Update : this morning is very windy here it is the first time since we have lived in this house that we are not frozen from the wind. I have found one spot where the wind is blowing through a crack in the whole house so far and it is very hard to feel. Just dabbed a little caulk on it and it is gone now. The stove is on the lowest air setting and more than keeping up with the house right now. We went all night on one curing load in the stove and the house was still warm when we woke up this morning. My wife and I are so glad we chose foam it is amazing and easy to work with if we need to. What a blessing it is!
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Now find me someone around the Chicago land area for me to do my house? Everyone thinks Im nuts to want to do this to my house. Frank
thanks for posting this....it really helps make it less intimidating.
My 1960 house has 'econo-batts' which are FG batts that look like they're ~1" thick with kraft paper. Better than nothin, expect they make it harder to retrofit stuff into the cavity. I was figuring dense-pack cellulose, as that supposedly can fill the void and just compress the lousy batt (in the hands of a good operator). I had no idea that the tri-polymer foam could do that too. Did you read any resources about this before pulling the trigger?
Again, however, I'm cheap. In my case I think this would save me <$200/yr. Hopefully whoever gets elected will run through some tax breaks for this sort of thing to get me off my duff.
My 1960 house has 'econo-batts' which are FG batts that look like they're ~1" thick with kraft paper. Better than nothin, expect they make it harder to retrofit stuff into the cavity. I was figuring dense-pack cellulose, as that supposedly can fill the void and just compress the lousy batt (in the hands of a good operator). I had no idea that the tri-polymer foam could do that too. Did you read any resources about this before pulling the trigger?
Again, however, I'm cheap. In my case I think this would save me <$200/yr. Hopefully whoever gets elected will run through some tax breaks for this sort of thing to get me off my duff.
Most spray in foam can produce so much pressure when it expands that in the hands of a novice they can cause interior walls to come away from the studding.
SmokeyTheBear said:
Yup that is very true ! Do your research if your gonna have it done and be sure they are good at what they do. My research came to an end a few years ago because the cost was rediculas everywhere we went. Many forum members edged us to look again and Dennis came to the rescue with a good recommendation and let me say they did a good job.
Pete
taxidermist said:
No I did not they did not they where not very honest with me. I will pm you who I used!
Pete
woodgeek said:
I did read on something like 4 different types of insulation and foam is hands down the best in my opinion. Cellulose is good but regardless how tight it is packed it does not acheive the same r value as foam. It tends to sink with age as well though it takes a long time to do so. Foam is filled with tons of small air pockets so small you can't see them they create a barrier that the cold air can't get through. Many points are arguable based on people's opinion I like foam from all I have read and it has already surpassed my wildest dreams. Most people think you can't run wires and the like with foam that is totally untrue as well it is very easy to work with from what I have seen.
Pete
clemsonfor
Minister of Fire
Pallet Pete said:
What you said has always had my curiousity. How can i run a wire through a wall, i cant chase it with a fishtape? I would have to pull the drywall off and cut a slot in the foam to run it, yes? Also i cant pull the old wires out of the wall as they will be bound in foam (i live in an old house and have no staples inside the wall from what i have found).
The way insulation works is it has millions of tiny air pockets that create an air barrier. For this reason the foam is very very light and brittle but provides an insane r value. You can push a coat hanger through it without any difficulty I have already done this and it works very well. The foam we used gives way very easily I pulled the old wire out of the wall with no difficulty at all as it is soft. the advantage was it left a space to run the new wire in. I will not vouch for all foam as they are not all equal or the same. For example on insulator we talked to used a foam similar to great stuff and it was very very hard to push a wire through as well as half the r rating we ended up with. I will try to take a picture and put it up for you of what it looks like as I have a chunk in my attic I can show you.
Pete
Pete
Pete, did they show you some of the old foam? I remember they had a large block of it to show how easy it is to work with. Super light too. But about all I know is that it has made a super big difference in this home. I also had the guy install eave troughing.
He showed me a cured block of foam and let me play with it. I was impressed by the stuff it really works well for us as well. We used to have almost as much wind in the house as out now we have no draft at all ! I am a believer in foam now for sure.
Pete
Pete
Update ) while it's been a few weeks and what a difference this foam makes! We have noticed something else about the foam recently too. We live near a propane/gas company and when they fill there tanks it reaks to high heaven around here! The other morning I walked out of the house and almost passed out from the awful smell of gas. I went back inside and no smell !! The foam blocks outside odors to my surprise which means we are even happier now. Now that it is warming up outside I can burn a small fire to heat the cast on the stove then let it die out and the cast will keep the house warm for hours on end. Another thing we have noticed is we used to hear the wind howling of the house that too is gone and let me say we have had very heavy wind 40-60 mph recently.
We are very satisfied overall this stuff is very impressive and worth every penny!
Pete
We are very satisfied overall this stuff is very impressive and worth every penny!
