121–130 of 133 posts
Spray foam sounds good at first but it's almost always complete trash. Nasty chemicals, 0 ventilation, poor humidity management, pain in the ass to remove. It's one of these things poor people get because it's cheap upfront but in the end it'll cost you twice as much as a proper insulation system It's easy to apply and looks cool so that's good for instagram builders/remodelers, plus they'll probably be out of busine…
Really? Properly installed closed-cell spray foam seems to have a ton of benefits: Moisture barrier: It blocks water vapor and prevents mold growth by reducing humidity levels in crawl spaces and other areas. Structural strength: It can double the racking load of a home, making it more resistant to severe weather. Air sealing: It protects against drafts, cold spots, and uneven heating. Longevity: It retains its R-val…
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Moisture barrier: it traps the humidity in places you potentially don't want to Structural strength: yeahhhh... no Longevity: not more than anything else, a pain in the ass to replace though Improved air quality: The petrol derivate foam that leaves a god awful nasty smell for days/weeks and can offgas for years is good for air quality ? rock or better sheep wool is much better in that regard In the end of the day pe…
> Moisture barrier: it traps the humidity in places you potentially don't want to So properly ventilate, which you want/need to do anyway. Anything that is airtight can trap things, and you generally want to to be as airtight. Unless you want to start getting into design details that are airtight but vapour open. > Structural strength: yeahhhh... no Yes, it does (at least per UFlorida researchers): * https://www.jlco…
I generally hate how litigious the US is, but at least in situations like this, I feel like there would be one lawyer that would figure out how to hold someone responsible.
This story is about the UK not US.
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Water _will_ get through your roof at some point, and it'll sit nice and tight right above your spray foam, for years, decades, and you'll never ever know about it until the problem is too big to handle. This is especially true for hack jobs on older buildings.
Why would water be able to get through your roof but air not be able to get to it at the same time? Why would water be able to get through your roof with spray foam making anything worse? Water damage means you have to replace things anyway.
Because your roof _will_ fail, they all do, once it does the water will collect between the roof and the foam, because while it's not air tight there will be nowhere near enough ventilation do get rid of it
> Water damage means you have to replace things anyway.
Yes, but if your entire wooden structure rots for 5 years because you didn't detected the leak since it's hidden behind 20cm of foam you are utterly fucked.
It's well documented, feel free to google it if you don't believe me.
https://sprayfoamreclaim.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/PHOT...
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Moisture barrier: it traps the humidity in places you potentially don't want to Structural strength: yeahhhh... no Longevity: not more than anything else, a pain in the ass to replace though Improved air quality: The petrol derivate foam that leaves a god awful nasty smell for days/weeks and can offgas for years is good for air quality ? rock or better sheep wool is much better in that regard In the end of the day pe…
> Moisture barrier: it traps the humidity in places you potentially don't want to Definitely a risk with any type of improperly installed moisture barrier (like ZIP sheathing). > Structural strength: yeahhhh... no It would take me some time to find more formal studies, but there are a lot of videos on YouTube that demonstrate the addeded strength. Here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mMHJpSHKJM > god awful na…
No one will study the strength of insulation foam because it will never be authorised as a structural material.
> Everything I've read indicates that any offgassing/odor is gone in 24 hours or less.
Everything you read comes from manufacturers or bloggers/influencers paid by manufacturers. On construction forums you'll find plenty of people complaining of weird smells months/years down the line.
Again, people do whatever they want with their houses and health, personally I'm not touching this shit with a ten foot pole given the alternatives
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/fumes-from-clo...
https://www.sprayfoammagazine.com/forum/topic/spray-foam-odo...
https://www.reddit.com/r/Insulation/comments/1bsm8db/faint_s...
https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeImprovement/comments/bfhpmt/ope...
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> Moisture barrier: it traps the humidity in places you potentially don't want to So properly ventilate, which you want/need to do anyway. Anything that is airtight can trap things, and you generally want to to be as airtight. Unless you want to start getting into design details that are airtight but vapour open. > Structural strength: yeahhhh... no Yes, it does (at least per UFlorida researchers): * https://www.jlco…
If you ventilate, you're bringing in hot air in the summer or cold air in the winter; it completely defeats the purpose of the insulation.
ERV.
Build tight, ventilate right. — Perera and Parkins; https://www.aivc.org/sites/default/files/airbase_5952.pdf , https://www.cibsejournal.com/technical/build-tight-ventilate...
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If you ventilate, you're bringing in hot air in the summer or cold air in the winter; it completely defeats the purpose of the insulation.
> If you ventilate, you're bringing in hot air in the summer or cold air in the winter; it completely defeats the purpose of the insulation. ERV. Build tight, ventilate right. — Perera and Parkins; https://www.aivc.org/sites/default/files/airbase_5952.pdf , https://www.cibsejournal.com/technical/build-tight-ventilate...
In multi-tenant dwellings, building tight can help keep people's smells to themselves. That's about it. Like if you have pressurized air in the hallway, keeping the common area fresh, if the apartment units are not built tight, smells can go from one to the other sideways, possibly forced by that very same pressure.
The main reason people build tight is to save on heating and cooling bills, or "save the planet". And mainly how that works is by not ventilating. Ventilating forces out all that hot or cool air that you paid for, so you have to heat or cool the replacement air.
It's basically greed or ideology over health.
