spray foam - headers and flat ceiling

biglumber35

I'm going to spray foam my whole house. I was wondering how a thermal break is achieved at a door or window header, there is nothing to spary foam and wood isn't an insulator. how is this done?? it will be a cold spot. Also my ceiling is flat how is that spray foamed (trusses have 2x4 bottom chord) I was thinking of drywalling it(no vapour barrier) and then spray foaming the drywall and bottom chord of trusses to 4" thick.. Last question... are special pot lights needed for the ceiling if going to encased in spray foam???


any info will be great

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that is how i see it on my side of the fence

joel v.

For the pot lights get some rated for fibre glass insulation. It will have a box around it for heat reasons. Between the door jamb and rough opening is usually spray foamed. A 4.5" door jamb will have an r- value of about 6.5 and a 6.5" jamb will be about 9.1. If a full width header is put in(3-2x and a half inch spacer) nothing but wood is used to insulate if it is 2-2x then they will rip insulation to size and insulate that way. Where there is wood there is less r-value. Nothing you can do about it.

My Old House

I agree with the above. The downlights should have a housing anyway, but be careful to avoid foam infiltrating the box. And the headers are going to have little room for insulation any way you do it, and like he said it's just a fact. But don't worry about it too much, because glazing is the same way. Since most heat is lost through air leaks and not through your building materials, I'd be more concerned with filling all the potential gaps - especially the roughing gaps at doors and windows that was already mentioned. Lastly - and I don't know how much you've already done - be careful about the insulation you choose. Most of the stuff out there is crap - some foams crumble and/or shrink away from the cavity walls as it dries. And I recommend using an open-cell foam to allow some vapor transfer through the wall system. A closed-cell foam has a higher density and R-value, but can create problems if moisture ever infiltrates your walls, or if you live in a climate that experiences cold Winters or hot Summers. You may want to read up on this more to see if a vapor barrier might be beneficial - and whether to place it on the interior or exterior surfaces of your walls.