Pete
Latest update for you guys. The weekend was pretty hair weather wise wind, rain, and a little hail. The wids where around 60 mph for a while and we had higher gusts than that a few times. We didn't even know that was going on because the insulation killed all the noise ! I walked out side to go to the garage and it was pouring rain as well as almost blew me over as I went out the door. The door flew open so hard it almost came off the hinges and broke. When I went back in I found that there was barely any noise at all which without insulation we would have heard whistling noises off the side of the house. It has been very warm this year and the house is staying in the 65f range all the time with no heat required. The temps where in the mid 30's last night and we didn't have to heat the house went down to 62f and that was it.
Pete
Pete
That is great news. That is a great investment you made. Not only will it pay for itself fairly quickly, but you and the family will be so much more comfortable too. Let us know if you notice cooler inside temps in the warmer weather.
firebroad
Minister of Fire
I had this done to my li'l stone cabin in 2008. (Product used was called icynene, don't know if it is the same), Cost me 5000, so I would say you got a great bargain! You will notice some soundproofing qualities, too. Neat thing is the stuff is actually a very "green" product.
Steve, it does indeed make a difference. Don't remember for sure how many times we ran the air conditioner last summer after the remodel was done but it was not many times. The house definitely stayed much cooler in the hot summertime. The comfort level summer and winter makes it all worthwhile. That is even better than the reduction in fuel needs.
Update again 
It has been in the 90's the last couple of days with insane humidity and we have had to run the AC. To my delight we do not need 2 window units downstairs to keep it decent ! I have been running a 8000 btu window unit set at 70 F and it has been cycling on and off about 30 minutes on 20 off. It never turned off at all before with 2 units they just ran and ran ! It is 72 inside right now and has maintained that very well with almost no humidity. We have 1000 sq ft downstairs and 495 upstairs. In terms of cooling it has made an enormous difference better than heating because cool air settles. The wife loves it
Pete
It has been in the 90's the last couple of days with insane humidity and we have had to run the AC. To my delight we do not need 2 window units downstairs to keep it decent ! I have been running a 8000 btu window unit set at 70 F and it has been cycling on and off about 30 minutes on 20 off. It never turned off at all before with 2 units they just ran and ran ! It is 72 inside right now and has maintained that very well with almost no humidity. We have 1000 sq ft downstairs and 495 upstairs. In terms of cooling it has made an enormous difference better than heating because cool air settles. The wife loves it
Pete
Well its time for another update ! So far it has been down to the low 20's a couple of times and mostly staying in the 30's and 40's at night right now. I can run the stove for a full load and have enough heat for almost a whole night when I do. The only drawback I have found so far is that because cold air settles when the house gets cold while we are at work it holds the cold air like a fridge. That isnt really a big deal though because I can run the ( Pardon my french here ) FURNACE 
for one cycle to heat up fast then the stove takes it from there. We are gone 13 hours a day normally. The real difference is in the wind this year there is non to speak of coming through the walls and after 10 months of curing foam it is much better than last winter was at wind blocking. It just gets better with time 
.
Pete
for one cycle to heat up fast then the stove takes it from there. We are gone 13 hours a day normally. The real difference is in the wind this year there is non to speak of coming through the walls and after 10 months of curing foam it is much better than last winter was at wind blocking. It just gets better with time .Pete
Nice to save heat and money and be much more comfortable. Side note is to be aware of "sick house syndrome". If a home is too tight, it can get stuffy. Rugs, paneling etc. can off gas and cause indoor pollution unless there is some ventilation. Kids develop allergies. There are air exchanger tat can be installed should you find this to be a concern.
Pete, we too are loving all the new insulation. We notice many times others talking about how much wood they put in for overnight and many times we don't even have to build a fire. We kid around a few times saying if it gets cool in the house we just light a match. That really does not seem too far from the truth either. Sort of curious how this winter will be because last winter was not much to compare to. Maybe we'll see what it is like when it gets cold this year.
My mom's house got spray foamed in the late 70's if I remember right. It has held up well through the years, last time I was in the attic you could see some of the exposed foam starting to degrade. I broke some of it off and the foam under the old stuff looked good still. I remember the house hardly needed any A/C in the summer and was very quiet.
I may look into it now that you said it will compress the fiberglass insulation.
I may look into it now that you said it will compress the fiberglass insulation.
Pete & Dennis,
Well I'm having this done this coming Friday!
Thanks for Information Dennis, I'm going with the same company as You two gentleman did......
They will be going through the brick on about 98% of my house and through the drywall in my laundry room as it butts up to a cinder block wall in a well packed garage. lol
The last few weekends I spent installing 2" closed cell foam board on my basement and crawlspace walls.
Plan on having the rim joists done with closed cell spray foam by next summer.
After that my 1950's era home should really be efficient?
Cheers, Hiram
Well I'm having this done this coming Friday!
Thanks for Information Dennis, I'm going with the same company as You two gentleman did......
They will be going through the brick on about 98% of my house and through the drywall in my laundry room as it butts up to a cinder block wall in a well packed garage. lol
The last few weekends I spent installing 2" closed cell foam board on my basement and crawlspace walls.
Plan on having the rim joists done with closed cell spray foam by next summer.
After that my 1950's era home should really be efficient?
Cheers, Hiram
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