Icynene Question (Quality)
Hey all,
Had Icy sprayed into a remodel on an 1840’s house. Had a few troubles with the installers hitting wires which I’ve resolved, but here’s a new issue.
Was poking around the other day getting final prep done for blueboard and noticed that there are a few “hollow sounding” spots in the install. Got to digging a bit and it turns out that in these spots the Icy doesn’t go all the way to the sheathing. Sometimes sits and inch or more off. Moreover, I can spot these areas now b/c I noticed the Icy has more “pores” than in other areas.
No rocket scientist, here, but seems to me that would impact the performance of the installation.
The question is: How big a deal is it?
I was going to have them come out to respray the areas I had to repair due to wiring hits. Is it worth digging out these areas and respraying? Anyone ever done a respray… does it “adhere” to itself?
Thanks all. Looking forward to thoughts/advise.
Brian
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HomeBase______________ LLC
Replies
When I had my Icynene installed we went through the job looking for such spots after the main spraying was done and after they trimmed it to the stud faces. The spots show easier once it is trimmed. Whenever we found a hollow spot the guy would stick the gun in there a squeeze off a shot. We found quite a few spots. Apparently my installer knew about these spots and went hunting for them. I would say yes, there will be some losses if these spots are not filled in. If he is coming back then ask him to go around and quickly fill the spots in. No need to dig them out, just jam the gun in there and squeeze off a shot. It will fill it really fast and sometimes come out in an oozy trail. Just locate them and maybe mark them with a can of spray paint. Yes, it adheres to itself and pretty much anything really.
Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
Edited 5/21/2006 4:34 pm by Pebble
Very interesting to hear of your "findings of voids". I wonder if every installation has hidden voids and do they find and fill them as a matter of policy?
The conclusion:
Guys are coming out today to respray. Turns out as I got into it there were LOTS of places where the ICY pulled away from the sheathing. Seems to me that with this product, if that happens, you lose on of the MAJOR benefits.
Installer says that ICY was having some problems on winter installs with this and it was product related, not install related. Who knows. Luckily, these guys have been cool (one of the most reputable co's around these parts).
The spots reveal themselves as "bouncy" areas in the hardened foam. If it springs back, it's not all the way to the sheathing. Some areas were as thinly applied as 1.5 inches!! (Or, 3 inches off the sheathing). Some were just a little shy.
FWIW
Brian_____________________________HomeBase______________ LLC
Brian - what company in boston did you use, Anderson? It would be good to know since you thought so highly of them. The good ones should get some play here.
If the sub was that great IMO it would seem they would have taken care of the issue before leaving the site the first time. It's nice when a sub comes back and fixes the problems with no arguments, having to call them 4 or 5 times, etc, but better still is when they get it right the first time.
It's good to hear about this whole scenario though - now we all know to look for holidays is the spray. :-)
I agree its better when they get it right the first time. But as long as they get it right. Too often its "That's how its supposed to be."But we are all the wiser now on this topic.
I was also wondering who you used. There is a new company out of Melrose, I saw one of their jobs and they had some voids. They were not going back to respray unless the inspector failed the insulation.
I might be using Andersen this summer, but who did you use, that might change that.