Painting and insulating the new hangar

David Groat

David Groat

Filing Flight Plan
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Groatski
I'm going to be moving into a hangar at a different airport soon. The new hangar is older, dingier and smaller than my current one, but it's cheaper and way closer to home.

There's going to be a 4 month long overlap, and I want to use this time to prep the new hangar. The concrete floor is in good shape, but dirty and heavily stained. I want to clean it up and paint it with some high end floor epoxy. I also want to add electrical outlets, better lighting and insulation.

It's a standard sheet metal T-hangar with an electric vertical bi-fold door. I can handle the electrical upgrades without issue, but I'm less sure on the best way to clean the floor and insulate. I've seen other hangars that have insulated white plastic sheeting (or so it appears) on the walls and ceiling. Anyone know what that stuff is and where to get it? Also, is there any good way to insulate the door without major surgery? I can see lots of daylight thru the cracks when it's closed.

As far as cleaning the floor, I'm thinking some agressive detergent and a powerful power washer. Any recommendations?

Thanks.
 
I need to take a break from the computer.... Read the thread title as "Painting and insinuating the new hangar"
 
TSP for the floor.. follow all instructions and safety advice to the letter. Will look like new probably. Then topcoat. You can use foam panel insulation or the blankets like for pole barns or foam insulated wall panels. Google will get you started.
 
Don’t know where the OP is but concerning insulation. I’m in NC where my primary concern is keep in things cooler in the summer... but we do have plenty of freezing temps as well.

I used some of the ‘white plastic stuff’ which is actually lined with foil on one side, with about 1/8” of some insulating material sandwiched by white plastic on the inside. The foil is very effective in bouncing infrared from the sun baked exterior right back out. And it’s remarkably effective at keeping heat in or cold out.

No numbers but with no HVAC the insulation simply stabilizes things so it never gets too hot or too cold. With HVAC, well it works really well.

Dead air insulation is effective but for metal building, especially unsealed ones, simply sealing up the interior space with a reflective element facing outwards worked surprisingly well for me. It’s light weight and easy to install, mainly with 2-sided adhesive tapes.


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Be very careful when applying the floor paint. Note well the minimum temperature on the instructions. My brother-in-law in his first and last attempt at home improvement tried painting his garage floor. It got below the 45 degrees or whatever the paint said to maintain while it was curing and made an unholy mess.

My hangar is spray foamed. While it is heated, it's amazing how well the thing stays cool (compared to the attached car garages) in the NC summer. If I had it to do over again, I'd do the garage too (yes, I know it can be retrofitted...some day). I just put the 4-post lift in the hangar. The garages are for storage only.
 
Do you own the hangar? Improvements aren’t cheap and if a lease, the owner would have a say, yes?

I hate floor coatings. They chip and peel and look like crap. Vapor pressure pops paint. There are breathable epoxies available that may work better. Polished natural concrete works for me. Some staining isn’t a big deal.

My walls, ceiling, and foamed one piece door are painted white. It’s perfect.
 
I dont have access to water, so I’m planning on renting a machine to scarify the floor, before laying down an epoxy floor coating. The scarification will leave some grit, even after sweeping and blowing the floor, which is fine with me. Again, no water to wash and I’m not renting an H2O tank.
 
Why not put down the snap together floor tiles (Griot’s Garage), easy clean prep, easy install and can take it with you if you move?
 
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