Spray Foam Insulation Kits

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Furd

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Downside is that it is expensive. It also takes a bit of getting used to just how much to spray to fill the cavity without it expanding far too much. I think I got about three feet by eight feet of 2X4 wall cavity out of a $100.00 kit.

Also, you have about 20 seconds from the time you stop spraying until you have to start spraying again or the tip needs to be changed.

Plus you have to be able to get rid of the empty tanks. Most garbage haulers will balk at taking pressurized tanks. I had to cut my tanks in two to get rid of them.
 
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Statjunk

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Whoah,

I wondered how working with this stuff might be. Wow never would have guessed that expensive and difficult. By the sounds of it, must be a two man job.

Anyone else have first hand experience with this stuff?

Tom
 

comp1911

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I used two of the $300 kits to insulate between the floor trusses in my basement where I could not access to fit foam board. It worked out really well. The only down side is of course the cost.

Like was posted above, you need to work fast so the nozzle doesn't plug up.
 

Bosun

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Pro-job

Hire a pro to do it. It is no fun to clean up that stuff when you overspray, etc...

Or do rigid foam yourself. I just did XPS in my 1924 basement. Glued it to the walls using lots of polyurethane glue. Lots. Much cheaper. Took my brother and me one day. Taped the seams with foil tape. No fiberglass batts.
 

Molo

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These products, along with so many others in the building industry come with so many health warnings that it's scary.
The following question is not sarcasm, it is an honest inquiry; Regarding human health, I'm wondering if to be in the building trades, you have to resign yourself to the increased possibility of death caused by the materials you work with. (we're all going to die, it's just a question of how).
Regarding human and the planet's health, I'm wondering if we believe that through technology we will be able to clean up the environment when it gets to the point that the vast majority of people accept that it has become unhealthy to live in, or rather than cleaning it up, are going to abandon it and take up residency on other planets? I am very concerned about our water source, as you p[lumbers know things don't "disappear" when they go down the drain"

These are serious questions that I have for the other folks on this forum. I am interested in some individual responses.
 
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Statjunk

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Interesting topic. I think one day water will be the most valuable resource available even though there is an abundance of it.

Tom
 

Frenchie

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On the kits: they cost enough that, unless it's a tiny job, there's no savings in it. Unless it's a tiny job, it's cheaper to get a specialist pro to do it. Do the math: last time I did, the kits were 4 times the price per cu ft.


On water: sure, water's plentiful: but clean water is another thing altogether. I read recently that 40% of the freshwater in America is already considered unsuitable for swimming or fishing (never mind drinking).


As to whether tradesmen realize our work is hazardous: I think so. Most of us are in denial about it, or make jokes about it, but deep down I think most of us do understand. It's not even about the newer products & chemicals; even sawdust'll kill you, eventually. Little known fact: in terms of respiratory cancers, by occupation, carpenters are second only to miners.

But this is where you get into quantity of life vs quality of life. If I had to work in an office, I'd probably kill myself after a few years of it. At any rate, I'd be miserable.

And while my work does expose me to more unhealthy conditions than most people's, it also provides plenty of exercise. I'm 40, and weigh exactly what I weighed in high school. I can still haul 5/8 sheetrock up five flights of stairs by myself, I can still climb up & down ladders all day, or walk around on scaffolds with perfect balance... lots of guys my age can't say any of that, they've been stuck at a desk the last 20 years, and that takes its own kind of toll.
 

Statjunk

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Or you can be like me which is somewhere in between. 45 hours behind a desk makes my behind large and 40 hours remodeling makes me able to carry sheets of drywall and climb ladders all day.

I refer to it as fluffy but tough!

Tom
 
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