Spray foam in winter?

[Repsolracer22]

almost pulling the trigger on the closed cell spray foam. 40x60x12 building. Multiple companies are proposing to do the walls in either 1.5" or 2" and the back of the roof deck at 3". $10,000 for everything. Seems crazy and outrageous price-wise. But here's an interesting question.

I've heard about some stories with spray foam people not mixing the chemicals correctly and having adhesion issues. That aside, what about spraying this stuff in the cold temps? Not super cold, but 40-50 deg outside? I know this stuff is sprayed hot and needs to stick properly. So just wondering if anyone knows about how this would work? Spray foam companies will always tell you its no problem because they want the work im assuming .... but is there an 'optimal' time to spray this stuff?

 

[bearskinner]

check with the company you are having do the work. The guys I spoke with are going to come in with heaters to spray, as its getting cold here now, and I wont have the framing done for at least a week or two.

 

[Repsolracer22]

check with the company you are having do the work. The guys I spoke with are going to come in with heaters to spray, as its getting cold here now, and I wont have the framing done for at least a week or two.

and they brought in heaters because THEY wanted to stay warm, OR because they needed to heat the inside of the metal walls?

 

[James-W]

I am not positive of this, but I think the walls/ceiling needs to be warm, not sure just how warm, but maybe around 70 degrees. I also think the tanks need to be warm as well, not hot but at least room temperature, like around 70 degrees. You may be able to do it if everything is colder than that, but I am pretty sure you won't get as good of results as you would if the temperature was warmer.

 

[b4z]

$10k is cheap for that much area.

 

[b4z]

It will yield less in colder temps.

 

[Von Psycho]

I bought a can of spray foam the other day for some small areas, it said on the
can to use at 10c/50f minimum if that helps.

 

[BlackTalon]

The spray foam I've seen used had a 50 deg F minimum application temperature. Not air temperature -- the substrate temperature. Part of the issue is condensation; a tiny spot of water will grow into a big blister.

 

[dogdas]

10K for insulation, thats nuts! Do a spread sheet and compare the cost of glass blanket to the spray foam. Then figure how much R value you will gain with the spray. Find an online calculator and do a heat loss figure for the walls and remember the most heat is lost out the lid so use cellulose in the attic (very cheap). Unless you live near the north pole and central Maryland is not that cold you will find out that for the cost up charge for foam you can buy natural gas for at least 20 years before it pays off. If you are on propane it is going to be less savings but still.... Like I said most of your heat loss is in the lid so hit that with 20" of cellulose and you will rock the energy savings!

 

[MGB]

I wont spray foam on metal below 10 degrees celsius. And if it needs to be done, its got to be tarped off and heated from the outside. If you heat from inside you will get condensation, and the foam wont adhear, and will blister.

 

[JCfreak]

As long as the barrel are heated you will be ok on yield.

For the thickness you are getting a pretty good price.

Return on investment is always the issue with all forms of insulation.

 

[Scsmith42]

almost pulling the trigger on the closed cell spray foam. 40x60x12 building. Multiple companies are proposing to do the walls in either 1.5" or 2" and the back of the roof deck at 3". $10,000 for everything. Seems crazy and outrageous price-wise. But here's an interesting question.

I've heard about some stories with spray foam people not mixing the chemicals correctly and having adhesion issues. That aside, what about spraying this stuff in the cold temps? Not super cold, but 40-50 deg outside? I know this stuff is sprayed hot and needs to stick properly. So just wondering if anyone knows about how this would work? Spray foam companies will always tell you its no problem because they want the work im assuming .... but is there an 'optimal' time to spray this stuff?

I had three buildings sprayed today (with temps in the 50's). My installer said to wait until mid to late morning to start so that the sun could warm up the roofs, and then they use a cold weather technique where they spray a thin layer and let it cure for a minute or two, and then spray a thicker layer on top of it.

Price wise, a good budgetary price to use for open cell foam is $1.50 per square foot, and $2.00 per sq ft for closed cell foam.

 

[ksj9393]

I'd say your $10K price is pretty good too, based on my experience.

As for the temperature for "optimal" installation, the word I received, and research I did prior to having my whole house sprayed last month, is "yes", temperature matters. So does humidity. Two part closed cell urethane foam (ccSPF) is an exothermic reaction, giving off heat. Sprayed on a cold surface, adhesion potentially suffers due to vapor and condensation issues. The installers I had indicated the standard formula is good to about 50F, and a special "cold weather" formula can be used down to about 35F - substrate temp.

Ambient air temp affects cure time. If too cold, the foam will set up poorly, expand poorly, and fill voids poorly. Anyone who's worked with the canned foam realizes this. Interestingly, when I was sealing around my windows (temp 40F), I found that spritzing a fine mist into the cavity resulted in a better fill, with the foam expanding more fully. It took longer for the foam to "skin over" however at this temp, and had a tendency to collapse when abraided.

Bottom line? Above 50F, your fine. Under 40F? Not sure I'd want to proceed, unless you heated up substrate first.