The Manufactured Housing Forums

This is a weird situation. We bought a home in Arizona. It has what is called an “Arizona Room”. In Texas it would be a “Texas Room”. It is basically a screened in patio with a roof of deep corrugated steel. It is able to span at least 36’ because of the deep corrugations, so that is the whole roof package for these rooms. In the Spring, for about two weeks (this might occur in late February, I don’t remember) the steel roof drips due to the temperature differential I suppose. Standard “fix” for this situation is to lay 3” Styrofoam on top of the steel, after installing Styrofoam in the corrugation, which is basically a 4” trough. Then, as I understand it they spray a material over the Styrofoam to protect it. I want to insulate my Arizona Room to make it more usable in the winter, and summer. In winter it is pretty cold in there (60 degrees), and in June July, and August it is like a sauna. When I checked with one man who has had it done, he said they could no longer do it because the city had put a ban on the practice. It was pretty dicey in my opinion to start with.
I am going to install a suspended ceiling below the steel roof, and it seems to me if I insulate that space between the suspended ceiling and the steel, that would work just as well. I have talked to one guy in our park, and his is done that way and it has been working for him. I would lay 6” fiberglass bats, (wrapped in plastic film), making sure that the whole cavity above the suspended ceiling is filled. I am looking for some input on this.

You are talking about an area that is outside your homes insulation and heating/cooling area. There is no easy way to predict the energy efficiency of any retrofitted insulation..... please jet us know your results. .....

thanks

While I would like to provide enough insulation to be able to cool somewhat in the summer, and heat somewhat in the winter, my main concern is to eliminate the dripping from condensation for about two weeks in the spring when conditions are just so. I want to put a suspended ceiling in this room and don't want it to be ruined from the condensation, and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this situation, because there are a LOT of these types of rooms in Arizona and Texas in manufactured homes and park model homes.

I am not familiar with conditions in AZ....BUT HERE in Florida we have companies that insulate "Florida Rooms". I have seen some with a small window unit that keeps the dampness and heat down. Talk to the folks that build and install the rooms. They will be your best source for adding improvements.