Why aren't there more DIY'ers for foam roof installations..

bginvestor

I'm in Arizona, and there are several sources that recommends SPF (foam) roofs for this desert climate.

I was kicking the idea of possibility of doing it myself, but found there just isn't too many people doing this. Why not?

There are several companies selling products that don't need special equipment. The one below sells foam in a tank w/ sprayer.

http://www.energyefficientsolutions.com/sprayfoam.asp

I have a townhouse that I need to cover about 1300 Sqft, could be a perfect project for this type of system.

Any reasons why not to do this? Seems pretty easy after the prep work, just check out some of the vidoes on youtube.

Any resources I can check out?

Clutchcargo

The main reason for me is that it's expensive. You need about 2 of the $620 kits per inch (r6.2) of insulation. In Massachusetts R30 is code so for me that's 5" or 10 of the $620 kits to cover 1300^2 ft.

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comp

gotta be a cheaper supplyer somewhere

bginvestor

Are you talking about under roof insulation? I am discussing the options of coating an Arizona roof (on top) and than coat w/ an elastameric material. As I understand, these are popular in Arizona.

SPF foam is already expensive. I here its about $300 a square (10' X 10' X1") without previous roof removal using contractors.

parkerfairfield

Hailing from right out of NYC ... I'm the kinda guy that:

• talks directly (I don't have 'extra time' to waste)
• treats everyone like a not distant relative - so I expect to hear about something if it wasn't successful.

All I've heard & seen about SPF is enough to know that even if it were the cheapest stuff around, I'd pass. And if my mom decided she had to have it, not only would I tell her to find someone else to put it on, I would have very little patience with her when she had a problem.

The long & the short of it is that with the EPA rules now, the 'good stuff' that USED to be in SPF in the 1980s are no longer there. The good stuff is gone.

What would I do? I'd put a 80mil "single ply" on over insulation. If it were my house, and I'd own it for awhile, I'd do IB ... If I was going with the idea of saving money... then I'd down grade to 50mil ... and if I needed to save more than that, I'd consider either Firestone or GAF.

I did a job in Morgan Hill, CA ... it gets hot there. Anyway, I did a job in April ... we showed up @ 7am on the final morning ... and there was 1/8 inch ice on the whole roof. The thing was, it had gone down to freezing for maybe an hour. The reason for the ice is that the emissivity (the rate which the roof 'sheds' its heat) is super high ... and therefore, the roof is never more than 5 or 10 degrees hotter than the air temp (unlike a hot tar roof, which even painted white, is often 50 degrees hotter). So, it condensed water faster, and then it froze. You should have seen my guys slipping on ice for the first time in their lives.