I have a 100 year old home that is very leaky. Can feel drafts coming into the house along the baseboards on the exterior of the house. I have am unable to insulate at the rim joist in the basement because they bricked in between the floor joist all the way up to the subfloor. The exterior cedar shingled siding overlaps the foundation by at least 2 feet making it difficult to fill any gaps from the outside.
I’m considering slow rise polyurethane 2 part spray foam (www.fomofoam.com) installed from the interior. I have some concerns about using this stuff. Mainly what happens if there is a gap in the baseboard/window/door trim? Will this stuff ooze out and ruin the original stained trim? How easy is it to remove the foam if it does get on the trim?
I’m thinking that the DIY foam would work better for me since I could do it one room at a time as opposed to having a contractor do the entire house at once.
Has anyone had Experience with this stuff??
Mike K
Amateur Home Remodeler in Aurora, Illinois
Replies
Their material prices are double to triple what I'm used to seeing installed per board foot.
Even though you want to work one room at a time, it might still be good for you to talk to a local foam applicator and see their pricing. Maybe they have some suggestions on how to do this efficiently. It's possible that they could fit you into slow days, and that their minimum charge would still be better than fomo. No harm in asking.
Have you considered blown in cellulose? Seems like it would be cheaper, easier, and a better at filling each stud bay and sealing out air infiltration. We've had icynene sprayed in open bays, but I have never been a big fan of low-expanding foam in a closed bay.
Aaron
Aaron,
I thought about Cellulose, but decided against it for 2 reasons: (1) Installing it from the interior of the house will create a lot of dust in the house. (2) There have been some chemically sensitive homeowners who have had problems with the boric acid in the cellulose.
Mike K
Amateur Home Remodeler in Aurora, Illinois
We just got a price for installed Iyc that we would like to have sprayed onto the basement ceiling. The installed price was cheeper than the FOMO price for just materials. I second the suggestion that you check with a local installer.
Is the brickwork structural? Probably not.
What about removing the brick so you can see what you are working with? Brickwork like this was often done as a firestopping attempt, but it did not work great, since it airseals poorly. It also tends to hold moisture against the wood. What is the foundation made of? The brick can worsen the dreaded "rising damp", which basically means water absorbtion upwards from masonry at or below grade. Think of bricks like sponges. They hold an amazing amount of water.
By opening it up, you would have a chance to inspect sills for damage, install proper fire blocking, and seal it up tight. Brick is relatively easy to remove, particularly old stuff with lime-rich mortar.
sounds like good advice..
also, Mike...
some of the sensitivity to cellulose is due to the mfr. using amonium sulfate instead of borates..
i've swithced to a product that is 100% borates because i don't like the amonium sulfateMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike,
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
If I were going at it from the exterior I would use cellulose. However I'm going to be insulating from the interior at the same time I remove the wallpaper and paint the walls. I don't want to deal with the cellulose dust.
I've been trying to find a contractor in the area (Chicago suburbs) that does slow rise foam, but I have not been successful. I don't like the open cell foam because it has about 1/2 the R value as the closed cell poly. Mike K
Amateur Home Remodeler in Aurora, Illinois
Don't get yourself all stirred up about R value. The major benefit of foam is sealing air flow. A lot of energy is lost through air leaks rather than convection. R-value has pretty low return on investment after a certain thickness, which really isn't all that thick. I think around R10 is where it starts breaking pretty flat. That closed cell poly allows no vapor transmission so you should make sure you are really convinced it won't do the substrate any harm.
Just my thoughts. I am going through this foam insulation thing now too. I will spraying about R20 on my roof (5" of low density stuff).
MERC
Closed cell foam is not supposed to be sprayed into closed cavities, it'll blow out DW as it expands. Try it with a can of Great Stuff to convince yourself. Even spraying open cell foam into closed cavities appears to be a bit of an art....
Taylor,
They make a slow rise formula that does not expand as quickly or as much as the normal spray foam. It is specifically made not to blow out walls.
Mike KMike K
Amateur Home Remodeler in Aurora, Illinois
Mike,
I have a very similar situation to yours in that I have a 55 yr. old masonry home built with 4" brick over 4" block with nominal 1x2 furring supporting the interior drywall & plaster. I only have a nominal 1" deep cavity to fill, and have examined both cellulose and the FOMO slow-rise foam. After a lot of research I have come to the conclusion that in my case the foam yeilds a slightly higher R value, but a better air barrier than the cellulose, mainly because of the narrow space I am working with, I cannot dense pack the celulose. The FOMO product is specifically made to avoid the overexpanding problems of regular foam. If your wall cavity is of any siginificant width, 2" or more, I would use the cellulose because the cavity volume would price the foam way too high compared with cellulose. If you have a narrow cavity like me, then I would use the foam. By contacting FOMO, they gave me the distributor, who was also the technical expert,and he got me the supplier in my area.
Found a company that sells the same brand foam as fomo for much cheaper:
http://www.jrproductsinc.com/foam_kits.htmlMike K
Amateur Home Remodeler in Aurora, Illinois
Thanks Mike,
without having my pricing nearby, JR Products pricing seems close to what I have, albeit a little cheaper.