Texas-Based Contractor Creates Cavelike Sanctuary with Spray Polyurethane Foam

HOUSTON, TX – July 29, 2013 – The application of spray polyurethane foam is best known for its ability to seal and bolster rooflines; insulate homes and commercial buildings; and even protect pipelines and industrial tanks. Notwithstanding, SPF is constantly being used in new creative ways. Case in point: the owner of the Culture of Golden Heart Association, a Vietnamese temple in Houston, Texas, decided to utilize SPF to commemorate the mountains of Asia via a rock-like decoration in the courtyard of the temple where members could go inside to pray.

The owner brought in EcoFoam Insulation and Roofing for the project, which entailed the application of SPF to the interior and exterior of a man-made 2,000 sq. ft. structure consisting of weed blocker mesh held in place by chicken wire. The structure also included a concrete wall in the center of the mesh structure, which was made to look like a mountain after the foam was applied. The mountain was linked to the cave and towered over the entire structure.

Prior to the EcoFoam crew arriving at the site, the structure was already constructed for the foam application. Holes had been cut out of the weed blocker fabric to serve as windows for the cave. Two large openings from one end of the cave structure to the other offered optimal ventilation throughout the job.

The four-man EcoFoam crew wore Tyvek suits and masks for the duration of the project. The crew applied Foam-Lok 2000, a 2 lb. closed-cell spray polyurethane foam made by Lapolla, to the interior walls and ceiling, and the exterior of the structure including the cement wall. According to EcoFoam's Michael Young, the application varied from two to six inches of foam sprayed over every substrate on the structure because, over time, EcoFoam was asked to add more SPF to make the surface thicker and lumpier, especially at its center point.

"The amount of foam sprayed varied because we kept on adding more foam to make the structure look mountain-like," Young said.

Young added that the crew balanced the interior and exterior applications as the job progressed.

"We tried to spray equally on both the interior and exterior," Young said. "We tried to seal it from either the inside or the outside and then go back and apply more on the alternate side to cover up the mesh and to make it stronger."

The EcoFoam crew worked with one rig on site equipped with a Graco Reactor H-40 proportioner. They ran 300 feet of hose to the back of the Vietnamese temple and useeed a Graco Fusion air-purge spray gun with a 42 tip during the application. The crew worked with self-contained diesel-generated power during the application because there was nowhere to plug in out there, according to Young.

A total of eight sets of foam were used over a period of three months. Young noted that initially his crew went through a few sets and came back intermittently over the aforementioned period to add more foam. Young explained that the reason the project has such a long life span was due to monetary constraints.

The crew also applied SPF to indentations on the back-end concrete section of the structure to correspond with a pre-conceived channel design to create a waterfall where water would roll off the roof and into a pond in front of the cave's center point. Young said that the cave surrounded by the pond already looked good, but that the waterfall added a new, dynamic aesthetic to the project.

After the SPF application, the crew installed a base coat at two gallons per square (100 sq. ft.) of Thermo-Flex 1003, an acrylic elastomeric tan-colored coating made by Lapolla. Young pointed out that the tan coating not only protected the foam, but made the structure further resemble a mountain all around. He affirmed that the finished product looked like a cave at the bottom of a rocky mountain.

"It was a great challenge for us to comply with the owner's request and create a mountain and cave structure for the temple," Young said. "I think we did a great job and the owner got what was requested."

Young added that in addition to the structure's magnificent presentation, the cave offers proper insulation so that when members of the temple are inside they will be comfortable at any time of the year.

"It will take minimal heating and cooling to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer inside the cave," Young said.

About EcoFoam LLC: EcoFoam is based in Houston, Texas and provides residential and commercial insulation, roofing services, and high performance coatings. For more information about EcoFoam LLC, please use the contact information and details provided below.