Working the Night Shift

FLEETWOOD, PA – May 20, 2019 – Spray Foam Insulation Services Inc. is a family owned and operated spray foam business, which has been operating for seven years. The owner Elmer Swarey has been in the construction business for 20 years. Located in the town of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, Swarey and his son Charles currently operate out of one 24-foot box truck, and they are presently setting up another spray foam rig to help with the main truck.

The Swarey’s were contacted by a company called BELFOR Property Restoration, who were helping clean up after a fire at an international truck dealership. One night, a fire had started in a truck which was left in the garage, and luckily the it did not burn down. Afterwards, the building was left coated in a heavy soot so BELFOR came in and wiped down every surface by hand with a cleaner and 500 pounds worth of rags.

BELFOR had taken out the existing fiberglass insulation which was on the roof deck, gable, and end walls. The Spray Foam Insulation Services team were hired to spray directly against the metal decking. The spray area amounted to 8,300 square feet covering the mechanic’s garage.

They arrived to start the job and every surface was impeccable, with no sign of a fire at all. The requirements for the job were to work at night, cover all floors, and any equipment in the shop including all mechanics’ toolboxes and garage doors. Each night, they could only prep the area they would be working in. Then the same area had to be cleaned up every morning for the mechanics to arrive and start their shift.

The spray team used 6 sets of closed-cell foam, with 20 rolls of 4 mil plastic. Rolls were 12'x100’ and 75 gallons of DC315 intumescent coating was applied at 14-16 mil thickness.

EQUIPMENT USED: The foam was applied using a Graco H30 reactor run off of a Morse 40/40 Generator powered by a Cummins diesel engine. A Graco AP fusion gun was utilized with a 4747 Evo spray mixing chamber. Fire paint was applied with a Graco 7900 gas powered paint sprayer and 2 scissor lifts and one small articulating boom lift helped them reach higher elevations.

BRAND OF FOAM SPRAYED: Graco Western One Pass closed-cell foam, applied at a depth of 2.5" reaching an R-18.

THE TEAM: Elmer and Charles Swarey, Elmer’s son-in-law Cliff Smith and Jack, a newly hired employee who is currently learning the trade.

BELFOR Property Restoration also provided a foreman to oversee the project and answer any questions the team may have had.

NIGHTS TO COMPLETE JOB: It took 4.5 nights from start to finish, with 6pm starts and 6am finishes.

SAFETY GEAR USED: chemical spray protection coveralls, gloves and fresh-air-supplied full face mask.

Smith recollects, “It was lots and lots of recover-ups on all the equipment. Some of the same garage doors we had to plastic 3 different times. Our boss is very generous, and he made it well worth our time to work at night."