun penetration you can be sure that it is much warmer near the ridge cap. If you keep the shed closed up most of the time you are not letting the natural air system work and covering your ridge will have minimal positive impact.


Bryce

I would think 4-5' wide shade cloth hung in the truss 2-3 feet below the ridge would let light in, but difuse the intesity.

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For clarification; I was not suggesting he close off the ridge vent but that he cover the clear ridge cap. It would be difficult to close a continuous ridge vent even if he wanted to because of the nature of ridge vents on steel buildings. The flat ridge cap attaches to the high spots on the profile of the roofing panels. This create spaces between the low areas and the ridge cap that act as a vent. The spaces usually have a breathable, heavy matrix material that matches the roof panel profile installed under, and along the edge of, the ridge cap. The matrix allows heat to escape but excludes insects.