Spray in foam insulation - DIY Chatroom

leted_82 · 05-14-2007, 05:54 PM

I was wondering what the pro's opinions are on using spray-in foam insulation. I would be using it to insulate concrete basement walls between 2x4 stud walls that I framed. I have about 120 feet of 8' wall to insulate.

Some websites I visited recommend having this professionally done. I have also located a couple sites that sell DIY kits. Two of these are Tiger Foam (www.tigerfoam.com) and FoamPower HandiFoam (www.foampower.com).

Anybody have experience with the DIY foam kits? Is spraying the 1" layer sufficient to drywall over? Thanks for any info!

andrea3821 · 05-30-2007, 07:25 PM

Bump

Beamer · 05-31-2007, 12:04 PM

I'm not a pro but I figure I'd chime in anyway. I did some research before having the inside of my metal barn/shop sprayed.

Tiger foam comes out to about 1 a square foot of wall (if you buy the 600 sf package). I had three reputable companies come out and give me quotes based on a 1" thick spray. The prices ranged from $.95 to 2.00 per square foot. I went with the local family business that did it for .95. They had a good rep.

I watch the guy spray the barn and even though he layed out plastic it pretty much is a big messy job. The stuff gets all over the guy spraying and he had to go through a dozen safety glasses. he was covered head to toe from the overspray. The hardest part was maintaining a consistant stroke so the foam expands evenly. This guy had been doing it for a long time. So my two points would be first, that you may find that someone can actually beat the Tigerfoam price including labor (like I did). Second your learning curve waste may cost you more in the long run.

Now that said, I will probaly buy some to do touch up or small areas that I didnt have done because I wasnt ready but for jobs bigger than spot spraying I will be calling the professional.

I hope that helps.

Mike

Beamer · 05-31-2007, 12:14 PM

Well, I wanted to try and address another part of your post concerning if 1" is enough. I guess it depends on the R factor your looking for, 1" of foam comes out to a 7 R factor. However, I believe that using foam gives you a better insulation due to its ability to fill in every crack, gap or hole. Its also a vapor barrier. In North Mississippi if I ac the barn then the metal is going to sweat. The foam stops that and gives a whole lot of structure to the metal panels. However, I have a second floor where I'll insulate the floor joists above the shop with regular batt insulation because its a lot cheaper and doesnt need the other benefits of the foam.

By the way, the stuff is a pain to remove wants it dries.