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tryg waterhouse Posted: May 14, 2014 01:56 PM	froth paks Anyone using froth-paks regularly? Do you get very good quality foam from them? Any issues with proper ratio? Thanks,
Bryan Kwater Posted: May 15, 2014 09:26 PM	We have used disposable and refill systems. The disposable systems are hit or miss. The kits that work correctly are fine. There is a pretty high percentage of bad kits though. Usually on the bad kits, one side doesn't dispense at all. Most problems are with cold or previously frozen tanks. On the refill kits, each set has to be calibrated. This is a needed step and sucks. Not only does it waste foam, but it tends to take more time than I really care for. We have not had a bad set of this type though. The foam is of pretty good quality (if it is correctly calibrated). Heat is the key with either type of Froth Pak. Get the fluid in the tanks to 90 degrees or so, and it will spray much better.
Matthew Gowin Posted: Sep 28, 2014 01:47 PM	I used three sets when doing a crawl and attic. Unfortunately, the yield was about 2/3 the labeled amount. On top of that the foam looked to already be expanding prior to striking the surface so I dont know how well it actually got into cracks and sealed them. It looks like it just covered them up. Compared to nothing it is good but I think there are better options. We got three quotes of having the pros do our addition but out of the three the first was astronomical and it almost completely turned me off of the sprayfoam industry, I was PISSED. The second two were reasonable at around $1.15 - $1.50 a board foot which would have been less than the tanks. Ultimately, I chose another DIY approach due to wanting to get the roof deck done, it was quite a bit cheaper, and because I built a double studded wall and none of the quotes included the coating of the 2x4s on the inner wall or the trusses which I felt important to eliminate thermal bridging. When I started on the addition I got the fastkick kit with the 20 cases of foam. More expensive up front but much better. My only complaint is the size of the gun and the fact that once you start spraying a cartridge you have to let it finish spraying without stopping or it is no good. Each cartridge is only about 100-200 board feet so it isnt a problem. I would also be willing to venture that the 1.5 lb foam also has a much higher yeild than the label says. It only took 5 boxes to put an inch to two inch coat on the exterior walls of a 25'x25' room connected to a 25'x14' room totaling 900+ board feet and completely coating the outer wall 2x4s. I liked the stuff so much that I ordered another 10 boxes of open cell foam to fill out the cavities instead of doing a flash and batt system. I am still working on getting a system down on spraying the open cell foam since it behaves differently than the closed cell. Not bad just different so I need to get the rhythm down. The fast kick gun had also gotten a bit of foam build up on the front which caused the cartridges not to seat quite right. This caused slight spraying inconsistencies and ultimately one of the cartridges ruptured which drew my attention to the problem. Five minutes with a chizzle had me up and running again and I am much happier with the result.

Author

Comments

tryg waterhouse

Posted: May 14, 2014 01:56 PM

froth paks

Anyone using froth-paks regularly? Do you get very good quality foam from them? Any issues with proper ratio?

Thanks,

Bryan Kwater

Posted: May 15, 2014 09:26 PM

We have used disposable and refill systems. The disposable systems are hit or miss. The kits that work correctly are fine. There is a pretty high percentage of bad kits though. Usually on the bad kits, one side doesn't dispense at all. Most problems are with cold or previously frozen tanks.

On the refill kits, each set has to be calibrated. This is a needed step and sucks. Not only does it waste foam, but it tends to take more time than I really care for. We have not had a bad set of this type though. The foam is of pretty good quality (if it is correctly calibrated).

Heat is the key with either type of Froth Pak. Get the fluid in the tanks to 90 degrees or so, and it will spray much better.

Matthew Gowin

Posted: Sep 28, 2014 01:47 PM

I used three sets when doing a crawl and attic. Unfortunately, the yield was about 2/3 the labeled amount. On top of that the foam looked to already be expanding prior to striking the surface so I dont know how well it actually got into cracks and sealed them. It looks like it just covered them up. Compared to nothing it is good but I think there are better options. We got three quotes of having the pros do our addition but out of the three the first was astronomical and it almost completely turned me off of the sprayfoam industry, I was PISSED. The second two were reasonable at around $1.15 - $1.50 a board foot which would have been less than the tanks. Ultimately, I chose another DIY approach due to wanting to get the roof deck done, it was quite a bit cheaper, and because I built a double studded wall and none of the quotes included the coating of the 2x4s on the inner wall or the trusses which I felt important to eliminate thermal bridging.

When I started on the addition I got the fastkick kit with the 20 cases of foam. More expensive up front but much better. My only complaint is the size of the gun and the fact that once you start spraying a cartridge you have to let it finish spraying without stopping or it is no good. Each cartridge is only about 100-200 board feet so it isnt a problem. I would also be willing to venture that the 1.5 lb foam also has a much higher yeild than the label says. It only took 5 boxes to put an inch to two inch coat on the exterior walls of a 25'x25' room connected to a 25'x14' room totaling 900+ board feet and completely coating the outer wall 2x4s. I liked the stuff so much that I ordered another 10 boxes of open cell foam to fill out the cavities instead of doing a flash and batt system. I am still working on getting a system down on spraying the open cell foam since it behaves differently than the closed cell. Not bad just different so I need to get the rhythm down. The fast kick gun had also gotten a bit of foam build up on the front which caused the cartridges not to seat quite right. This caused slight spraying inconsistencies and ultimately one of the cartridges ruptured which drew my attention to the problem. Five minutes with a chizzle had me up and running again and I am much happier with the result.

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