Spray foam in a house

Cyle

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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.

Regardless of anything else, don’t do anything other then 16” stud spacing. The argument of better R value is BS, and it’s just too far apart.
 

JayT

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I was told new building code is 24" oc.
It is but it's bullsh*t. We still do 16 on Center, and pass every inspection just fine. Not sure on the stupidity behind making things less structural to be more insulated.... I guess that's our going "green" government
 

Trashy

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I personally wouldn't go with "sip" panels and neither would the bigger builders. The big home builders of Alberta have tried sip and they are not cost effective.

More in next post
 

Trashy

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ICF is a great product and have nothing bad to say, other than price.

2lbs spray foam is the superior product on the market right now.

BASF prides their chemical with having the highest LTTR "Long Term Thermal Resistance" with R6.22/inch in 2lbs. Which will allow you to do a R20 in a 2X4 cavity

1/2lbs is an open cell product which still works better than batt, because it's sprayed in and expands. But still needs a vapor barrier and plugs boxes sealed. It is R3.5/inch

Doing a staggered 2x4 on a 2x6 or 2x8 base plate, skim coating the inside cracks and joints. With a 1/2" of 2 lbs and then doing a BIB "Blow In Blanket" system over top. Has proven to be a great wall system as well. I would not recommend using "Cellulose" in this application.

In attics, we have done many jobs, new and reno's..... New, where we have the attic ceiling drywalled without poly. But poly hats on light boxes, fans, led pot lights, etc. And Have done a one inch 2lbs foam over everything in the attic, a continual spray that seals the entire attic. (I will see if I have any pics?). Then blow in loose fill insulation.

In a reno, we vaccume out the existing attic material, remove any poly and proceed with foaming. And then doing loose fill over top.


Doors, windows, and attics are the BIGGEST heat loss of any project. Hope some of this helps......
 
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Trashy

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Here are 2 pics of our first attic I sprayed about 6 years ago, the customer asked for a 1 inch continual spray and then we blew an R 40 over top.

The "only" downfall of doing this, is if you have a roof leak, you'll next to never know......

IMG_0005[222].jpg
 

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Trashy

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Staggered 2x4's with 2x8 plates, sealing the cold spots and BIBing over top. This was a first time spray as well.
 

treeboy

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X2 on what trashy said about the doors windows and attic. They are the biggest heat loss. I’ve been building houses for 28 years and there is a bunch of stuff in the new building code I do not agree with.
Now when I build my new house it is going to be icf right to the roof. Built a bunch of them over the years.
 

Trashy

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We made a demonstration 2x6 wall showing;
Batt, BIB, 2lbs foam, 2lbs foam with a thermal covering and including joist ends.

One thing VERY IMPORTANT to remember, is that in the Province of Alberta. You must cover all Foam related products (sprayed or factory made) with a 15 minute thermal barrier. If this is not done, it can void your property insurance.
 

RGM

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I'll try again, but they work for me, on my laptop

I need to do my hanger this winter. Can you spray when it is cold? What would be the approx sq ft pricing on a 2x4 staggered wall 24" centers on 2x6 sills. walls are about 16 ft high and are non supporting walls for those that don't like 24" spacing. I need the roof done too, about 2500 sq ft. The guys here in whistler are crazy with pricing.
 

deaner

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ICF is a great product and have nothing bad to say, other than price.

2lbs spray foam is the superior product on the market right now.

BASF prides their chemical with having the highest LTTR "Long Term Thermal Resistance" with R6.22/inch in 2lbs. Which will allow you to do a R20 in a 2X4 cavity

1/2lbs is an open cell product which still works better than batt, because it's sprayed in and expands. But still needs a vapor barrier and plugs boxes sealed. It is R3.5/inch

Doing a staggered 2x4 on a 2x6 or 2x8 base plate, skim coating the inside cracks and joints. With a 1/2" of 2 lbs and then doing a BIB "Blow In Blanket" system over top. Has proven to be a great wall system as well. I would not recommend using "Cellulose" in this application.

In attics, we have done many jobs, new and reno's..... New, where we have the attic ceiling drywalled without poly. But poly hats on light boxes, fans, led pot lights, etc. And Have done a one inch 2lbs foam over everything in the attic, a continual spray that seals the entire attic. (I will see if I have any pics?). Then blow in loose fill insulation.

In a reno, we vaccume out the existing attic material, remove any poly and proceed with foaming. And then doing loose fill over top.


Doors, windows, and attics are the BIGGEST heat loss of any project. Hope some of this helps......

Thanks for all the info. In your opinion, what is the best bang for your buck? If you were building a house and didnt get an employee discount, how would you insulate? Can you give some rough square footage prices for the different types? I think our roxul R24 batt insulation worked out to just over a dollar a square foot material cost, and ceiling blow in was just under a dollar material (R50-60)
 

Cyle

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I would never in a million years use ICF. IF you can find a good contractor to do it (massive IF), you still have no idea how good the wall is, is there a massive hole somewhere that will show itself down the line when it's finished and be a massive bill to fix? I've never seen ICF walls that are straight enough to just board on top of (if you want it look to decent). Just pour regular concrete and glue the foam on, inside and outside if you want. The price will be about the same maybe even cheaper, but you know it's a better product in the end. Also if you're going to ICF to the roof, there's the extra expense of a bigger footing for the load.

Never been a huge fan of spray foam. If your house ends up catching fire, it could be devastating consequences. Spray foam burns like a SOB. And just don't agree with it being a vapour barrier, you still have wood studs touching drywall.

There's also the difference between insulating a house good, and overkill. It still needs to breath and have fresh air. The best window on the market is like a R9, still just like a massive hole in the wall. With the furnaces now, gas bills aren't that bad. Mine will jump above $200/month if it's really cold which isn't bad. How much are you going to spend trying to save $10/month for a few months of the year?
 
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Trashy

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I need to do my hanger this winter. Can you spray when it is cold? What would be the approx sq ft pricing on a 2x4 staggered wall 24" centers on 2x6 sills. walls are about 16 ft high and are non supporting walls for those that don't like 24" spacing. I need the roof done too, about 2500 sq ft. The guys here in whistler are crazy with pricing.

The substrate that you are spraying to, can not be colder than -10c. With the amount of attic and depending on the R value, your walls would almost be a free bee

A good rough guesstimate is $1.20/ sq ft/ inch. But depending on the amount of volume, that price could go down or stay the same.
 

Trashy

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Thanks for all the info. In your opinion, what is the best bang for your buck? If you were building a house and didnt get an employee discount, how would you insulate? Can you give some rough square footage prices for the different types? I think our roxul R24 batt insulation worked out to just over a dollar a square foot material cost, and ceiling blow in was just under a dollar material (R50-60)

I would do 2lbs closed cell and about an R20 on all my exterior walls and depending on my attic...... I would do a skim seal and a R40-50 loose fill on top. I will get back to you on what loose fill costs/sq ft
See above for figuring out pricing.
 
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