Spray Foam Insulation

Waymo

Anyone done this before as a DIY'er, best places to look for this type of equipment for rental, or know cost difference of a professional doing this?

bluebird5

where do you live? why go to all that trouble? its in the $3 a square foot range are you doing a basement or the whole house?

ubenhad4

No such thing as DIY spray foam. Have to hire a insulation contractor. Its expensive but the best there is. Ive seen some new guys try and learn to run the gun. They only last a few seconds and get yanked. Its real easy to screw it up and make a huge expensive mess.

4020power

This is not true, they do sale "diy" kits to do sprayfoam insulation.

Waymo

East Texas...I just assumed it was the best way to insulate and most effective... About 1600 sq foot home so that's looking pricey! What are your hesitations?

Waymo

What's the best place to start looking?

4020power

I have never used this product but there are several more out there, just google diy spray foam

http://www.tigerfoam.com/

bluebird5

east texas i think its not worth it an open cell has about the same r value as fiberglass so there is no point unless you go with closed cell and it is more expensive than open cell its kind of like solar panels expensive as and takes forever to start "making money"

4020power

Comparing the r-value of foam to fiberglass is like comparing apples to oranges.

bluebird5

if the fiberglass is sloppy it is but if it is cut tight and for the money you save and living in a mild climate its not

ubenhad4

DIY spray foam is NOT going to perform like pro installation. If your going to spend that much money do it right. What I see mostly with spray foam is a 2 in coat of closed cell then blown in blanket. The advantage of spray is is seals the building envelope. A house around here has only .42 air changes per hour. Uses nothing to heat or cool the house. The advantages are you have to pump outside air in and pump the bad stail dirty inside air out. Means air exchanger on your HVAC. Foam is cool for what its designed for but it makes your house a breeding ground with trapped air if not ventilated right. These things in conjunction make spray foam insulation not a DIY project. You need pro advice on both install and hvac.

ubenhad4

The r value of open cell is like 3.5 . In a 2x6 wall thats only 19.5. Blow in blanket is 23. Closed cell is 38.5. The advantage of spray foam is not so much r value as much as stopping air flow completely. If you spray a couple inches of open cell, blow in balnket insul, and then provide 1/2 ridgis insul on the exterior for a thermal break your super dialed. Way better than 5.5 inches of closed cell.

bluebird5

yea but that would cost a fortune wouldn't?

4020power

I had a quote to do a 50'x100'x17. 5 1/2" in walls and 7" under roof, for around $11600

ubenhad4

Its definatly more than fiberglass batts but compared to everything else, solar electric, hydro geothermal, its the most bang for the buck. Open cell stops the air flow and seals any thing, at the same time its relativly inexpensive compared to filling the cavity. The blowin blanket is not much more than batts and way better, the ridged at 1/2 thick can be picked up between 8 and 12 bucks a sheet. I did the blow in and ridgid on mine. I thought that the ridgid also take care of pass thru air which it does but it doesnt take care of the internal wal air flow. Im not sure on my next house if I would use the spray or not. Definatly would put on the ridgid. You can see the difference in my house in the winter. Most houses you can see everystud line on a frosty day. On mine no such thing. Its also sealed the gaps around end of sheets and exteior penetrations.