Spray foam in a house

[08arcticcat]

Were looking at building a new house next spring. 1820 sq ft, bungalow with blown in R60 roof, and triple pane windows. I told the builder to make it warm and he came back with 4.5" of closed high density spray foam. About R5.5/ inch. I think he said its like 6g less to do roxul mineral wool.

How much better is spray foam? Even if it saved 25 dollars a month in gas and AC, thats 20 years recovery, not to mention the extra interest on the mortgage.

 

[Eagle]

I built 2 years ago, bungalow also. I did the spray foam and I can say that it was the best money spent on my house. I am an electrician so I brought home our IR Gun which detects temps. My house is 3600 sq ft and I can honestly say I have one 3 inch spot in the top corner of my family room that has a small draft (That's it). No drafts around outlets which is common with standard insulation. The sound proofing is amazing. The only thing I wish I would have done is the roof I did blow in. My thoughts was if I ever wanted to add something via the ceiling it would be easier with blow in. They can spray foam your house in one day and be dry-walling the next. Much faster. My two cents

 

[Eagle]

P.S I used Spray Solutions out of Spruce Grove.

 

[ferniesnow]

Contact Trashy for further information. He does this for a living.

 

[rsaint]

We are building as we speak and we did sip panels house 8' 1650sq ft,garage 10' 1600 sq ft and the walkout 9' 56' long wall in basement, a true r25 insulating value, cost was 26g up in 2 days, and 1 day for walkout, finished wire it and drywall, cost was about 5000 more biggest saving is time they fit like a glove on foundation all r/o for windows and doors and cutouts for electrical done. S structrual I insulated P panels they come in 6.5'' and 8.5''.

 

[08arcticcat]

I was gonna do sip walls, but the company labour quote was atrocious.

 

[Ronaha]

I'd just do roxul and vaper barrier,spray foam is so pricey,but really good for more industrial use, hard to reach and wet areas etc.

 

[Tchetek]

I had mixed feelings but think it definitely has it has its places to be used but was not impressed with other spots.

In my experience they could not fit the gun in at the right angle to get the spray in the trough to get at locations in tight access locations in the rim boards.

Then they they sprayed over the access crack to the tight area to make it look filled up.

And above grade without vapor barrier the cracks between the multi ply stud location may not get sealed at all.

 

[Cyle]

There is no chance you'll see that kind of savings. One thing I like and think it's worthwhile is stuccoing and doing 2" foam on the outside. That is more then sufficient with r20 bat.

 

[deaner]

There is no chance you'll see that kind of savings. One thing I like and think it's worthwhile is stuccoing and doing 2" foam on the outside. That is more then sufficient with r20 bat.

Thats a good way to do it. The only thing a person has to watch is what R value you have on each side and where you put your vapor barrier. Can lead to condensation issues from what I understand if you have the conventional vapor barrier on the inside and insufficient styrofoam on the outside.

 

[JayT]

Best of Both Worlds is roxul and vapor barrier in the stud spaces and Spray Foam Your Rim boards. Without spray foam in your rim boards you will never get a proper seal in the joist spaces. Just make sure the person who frames it knows that the joists have to be set back for spray foam. As long as you get a good framer the foam guys will be able to get into any space properly.

 

[JayT]

If you want a really warm house go with ICF foundation and double two by four walls offset studs with a 1/2 inch space between the 2x4 walls. Roxul batt insulation in both sets of walls that way you have your thermal break and high r value. Spray foam your rim boards to complete the seal to the ICF.

 

[08arcticcat]

Ya ive looked into the double stud wall system. Definitely a nice way to go.

But some things need to be within reason. Not gonna spend a dollar to save a dime.

 

[Uturn]

Ours is a 1720 sqft walkout. We spray foamed the interior side of the concrete basement walls and the rim joists. Also sprayed 2" on ceiling before blown in insulation was done. We have a few step ups from 9' to 12' on main floor and it is same temp with FLIR camera. Also sprayed the headers above windows and doors and corners on exterior walls to seal them. The rest is Roxul. Very happy with what we did and glad we didn't spend the extra to do it all

 

[Trashy]

I am a certified installer for BASF, I have been around the insulation, drywall, ICF industry all my working life.

I will get back to this thread later, with my 2 bits.....

Enjoy the snow

 

[YamaDad]

For the most part it is a good product. Where I do not like it is in the floor below a room over the garage. Some spray the underside of the joists and even around the plumbing, instead of creating a heated void space between the floor and garage ceiling. The problem is not with the sprayfoam but where it is applied. As an HVAC mechanic I can't guarantee a room built like this will be warm, or that those water lines will not freeze.

 

[JayT]

For the most part it is a good product. Where I do not like it is in the floor below a room over the garage. Some spray the underside of the joists and even around the plumbing, instead of creating a heated void space between the floor and garage ceiling. The problem is not with the sprayfoam but where it is applied. As an HVAC mechanic I can't guarantee a room built like this will be warm, or that those water lines will not freeze.

Not to mention you can hear every little sound that happens inside the garage from the room above. it is not a good sound barrier. A hot box above the garage ceiling is the best way to heat a bonus room floor by far as long as it is done properly and sealed properly

 

[rsaint]

I did them myself so it was a cost savings. Most carpenters want to stay away from them because they make more money by framing by sq ft.

 

[papajake]

when we built our house we had a company come in and net the inside after the wiring was done they then blow insulation from a truck at about 50 psi from a hole in the bottom of the net fills every hole in the wall. we have 16 foot valeted ceilings so they did those also for heat loss walls are very warm when cold outside. only draw back is the walls have to be rolled and the drywall has to be put on within a days

 

[08arcticcat]

The builders contacted the sip company and they confirmed the prices. Still a large gap between the sip and standard construction.

I think were gonna do 2x6 on 24"oc with 4.5" of 2lb closed cell in the walls. Then r60 blown in cellulose in the roof.