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Posted: Apr 26, 2006 07:42 PM	Foam for Tilt Slab construction Hello everyone, I am a contractor investigating spray foam insulation. I have had some help from one of your fellow board members over the last 12 months. I live in New Zealand where the foam industry is very small and there is little to no information available. My question is , is there a foam that would be suitable for what we call Tilt Slab construction. Its where they make concrete walls on site by basically pouring concrete into boxing and then lifting them into position when the concrete is dry. There is a method where they lay sheets of polystyrene into the concrete for insulation making a sandwich of concrete and poly. Is there a foam that could be sprayed in during the pour instead . Is there anyone I could call about this oranyone you could recommend me to contact. ANY information would bevery much appreciated.Please see the posted url Thank you Steve.
Ryan Rhoads Posted: Apr 26, 2006 08:19 PM	First of all foam does not adhere when it is sprayed to a wet surface. Second of all foam will adhere to concrete fairly well. The rougher the surface of the concrete the better. Really smooth concrete doesn't work real well, although it does have some adhesion. You might want to go foam enterprises website and get a phone number and give them a call. I have sprayed a plastic tank using one of there bonding agents and had excellent adhesion. I will warn you of a couple of things that I have run into. One it is hard to educate consumers without spending alot of money in advertising, two once you understand how versatile foam is and how much of a superior insulation it is you will never want to use anything else. Three make certain that there are no vehicles anywhere near where you are going to spray and make sure everything that is not to be sprayed is masked off before the job. Last but not least check out as many foam manufactures that you can and decide witch field rep you get along with the best and try two or three different foams, then decide who's product you want to use. P.S. get a good idea of how much money it is going to take to get the business off the ground and have the capital to make it work, going hungry from time to time is a real drag.
Posted: Apr 26, 2006 08:45 PM	thanks for your eply. I have done lots of work on equipment and have learnt alot from this board and the net in general. I am a commercial painter so understand the overspray risks (been there, done that!!) I realise the foam wouldnt stick to the wet concrete and in the site I left a link to they make a ancor for keeping the two concrete slabs together. My advantage is with the concrete half set you could spray foam on and walk on it almost immediatly to spray the rest of the surface then they could pour the top concrete straight away. this would save them lots of time cutting out polystyrene panels as I could do it on site with a mobile rig. What i am trying to do is find some commercial applications for foam rather than residential as I have come up against alot of resistance to interior foam insulation due to bad press it was given here in the 80s re gas leakage into the air etc. I want to get into the business but am first trying to find a good niche area to get started. If I could talk to you please email your number to sandklaw@gmail.com. Cheers.
Posted: Apr 27, 2006 12:38 AM	stevo...email sent to the addy listed in your last post. cheers mark
Gerry Wagoner Posted: Apr 27, 2006 09:14 AM	Steve: the old foam you refer to must have been a urea formaldehyde product. That is off the market for 30-years in America. If New Zealand is still leery of foam, then they need to be educated to the good stuff. It is not useful to be fear-bound by outdated materials. Education is needed. Spray foam is great stuff. gcw

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Comments

Posted: Apr 26, 2006 07:42 PM

Foam for Tilt Slab construction

Hello everyone, I am a contractor investigating spray foam insulation. I have had some help from one of your fellow board members over the last 12 months. I live in New Zealand where the foam industry is very small and there is little to no information available.

My question is , is there a foam that would be suitable for what we call Tilt Slab construction. Its where they make concrete walls on site by basically pouring concrete into boxing and then lifting them into position when the concrete is dry. There is a method where they lay sheets of polystyrene into the concrete for insulation making a sandwich of concrete and poly. Is there a foam that could be sprayed in during the pour instead . Is there anyone I could call about this oranyone you could recommend me to contact. ANY information would bevery much appreciated.Please see the posted url
Thank you
Steve.

Ryan Rhoads

Posted: Apr 26, 2006 08:19 PM

First of all foam does not adhere when it is sprayed to a wet surface. Second of all foam will adhere to concrete fairly well. The rougher the surface of the concrete the better. Really smooth concrete doesn't work real well, although it does have some adhesion. You might want to go foam enterprises website and get a phone number and give them a call. I have sprayed a plastic tank using one of there bonding agents and had excellent adhesion. I will warn you of a couple of things that I have run into. One it is hard to educate consumers without spending alot of money in advertising, two once you understand how versatile foam is and how much of a superior insulation it is you will never want to use anything else. Three make certain that there are no vehicles anywhere near where you are going to spray and make sure everything that is not to be sprayed is masked off before the job. Last but not least check out as many foam manufactures that you can and decide witch field rep you get along with the best and try two or three different foams, then decide who's product you want to use. P.S. get a good idea of how much money it is going to take to get the business off the ground and have the capital to make it work, going hungry from time to time is a real drag.

Posted: Apr 26, 2006 08:45 PM

thanks for your eply. I have done lots of work on equipment and have learnt alot from this board and the net in general. I am a commercial painter so understand the overspray risks (been there, done that!!) I realise the foam wouldnt stick to the wet concrete and in the site I left a link to they make a ancor for keeping the two concrete slabs together. My advantage is with the concrete half set you could spray foam on and walk on it almost immediatly to spray the rest of the surface then they could pour the top concrete straight away. this would save them lots of time cutting out polystyrene panels as I could do it on site with a mobile rig.

What i am trying to do is find some commercial applications for foam rather than residential as I have come up against alot of resistance to interior foam insulation due to bad press it was given here in the 80s re gas leakage into the air etc. I want to get into the business but am first trying to find a good niche area to get started. If I could talk to you please email your number to sandklaw@gmail.com.

Cheers.

Posted: Apr 27, 2006 12:38 AM

stevo...email sent to the addy listed in your last post.
cheers
mark

Gerry Wagoner

Posted: Apr 27, 2006 09:14 AM

Steve: the old foam you refer to must have been a urea formaldehyde product. That is off the market for 30-years in America. If New Zealand is still leery of foam, then they need to be educated to the good stuff. It is not useful to be fear-bound by outdated materials. Education is needed.

Spray foam is great stuff.

gcw

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