Blown in foam insulation (isotene???)

Billy March

I am currently doing a whole house radiant job and my customer wants to put in the blown in type foam insulation. He lives off the water and feels this will give him a better r-value than standard fiberglas insulation. Does anyone out there know of any insulting contractors that do this type of work? The job is located in the Rockaways in New York.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Trade name you're probably thinking of is Icynene.

You might want to try the "Dealer Locator" at the Icynene Website

And yes, it's significantly more effective than fiberglass.

hr

There are a bunch

of different brands of that spray foam. Someone around here is spraying a soy based, less toxic, product. Try a web search to locate brands and installers.

Most all the custom home builders in my area have switched to spray foams.

hot rod

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joel_19

foam away

Foam is the way to go . Fiberglass is r value rated in a SEALED cavity and on a horzontal plane . So an r-19 stud wall with an electrcal box in it is probably only r-9 or less do to air movement and being vertical . blown foam gives you a much tighter envelope and a truer r value . I don't belive Wrightsoft really compensates for this other than allowing you to imput a lower infiltration number . I can tell you that we find we have to set much lower curves on our controlls with foam houses . which of course is a good thing.

D107

try www.nyserda.org

new york state energy research and development authority; related to energy star. on their site they have a list of ny area contractors.

David

JB_8

foam

WWW.Tigerfoam.com

michael_15

Icynene

Icynene actually doesn't provide a superior R-value as compared to fiberglass (other polyurethane foams, however, provide almost twice the R-value). It does, however, tend to be more effective, mostly because it also acts as an effective air seal, whereas fiberglass does not.

If you have limited wall thickness (2x4) and are filling in the walls, you might want to consider a different foam product for a higher R-value.

-Michael

Mark Adams

Another Foam

Check out Healthy Seal 500. I have a new build and am getting my COO next week. I used HS500 with 2x6 walls. Even with 40F temps outside and only 25' of fin tube hooked up in the basement so far, the boiler barely runs. The house is also super quiet. I'd have gone with F/G and a full air sealing detail, but NO ONE in my area installs F/G in a careful manner with good cutouts for boxes, etc. Besides, who wants to breath all that F/G.

Use low pressure foam for windows and doors.

When I got bids, the prices were:

F/G: $X
HS500 $X x 1.6
Icynene $X x 2.3

HS500 uses a blowing agent derived from soybean oil that is less expensive than the hydrocarbon based stuff used with Icynene. Make sure you get a good contractor! My guys were awesome.

L8R,
Mark

Constantin

There are a couple of questions...

... you need to answer before selecting a contractor.

The two predominant foams in use today are open-celled polyurethane (Icynene in all its variations), and closed cell polyurethane (Corbond, et. al.) Both are easily applied, though the former is much easier to retrofit into closed cavities than the latter. So, is this a open-cavity job or a closed cavity job?

Another question is about R-value. Corbond and it's friends is about 2x more effective as a insulation than Icynene. Corbond will be more expensive to install, so if you have thick walls, you can go either way... I used Corbond in the old part of the house (4" stud bays filled 3.5") and Icynene in the new part (5.5" studs filled flush). Corbond definitely is stiffer, reinforces the walls more, and is harder to extract later on if someone makes a boo-boo. Icynene feels like hardened shaving cream.

As for soy-blown vs. water-blown foams, there isn't much difference, ecologically speaking. If being green is what your client wants, I'd suggest thick walls (2x6 or 2x8) and dense-pack cellulose, which is just about as infiltration resistant as the foams mentioned above and made from recycled materials.

As for finding a contractor, I'd stop by the Corbond and Icynene web sites to see if they offer a contractor locator.

ALH_4

Foam

I like both Icynene and Corbond, but I prefer Corbond because the R-Value is greater and from what I have seen it creates less waste during installation. As Constantin said, Corbond is much more structural than Icynene. The Icynene pour foam is an excellent product for retrofits.

-Andrew

Weezbo

though not foam Optima....

would be my first choise for wall and ceiling cavities.

foam board for Slab On Grade, perimeter horizontial and vertical. hot cold interchanges on roofs.( it can be used at rim and box beams also "tremcoed" into place then sprayfoamed over the top of it and then some friction fit over that....

Spray foams have some things about them that arent widely advertized. God as my witness you want someone who knows what is what when insulating and adding vapor barriers properly.

some insulation professionals have not seen some of the minor technicalities ,you make certain your suggestion is to get someone who is dealing with the entire building envelope for your area of the planet on a day to day basis.

controled ventilation is every much a part of the application,as is When it is installed,a way you can get accurate information would be to look for a custom home builder or three and ask who their insulating contractor is in your area.