Metal Building Retrofitted With Spray Foam Insulation After Severe Hail Damage

JACKSON, MS – May 13, 2013 – Hailstorms can be quite rough on metal structures, but with the application of SPF insulation the damage can be repaired. Such was the case of a metal-building warehouse in Jackson, Mississippi, which was so battered down by hail that its previous roof insulation was knocked down completely. In order to safeguard the building from further damage, new insulation had to be added.

The owners of the building contracted Air Lock Insulation and Roofing for the restoration project, which involved the removal of the old insulation and the use of spray foam insulation to cover the underside of the roof.

“The hail damage prompted the owners to go ahead and retrofit, ”said Kurt Black, a partner with Air Lock. “There are not a whole lot of options that can get the job done as well as spray foam did in this particular case.”

The Air Lock crew scraped the remaining insulation off and, once it was removed, they proceeded to spray two inches of Gaco Western 183 M WallFoam, a 2 lb. closed-cell spray foam, on the substrate, covering a total spray area of 18,000 square feet.

Black explained that the building had a unique structure: a semicircle shape that wrapped around the roof and transitioned into the walls. This overlap caused the spray area to extend slightly into the walls.

The warehouse was being rented by an HVAC distributor and was fully operational during the day. Black explained that this was a factor to the length of the project.

“We could only work at night,” said Black. “We had to wait until they shut down operations and then we would start. It took about a week between the removal and the SPF spraying.”

In addition to the night shifts, Black also noted that the crew had to be careful with overspray because there was HVAC inventory in boxes at the site; the crew also taped up the skylights to prevent any overspray damage to them.

The team that Air Lock brought in consisted of ten people: five on the removal team and five on the spray team. They all wore jumpsuits and were equipped with respirators. They had two rigs outfitted with Boss Series proportioners made by Spray Foam Equipment & Manufacturing and Graco Fusion AP spray guns. A man lift was used to get up to the roof.

Black said that the application not only gave the roof more rigidity to withstand future hailstorms, but that it also provided much better insulation giving way to a much more comfortable inside-working environment for the HVAC team and future tenants.

Black pointed out that even though they didn’t do any before-and-after testing for insulation, the employees of the HVAC distributor were able to note the difference by using their own equipment.

“They had thermal-imaging guns,” said Black. “When we were halfway done, they shot one side of the roof that was done and the other that wasn’t; the readings showed a difference of 20 degrees.”

About AirLock Insulation: AirLock Foam Insulation & Roofing is a spray foam insulation company based in the Jackson, MS metro area. The company services Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama with high quality spray foam services at an affordable price. AirLock specializes in both residential and commercial spray foam insulation, foam roofing systems and silicone roof coating. They also do retrofit work to remove existing insulation from commercial or industrial building andf replace with energy-efficient spray foam. All three of the company founders have backgrounds as builders and collectively have nearly 50 years of construction experience.