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Nathan White Posted: Feb 12, 2008 10:49 AM	Retrofit a 30+ year old Alaskan home with foam I've got a 1200sqft single level ranch home in South central Alaska that I would like to foam. The house is 2x4 construction with t111 siding on the outside. I have been told that the house could be poured from the inside with .5 lb foam utilizing four 3/8" holes per stud bay. But I have also seen some manufactures using a 1.6 to 1.7 lb foam as well. Is one better or worse for my application? As I'm not looking to remove the t-111 or Sheetrock to spray CC foam in the stud cavities. I just want to replace the old and I'm willing to bet sagging r-11 fiberglass insulation currently in the walls with a high quality foam to cut down on the air infiltration and possibly boost my R value of the home. in this area we get wind and -20F to -30F temperatures at different times throughout the winter. Any advice would be very helpful. Thanks
philip mullins Posted: Feb 14, 2008 02:36 AM	some guys hve success with the pour foam methods. i have never tried it myself. but, i think it is for situations when there is no insulation in the cavity. i am pretty sure you will need to get the old fiberglass out first.
Posted: Feb 14, 2008 08:58 AM	piece of cake. tripolymer pre-expanded foam. water based. 5.1 r-value at 32 degrees. injected it yesterday into a garage condo wall. r-11 or r-13 fiberglass in there now. the owner and his wife were coldest in the kitchen. on the drywall side, we made one two inch hole. slid special 1 1/4" hose down 4 foot. open gun. pull out at even pace.repeated for the top 4 foot. can't linger or daydream or yes, you will crack the wall. get a trained and insured installer from tripolymer.com contact these folks out and see if there is somebody in Alaska. by the way, the condo owner could tell the difference before we left! he was warmer! we are hoping to get the rest of the condo garage walls.
Nathan White Posted: Feb 16, 2008 03:59 PM	Thanks for the information Tripolymer it sounds like some nice stuff. I emailed them for some more information and a possible installer here in Alaska. The website really lacked good information or pictures of the installation process. But I do like the fact that they say you can get an r-17 wall from 2x4 construction with their product. That sure beats .5 lb foam if their claim is true. How would you be able to crack the wall with this product as according to their site it doesn't expand at all once it leaves the gun? It sounds as though it sets up quick so I could see getting the hose foamed up if you didn't travel at a steady pace. The fact the product doesn’t expand and sets so fast would lead me to believe it would be possible to leave air pockets and miss spots within the Stud cavity. Again thank you for the info as it definitely sounds like a product to research a little more.
Posted: Feb 16, 2008 08:28 PM
Posted: Feb 16, 2008 08:28 PM	how would you crack the wall? easy! If your 19 year old college student employee is thinking about his 19 year old girlfriend in the hot tub last saturday night, the hose in the wall could stay in there too long. (with foam coming out) Too much foam in the wall will crack it. you generally have a guy inside listening to the wall fill. sounds like pudding splattering inside the wall, then very small snap, crackle, pops tell you the wall is filling. slow and easy is the best way to fill the wall. he will signal you when to stop. air bubbles? i have no way to say one way or another. have yet to open a wall to see. good question. yes this about the best bet for an existing house.

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Comments

Nathan White

Posted: Feb 12, 2008 10:49 AM

Retrofit a 30+ year old Alaskan home with foam

I've got a 1200sqft single level ranch home in South central Alaska that I would like to foam. The house is 2x4 construction with t111 siding on the outside. I have been told that the house could be poured from the inside with .5 lb foam utilizing four 3/8" holes per stud bay. But I have also seen some manufactures using a 1.6 to 1.7 lb foam as well. Is one better or worse for my application? As I'm not looking to remove the t-111 or Sheetrock to spray CC foam in the stud cavities. I just want to replace the old and I'm willing to bet sagging r-11 fiberglass insulation currently in the walls with a high quality foam to cut down on the air infiltration and possibly boost my R value of the home.

in this area we get wind and -20F to -30F temperatures at different times throughout the winter.

Any advice would be very helpful.

Thanks

philip mullins

Posted: Feb 14, 2008 02:36 AM

some guys hve success with the pour foam methods. i have never tried it myself. but, i think it is for situations when there is no insulation in the cavity. i am pretty sure you will need to get the old fiberglass out first.

Posted: Feb 14, 2008 08:58 AM

piece of cake. tripolymer pre-expanded foam. water based. 5.1 r-value at 32 degrees. injected it yesterday into a garage condo wall. r-11 or r-13 fiberglass in there now. the owner and his wife were coldest in the kitchen. on the drywall side, we made one two inch hole. slid special 1 1/4" hose down 4 foot. open gun. pull out at even pace.repeated for the top 4 foot. can't linger or daydream or yes, you will crack the wall. get a trained and insured installer from tripolymer.com
contact these folks out and see if there is somebody in Alaska.
by the way, the condo owner could tell the difference before we left! he was warmer!
we are hoping to get the rest of the condo garage walls.

Nathan White

Posted: Feb 16, 2008 03:59 PM

Thanks for the information Tripolymer it sounds like some nice stuff. I emailed them for some more information and a possible installer here in Alaska. The website really lacked good information or pictures of the installation process. But I do like the fact that they say you can get an r-17 wall from 2x4 construction with their product. That sure beats .5 lb foam if their claim is true.

How would you be able to crack the wall with this product as according to their site it doesn't expand at all once it leaves the gun? It sounds as though it sets up quick so I could see getting the hose foamed up if you didn't travel at a steady pace.

The fact the product doesn’t expand and sets so fast would lead me to believe it would be possible to leave air pockets and miss spots within the Stud cavity.

Again thank you for the info as it definitely sounds like a product to research a little more.

Posted: Feb 16, 2008 08:28 PM

how would you crack the wall? easy! If your 19 year old college student employee is thinking about his 19 year old girlfriend in the hot tub last saturday night, the hose in the wall could stay in there too long. (with foam coming out) Too much foam in the wall will crack it. you generally have a guy inside listening to the wall fill. sounds like pudding splattering inside the wall, then very small snap, crackle, pops tell you the wall is filling. slow and easy is the best way to fill the wall. he will signal you when to stop.
air bubbles? i have no way to say one way or another. have yet to open a wall to see. good question.
yes this about the best bet for an existing house.

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