• "Insulate tight, ventilate right" - Joe Lstiburek, Building Science Corporation
• Designing a tight house combined with the right-sized HVAC system promotes indoor air-quality, humidity and moisture control, fresh air intake, and ultimately a new grade of comfort for your house. It is important to note a spray foam insulated house is best suited with a correctly engineered HVAC system, able to duct-in and filter fresh air provided from outside the thermal envelope. This promotes a slightly pressurized house by introducing the appropriate amount of fresh and clean-filtered outside air.
• Sizing a house with air-permeable insulation often means a larger HVAC unit with additional tonnage used to compensate for the air-leakage incurred at the walls and roof. This design breathes conditioned air out and allows moisture laden outdoor air to breath-in. For decades, fiberglass houses have been built this way. But it is easy to see how utility bills are affected by leaky houses needing larger HVAC units. In addition, there is nothing inherent in the system controlling air-quality, and inconsistent temperatures as well as uncontrolled humidity do not bode well for the occupants’ overall comfort level inside the house.

SPF does come at a higher up-front cost than traditional insulation types. However, as an investment, the question concerns the product’s payback, and SPF does it several ways. Accumulating monthly utility savings adds up and by most accounts the total financial investment is paid for between four and six years for new construction. If like most homebuyers, the property is mortgaged, any additional financing costs associated with upgrading to SPF are typically offset by month-to-month utility savings greater than paying the financed SPF costs – a net savings right off the bat. And an energy efficient home is more attractive to buyers and will fare better on the market if and when one decides to list the property. Between the additional value brought to the home using SPF, the month-to-month net savings, and the short-term ROI, spray foam makes real financial sense. Not investing in spray foam is what costs money.

As an inert plastic, both low and medium density spray foams will likely outlast the life of the structure as long as they are protected from UV rays. There are no organics in spray foam which promote mold growth and no food value for insects or rodents. Most spray foams available today come with Lifetime Warranties. Foam One-One only uses spray foam products that offer Lifetime Warranties.          

• Heat load calculations are important when designing the right HVAC system for residential construction. MJ8 or Manual J 8th Edition, developed by Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), incorporates every part of the house that contributes to its overall energy performance. Windows, insulation, air-infiltration rates, roofing material, orientation, climate zone, and other factors all play a part in how a house performs for its occupants. Manual J 8th Edition examines these factors to optimize tonnage sizing, humidity control, and required fresh-air intake.
• Before Manual J, most HVAC sizing was done by the old rule of thumb – 500 ft² per ton. In other words, a 2,000 ft² house would get a four ton HVAC unit. Taking nothing else into account. Today, with more energy efficient products going into homes, the holistic approach considering all the components of a house is the only way to make sure comfort and energy efficiency is maximized. For instance, a Manual J heat load calculation will properly size the tonnage requirement so the unit will stay on long enough to dehumidify the conditioned air and keep the house at the desired temperature, as well as introduce the necessary amount of fresh air from outside the envelope. An oversized HVAC is a real possibility with today’s tighter homes. This can lead to short-cycling units and little to no humidity control. A house unable to control humidity levels is subject to sweating windows and a clammy feel for the occupant. In other words, an uncomfortable house subject to water damage resulting from condensation. Make sure to talk to your builder about engineering your HVAC unit and duct work with the guidance of a Manual J 8th Edition heat load calculation. For comfort, energy-efficiency, and peace of mind.

Complex and expensive equipment make applying commercial grade spray foam impractical to justify doing it yourself. Generally $70,000 to $100,000, rig packages include sophisticated equipment where the goal is to pressurize, add heat, and mix chemical proportionately in order to create quality foam. Experience level and training courses often determine the success of a qualified spray foam applicator. Be sure to reference job history and training credentials before choosing a contractor. Foam-One-One opened its doors at the beginning of 2010, now boasting a resume of projects large and small, from residential to commercial construction. Our applicators’ periodic in-field training by factory technicians as well as jobsite experience establishes us as one of the best crews in central Texas. When considering spray foam for your project, preserve your sanity and your pocket book by leaving it up to the professionals at Foam-One-One.

Foam-One-One works with builders, homeowners, and business professionals. Consultation early in the planning phase is recommended, but not always what happens. For a quote on your next project or if you are simply interested in more information, feel free to call or email us at the contact information listed on our page.

Unless a major remodel of your house or building will take your walls down to the studs, retrofitting existing walls with spray foam behind sheet rock is a dubious task. Injectable polyurethane foams do exist and installed by drilling hundreds of small holes through the interior drywall, five to eight penetrations per cavity. Destructive to wall aesthetics, the work leaves behind a significant amount of drywall repair and does so without complete assurance your cavity wall has been sufficiently insulated, especially if insulation is already present in the cavity. The difficulty of retrofitting existing walls is a prime reason to have your walls applied with spray foam during initial construction or during a major remodel where drywall is removed from the studs.

• In short, they are both in place to slow or prevent flame spread in both residential and commercial construction. Your most common code prescriptive thermal barrier is sheet rock or gypsum board. This material is considered a 15 minute barrier with the intent to aid indoor occupants with enough time to safely exit the home or structure in the case of a fire. An ignition barrier is much more loosely described in the codes as a material resistant to ignition.
• Regarding spray foam and building codes, all foam plastic insulation must be separated from the occupied space by a 15 minute thermal barrier. In most cases, drywall or gypsum board installed as interior finish for both walls and ceiling satisfy this code requirement. However, codes do allow for performance based products like intumescent coatings acting in lieu of prescriptive methods. As in the case for spray foam left exposed to the occupied space, intumescent coatings can be spray applied over the surface of the foam to achieve code compliancy.
• Attics and crawlspaces have seen their own spray foam specific codes written alongside what is known as ignition barriers. Prescriptive ignition barriers include ¼ inch wood structural panel, 3/8 inch gypsum board, and ¼ inch hardboard to name a few. Expensive and labor intensive, these materials are rarely used over spray foam in attics in crawlspaces. Instead, a performance based measure is used. ½ pound and 2 pound density spray foams are both subject to the use of ignition barriers and are both often put to the test. The NFPA 286 is the standard assembly testing polyurethane spray foams with and without the use of spray applied intumescent barriers. Certain pass/fail criteria, namely an allotted time threshold, determines whether the product requires the addition of an intumescent ignition barrier or has its own inherent flame retarding qualities so that the addition of a coating is certifiably unnecessary. Products available on the market are usually referenced as Appendix X compliant. Foam-One-One offers its customers Appendix X compliant low density open-cell technology as well as medium density closed cell. Know the codes. Make sure you are being quoted compliant spray foam systems.