Foam Install: Day One

It was pretty hot today so I let the installers go about their business setting up and readying the house for the install which included hanging and sealing plastic sheeting over all the windows and doors and taping off all the wall switches and plugs.

I checked in on them just after they started spraying.

Right out of the gate, a problem.
The thing about self education on projects like these (and I highly recommend it) is that you can recognize when something is not right (see my previous posting about the metal roof setback).  I had done enough research to instantly recognize that the baby blue (yuck) foam being applied was "open" cell foam as opposed to "closed" cell foam.  This in-spite of my having specifically reconfirmed with the project lead (who came and went earlier in the day) that I wanted closed cell.

Allow me to digress for a moment....
Open cell foam is what most people see on the TV because it's more dramatic in how it expands.  And it did...within about 2-3 seconds of being sprayed on, it blew right up and filled the wall cavity with a soft spongy foam.  Makes for great television.  Very dramatic.

"Open" cell gets it's name from the fact that given the speed of the chemical reaction and expansion, the cells tear "open" and thus lose their rigidity and R value per inch.   It becomes soft and squeezable and allows water vapor to migrate through.  Bad news if you have a leak somewhere.  It sucks it up like a big sponge.  Usually you have to then install a plastic vapor barrier between it and the sheetrock to eliminate moisture travel.

On the other hand, "Closed" cell foam expands slowly.  It's cells remain intact, each filled with the gas of the chemical expansion reaction giving the foam maximum rigidity and higher R value per inch.  It's rigidity improves the structural integrity of anything it's sprayed on to.  In addition, it offers a near impenetrable vapor barrier effectively sealing out the outside world along with it's clammy humidity.

Back to the problem...
I immediately raised the concern that what was being applied was open cell foam.  The installer acknowledged such indicating he was just clearing the lines of some residual open cell formula and that they would remove the foam before respraying with closed cell.  Well, at least he know what he was applying.  Only problem was was that he kept spraying moving from cavity to cavity.

When he got to the other side of the living room windows, he continued to spray only this time he would spray and then grab a hand full and tear it out and then respray.  He did it a couple of times till he got frustrated and returned to his outside rig to see why it was taking so long to clear the lines.

Turns out that while he had forgotten to clear the lines from an earlier job and there was more in the lines that he had anticipated (well....it sounded good).  Eventually though, the lines cleared and the foam finally turned to the creamy white color that was appropriate for closed cell foam.  The quality of the expansion and the product itself was immediately evident.  They came back later and pulled out all the open cell and resprayed with closed.  It sure makes for a mountain of foam.

You can see the two foams side by side

Now with closed cell foam

Here's a closer view of open cell -vs- closed cell..

Open cell expanding out past the studs

Closed cell looking fairly uniform.

Tomorrow:  The roof!!
Stay tuned!