My Spray Foam Insulation Project
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The more general part of this home insulation process can be found at my Insulation page. If you haven't visited it, I encourage you to do so. There's a lot of information there that you will find useful if you're embarking on a home insulation project yourself.
Apart from one area that required rigid foam, and some minor walls where batt insulation is sufficient -- the greatest part of the insulation in my house is spray foam; that's why I felt it deserved its own page.
It's also the kind of insulation that people are most curious about, because it's relatively new. Until recently, it seemed financially out of reach -- but as the cost of energy rises, it is being considered more as an investment than a luxury.
WHAT ABOUT DIY SPRAY FOAM INSULATION?
Although most home insulation falls under the "do-it-yourself" category, I don't consider spray foam to be one of them and I would NOT recommend those DIY spray foam kits!Spray foam is NOT a product for amateurs. Spray foam contractors working for responsible companies have received serious training from the product manufacturer.
As you will see below, special protection equipment is required, and that's because even when the product itself is not toxic (which is doubtful), the fumes are extremely damaging to the lungs.
The small cans of spray foam for filling gaps are okay, and we used a tremendous number of them. They come in two types: low-expansion for around doors and windows, and high-expansion for filling other types of gaps. Check the can label to be sure; using the wrong type around doors and windows can be fatal.
SPRAY FOAM INSULATION, STEP-BY-STEP
1. Preliminary WorkBefore making the final appointment with the spray foam insulation contractor, we spent several weeks getting ready, especially in the following areas:
- Removal of dust, residues, nails, etc.
- Caulking and gap filling
- Support work
 | This is a mere sampling of what was behind all the walls and ceilings. How did the dust get there? It's a mystery. |
| Good old wet/dry vac at work. |  |
 | No dust bunny escapes this vacuum and its operator, even it if means perching himself precariously over the void. Luckily, there were no accidents. |
This is the crawl space under the kitchen-dinette. It had been used as a dumping-place by the previous owner. We emptied it last summer, but now we had to make it spic and span in preparation for the insulation. |  |
 | Now the crawl space is ready. The floor looks dirty because it's... well, dirt. |
This is the dust that came out of the gutted walls and ceilings. How on earth did it get in there? |  |
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| The kitchen-dinette cathedral ceiling had a gap which needed to be filled before applying the spray foam insulation. The "barrier" thus created would keep the foam up in the ceiling, where it belonged. A short piece of lumber did the trick. | |
 | Some of the areas that we caulked, and that required tube after tube and hour after hour, were the small spaces created by turning the two addition roofs into so-called cathedral ceilings.
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We filled these spaces with small rectangles of OSB (oriented-strand board), but since the structure had shifted over the years, small gaps were unavoidable. You can see the daylight around this one. | |
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| This is the rigid foam insulation which will be used in the floor of the sunroom-office, which sits directly over a plain concrete pad. Rigid foam in the ideal choice for such situations, as it's the only waterproof insulating material, and there have been problems with moisture there in the past. To get a nice cut to fit the space without shreds, a table saw turned out to be the best tool. | |
 | In order to keep the rigid foam from resting directly on the concrete pad, small ledges were built for the panels to sit on (where white arrows point). Three inches of foam insulation will be sprayed on top of those panels. Note, at the upper left of the top photo, the six-inch space that we are leaving open along the outside perimeter so that it may be filled completely with spray foam later. | |
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| Lastly, don't forget to protect anything valuable or vulnerable against spray foam insulation fallout! Like electrical outlets (left), windows (right), furniture, etc. 2. The Big Day! |
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| It's a foggy Fall day and the insulation truck is here at last! It's really a small factory on wheels... a factory run by an alien, it seems! 3. The Spraying Begins The foam being used here is the low-density (1/2-lb) type manufactured by Home Foam. It's polyurethane-based and water-propelled. | ||
 | We started with the kitchen-dinette. The arrow points to caulking referred to above -- essential to keep foam from escaping through gaps. |
| This is what the walls look like after spraying and before trimming. This type of foam expands so much and so fast that it's impossible to contain it... |  |
 | ... that's why it gets trimmed with a hand saw, the kind used for sawing wood... |
| ... resulting in a tremendous amount of waste, as shown here in the kitchen-dinette. |  |
 | Lunchtime! The fumes don't seem to affect the appetite. |
| Meanwhile, the insulation waste continues to accumulate... |  |
 | ... and accumulate. Will someone please invent a way of recycling this!!! |
| Here, the walls of the main building have been insulated and trimmed. |  |
4. The Spraying Continues, But In A Different Color The low-density (1/2 lb) foam areas -- all the main floor walls and some of the ceilings -- having been sprayed, the contractor then switched his equipment to the high-density (2-lb) product, the BASF Walltite blue foam. | |
 | First, he filled a six-inch open space around the perimeter of the sunroom-office floor, and now he's applying a few inches of blue foam on top of the rigid foam that we had installed earlier. |
| Now, the contractor is spraying the crawl space sill plates and walls with blue foam. |  |
| The fog is from the spraying: that's why the installer is wearing a respirator that is attached to a separate air supply equipment located outdoors. | |
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| Left: the crawl space walls with blue foam insulation; middle: basement sill plates have been sprayed to overflowing; right: note how dryer duct is encased in foam, eliminating any possible draft. | |
 | Here we see the sunroom-office with all spray foam insulation in place. (Distortion is caused by extra-wide-angle lens.) High-density foam -- like this blue one -- is ideal for cathedral ceilings -- as it requires no ventilation. It also acts as its own vapor barrier but we're going to put one up anyway. |
| Last, but not least, the kitchen-dinette ceiling also received four inches of blue spray foam insulation between the rafters. |  |
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| The dark side of my foam insulation project... | ... and the light side. |
| That's the end of the spray foam insulation project. | |
OTHER INSULATION TYPES WE USED1. Fiberglass BattsFor interior walls, we went for a more economical product. The new stairwell wall, for instance, was done with 24-inch wide fiberglass batts. I would have preferred rock wool (it's greener), but it's not available locally. The first photo shows the room side and the second, the stairwell side, which has been reinforced with wood slats to prevent the insulation from falling through, and offer support for the wallboard later. The warm [room] side will get covered with vapor barrier and drywall, but the stairwell side, which is the cold side, will only get drywall. | |
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| This time, we couldn't use the old insulation that we had carefully taken out of the walls during the deconstruction phase, with the idea of reusing it, because that was only 16 inches wide and this new wall's studs are 24 inches apart. However, we will be able to use it in the basement laundry room walls and if there's any left, in the attic. 2. Rigid Foam Insulation Please see the earlier section, where we describe the way we used this material to build up the sunroom-office floor. 3. Foil Insulation We did the kitchen-dinette walls with foil insulation. This unusual product doubles as a vapor barrier but it's a bit tricky to install. 4. Other Types We will keep adding to this section as we continue with the insulation project. ANOTHER PHOTO GALLERYThese photos have also been uploaded in a SmugMug gallery, where you can see them close-up or as a slideshow, if you prefer. | |
Go To HOME INSULATION
Go To FOIL INSULATION
Go To HOMEPAGE
