Spraying Foam Insulation - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

Wolfgang · 01-01-2009, 07:23 AM

I have an old house (1924), that currently has vinyl siding over 3" clapboard. My plan this year is to remove all the vinyl and clapboard down to the sheeting/planking. I figured this would be a good time to have the walls insulated. My question is; can I have a Foam Insulation sprayed in or am I better off having a blown in type insulation? All the wiring has been redone so that isnt an issue. No, I dont want to have to R&R interior walls as the interior is completed. After its done, I plan on housewrap, foamboard, and new siding.

painterman · 01-01-2009, 09:07 AM

That would be the perfect time to do it. There are two types of foam ...closed cell... and open cell.. seems closed cell is the best. Although some open cell types "flow" better in tight cavities. Hope this helps

mics_54 · 01-01-2009, 10:24 AM

I'm not following your situation exactly. You have sheeting and planking on the outside and still have access to the exterior wall cavities from the inside? If that is the case you can have the exterior walls sprayed. The popular product used by commercial foam applicators in my region of the USA is "Corebond" Supposedly its more resistant to moisture, has better temperature application limits and requires no additional vapor barrier. Here it costs about .85/inchfoot. Not cheap.

SLSTech · 01-01-2009, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

I have an old house (1924), that currently has vinyl siding over 3" clapboard. My plan this year is to remove all the vinyl and clapboard down to the sheeting/planking. I figured this would be a good time to have the walls insulated. My question is; can I have a Foam Insulation sprayed in or am I better off having a blown in type insulation? All the wiring has been redone so that isnt an issue. No, I dont want to have to R&R interior walls as the interior is completed. After its done, I plan on housewrap, foamboard, and new siding.

No interior wall demolition, holes drilled on the outside, no insulation in exterior walls??? - try this
http://www.icynene.com/assets/docume...ifications.pdf

mics_54 · 01-01-2009, 10:47 AM

I guess that would work. I'm not familiar with that product. I know that corebond is much too expansive to attempt something like that.

Wolfgang · 01-01-2009, 12:22 PM

Plan on drilling plug holes where needed on the exterior. I didnt figure it would be cheap, but dont mind the investment. The PDF file from SLS was great.

bighammer · 01-03-2009, 08:46 AM

sls - have you used that lcynene before, seems like a intresting product.

dumb question - when you blow insulation do you have to have holes on top of the wall and the bottom of the wall for air to escape, how do you ensure that you are filling the entire stud cavity?

SLSTech · 01-03-2009, 12:20 PM

I have not used that product before but I have heard from people that have. I prefer Demilic for there closed cell spray in formula but that doesn't meet the needs listed above & to my knowledge Demilic doesn't have something like that.

The insulation contractor would best be able to answer the question on the holes, but to my knowledge only 1 hole is needed if there is no blocking in the wall. This hole is drilled up towards the very top of the bay & gravity works wonder, when it starts expanding the air is forced out of the hole.

To visually verify, the insulation should come out from the hole assuring the cavity has been filled. The best verification out there though is to use an IR camera.

tomstruble · 01-03-2009, 03:44 PM

some foams are poured in and some are sprayed