spray foam

[Dave Maxwell]

OK I'm thinking about the spray foam. Will do it as money allows. Tiger foam closed cell. How thick do I need to make it if im just using it as a sealer before rolled fiberglass r19? Any other good sources for DIY foam kits?

 

[soapii]

Why waste your time/money with batting over top of spray? Closed cell is the best available, not only will it add structural integrity to the building but it is also water/mildew resistant and provides 100% air block (when sprayed correctly).

You only need 2" to perform at R-19 levels (or better) with the extra benefits I mentioned above. One pass with a gun will expand out to 2" so you can move very quickly.

--Joe

 

[Highbeam]

So you would spray onto the inside of the metal siding? Pole barn right?

 

[Dave Maxwell]

I thought I needed to fill the void with rolled

 

[Dave Maxwell]

Would I get good sound proofing also. For 3,000 I could put 1 inch of tiger foam then the roles is why I had thought about rolled. Expense

 

[soapii]

You do not need to fill the air void.

--Joe

 

[oilslick]

Dave, I had the same idea, decided to do old school blown in and batts in walls, part way in and now fiberglass insulation prices are goin up over double since July! Wish I had the bucks for spray foam but reality is 7600$ was just too much, I plan to have less than half in my method of 7/16" osb on all of it and batts and blown in. My way has been tons of work and man I am only nearly half done putting up ceiling,thank god for a borrowed drywall jack with ext to reach my 14.5' ceiling.

 

[wedge40]

Dave you're not the only with this line of thinking. I plan on doing the exact same thing. Putting down a 1" layer of foam to seal everything tight and then put in fiberglass to get R-value up.

Wedge

 

[4rcFed]

Does anyone know of any closed cell DIY kits available?

 

[green.bubbly]

Why waste your time/money with batting over top of spray? Closed cell is the best available, not only will it add structural integrity to the building but it is also water/mildew resistant and provides 100% air block (when sprayed correctly).

You only need 2" to perform at R-19 levels (or better) with the extra benefits I mentioned above. One pass with a gun will expand out to 2" so you can move very quickly.

--Joe

I thought 1" of closed cell was R-6?

 

[cj7365]

I did my whole house with closed cell, I couldnt be happier, in other words, IT KICKS ***

 

[4rcFed]

Did you do your house yourself (i.e. DIY kit), or did you bring someone in?

I want to do a couple different spots in the house right now, but hate to call someone in for a small job. If I call someone to spray, I'd rather have a large area ready, but I don't want to tear out walls for no reason just yet.

 

[danski0224]

OK I'm thinking about the spray foam. Will do it as money allows. Tiger foam closed cell. How thick do I need to make it if im just using it as a sealer before rolled fiberglass r19? Any other good sources for DIY foam kits?

What you are talking about is called "flash and batt".

You need to make sure there is enough foam to prevent condensation, allowing moisture to get into the fiberglass.

 

[4rcFed]

I did my whole house with closed cell, I couldnt be happier, in other words, IT KICKS ***

CJ, did you do this yourself?

 

[Dave Maxwell]

Was thinking about 1 inch of foam then the r19 bats

 

[DustynF]

I had closed cell sprayed under the house and open cell sprayed in the garage. Under the house it is sprayed around two inches thick and in the garage it's sprayed 3-1/2 inches the depth of the 2x4. I looked at all the diy kits and they couldn't touch the price of the local vendor. Plus I talked to some pro's on this site and they said it would be difficult to get a diy kit mix correctly. something about catlyst and gorilla glue mixing correctly. I don't know what you are working with but if you have tall ceilings and other obstacles the diy kits are a pain. I looked at prices from tiger foam and sprayfoamdirect. After shipping they couldn't compete with spraying 1.90 a board foot @ 3 inches thick. Something to think about.

 

[REPO]

Seems as it would be a waste of time to put fiberglass over spray foam. I personally would just make the foam thicker.

 

[HeloMech]

Will the foam be safe above a radiant tube heater?

 

[Dave Maxwell]

My only reason for fiberglass after sealing the building with foam was can't afford all foam

 

[danski0224]

Foam + dense pack cellulose would be better.

Again, the foam base must be thick enough tp prevent condensation in the wall.

 

[kyles974]

I had closed cell sprayed under the house and open cell sprayed in the garage. Under the house it is sprayed around two inches thick and in the garage it's sprayed 3-1/2 inches the depth of the 2x4. I looked at all the diy kits and they couldn't touch the price of the local vendor. Plus I talked to some pro's on this site and they said it would be difficult to get a diy kit mix correctly. something about catlyst and gorilla glue mixing correctly. I don't know what you are working with but if you have tall ceilings and other obstacles the diy kits are a pain. I looked at prices from tiger foam and sprayfoamdirect. After shipping they couldn't compete with spraying 1.90 a board foot @ 3 inches thick. Something to think about.

I research foam quite a bit about a year or two ago. I found that many said about the same thing. It was close to the same if not cheaper to have a "proffesional" spray it than to get a DIY kit.

 

[cj7365]

CJ, did you do this yourself?

I did not do it myself, never really thought about it, but after watching them Im glad I did not, it took 3 guys about 12 hours to do my 1500 sq ft house, but that includes clean up and taping everything off


these guys did my insulation http://www.newerasprayfoam.com/

they have a pretty cool cost savings caluculator

 

[ixlr8]

Foam + dense pack cellulose would be better.

Again, the foam base must be thick enough to prevent condensation in the wall.

This is the key to foam and batts/cellulose if you can't afford to do all foam. The spray foam must be thick enough so there is no condensation in the wall. The condensation temperature must happen somewhere within the foam. So in the south, 1" should be enough, but in Canada, 3" might be necessary. Most closed cell spray foams are R-6/inch. For DIY kits, the temperature of containers, while spraying, is very important for proper mixture and reaction.

 

[bglad]

I agree with Dave. It can get very expensive using foam. How thick does the foam have to be to prevent condensation?

 

[danski0224]

OK I'm thinking about the spray foam. Will do it as money allows. Tiger foam closed cell. How thick do I need to make it if im just using it as a sealer before rolled fiberglass r19? Any other good sources for DIY foam kits?

Chemical and surface temperature are very important, and chemical temperature is critical. Unless conditions are right, you will have a great deal of difficulty with the DIY kits, especially factoring in the application tools.

I would strongly suggest buying a small kit to see how it works out if you are dead set on DIY for this project.

I would suggest obtaining estimates if you have not done so. The cost per board foot can go down if the project exceeds their minimum show up charge.

A pro spray foam rig is ~$100k.

Yes, I did attempt a very small spray foam project DIY, and it was an expensive disaster. I wouldn't even think about doing a room or a house DIY.

 

[Dave Maxwell]

Would prefer to let a pro do it. Didn't think it was in the budget. Been looking for one on the last few days

 

[unluckyty]

Spray foam is R rated per inch, but I don't think it can be compared to fiberglass insulation as apple to apples so to speak. It performs so much better and seals all air infiltration. I originally had planned to use foam then Fiberglass. As I had an older home I had remodeled. Spayed 2" of foam professionally sprayed in upstairs, open stairway room temp was only 3-4 degrees difference than downstairs. That was with no heating source or drywall upstairs. Needless to say, I did not install the fiberglass. Very happy with it so far.

Greg

 

[bglad]

I've been reading this thread and also am concerned about the price of foam. I just finished my floor and getting ready to frame the interior. I started thinking about the DIY kits, but after reading one of the last replies about the mix I'm not quite sure if I want to go that route.

 

[bglad]

How thick does the foam need to be?

 

[bglad]

To avoid condensation.

 

[ixlr8]

How thick does the foam need to be?
To avoid condensation.

Depends on how cold it gets outside where you live. When I was looking into it, I spent hours searching for that answer, I did finally find a good guideline... now I can't find the link, sorry. If you are in upstate NY, I am guessing you need at least 2" or R12.

 

[moserjj]

The guy who did my foam said over half your wall cavity r value needs to be in foam if doing flash and batt

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[csp]

How thick does the foam need to be?

You asked that in post #24 and the answer was in the post right above it.

As said a few times now, the condensation point depends on where you are at as the temperature and relative humidity both make a difference in that number.

 

[cowboyjosh]

I had the rim joist of my 5 year old house spray foamed last spring with 2 inches or R-19 and then put R-13 batts over the spray foam (code to cover the spray foam with a fire resistant material).

I thought the whole setup the insulation guy had was slick, so slick I had him spray foam a house I had under construction. One thing I learned on the new build I had him spray was you gotta watch out for exocentric heat, or the heat generated by the foam when its sprayed and as its curing. On a couple passes he had the material smoking from laying it on a little too thick at once. To build up the foam you have to do it it in lifts otherwise you risk starting the building on fire.

Only other concern with a spray foamed house is to make sure there is enough combustion air for gas fired appliances.

Other then a couple caveats, closed cell spray foam is great, but not once has any of my clients ever spec'ed or requested spray foam in their new homes.

 

[MrMark]

Seems to be a Canada thing. Holmes on Holmes is giddy for it. It's all he talks about. It has actually made his show into buffoonery. It makes me sick looking at the mess it makes.

 

[walrus]

To avoid condensation.

R10 according to www.buildingscience.com

 

[bglad]

Missed that post, sorry.