REAL spray foam insulation for a DIY'er

OK, there has to be a more economical way to do this.

I have an older house with either no insulation or very old insulation in small amounts in a space or two.

I would like to spray foam (closed cell) the ENTIRE house where ever possible.

Now after getting some quotes by professionals to come to do the job and also looking at the DIY kits that come in what look to be basically propane drums I have come to the conclusion that neither is cost effective for as large a project as I have.

Hiring a contractor would be great if I just needed a room or two done. The DIY kits are perfect for small projects or very small places. But to do my entire home using either would cost a fortune.

There has to be a way to buy the same equipment the professions use but on a smaller less industrial scale to do the job myself. That way I can just buy a large drum or so of foam and will have the equipment do the job myself for the entire house.

From what I can tell from searching the web the only two things you really need appear to be a paint sprayer machine (pump) and a proportioner machine that also heats the hose?

Can anyone help educate me to see if this is possible or chime in on what my options might be? I have a hard time believing this is that difficult a thing to accomplish but rather just rare to do.

you must be luckier than I am. I had 2 companies come out and take a look to foam my under my floor. Neither of them sent a bid of returned my calls. May too much work for them.

How much did they quote to do your house??

I would just steer away from the closed cell foam in your situation.
All of a sudden there is a rush for foam, like the energy crisis in the 1970'S on plain old fiberglass.
Try another route. Go to Nu-Wool :: Premium Cellulose Insulation :: Home Page. I recently talked to a group from the Building Performance Institute on these subjects.
You can get the same results from the blown in insulation at much less of a cost. I do not work for these folks or anything else, I just respect their product. I was skeptical at first, them I went over the results from the independent study.
Let them come out and actually tell you what they are capable of.

Besides that it is green, Energy star rated and you may get some tax reductions for it's installation. And half the cost.

There are no spray foams available for DIY, unless you start your own company so you can buy the chemicals.

SeattleDIY said:

you must be luckier than I am. I had 2 companies come out and take a look to foam my under my floor. Neither of them sent a bid of returned my calls. May too much work for them.

How much did they quote to do your house??

Click to expand...

Yea I had one company do that. I got three to give me quotes though.

QUOTE 1

Kitchen/Den Ceiling
QUANTITY: 312
ITEM DESCRIPTION: (per ft.) Install 1.8 pound RTC Permax Closed Cell Polyurethane Spray Foam under Roof Deck in Kitchen between rafters to average depth of 2.5 inches (R-value 19)
UNIT PRICE: $3.00
TOTAL PRICE: $936.00

Two small walls in Kitchen/Den
QUANTITY: 72
ITEM DESCRIPTION: (per ft.) Install 1.8 pound RTC Permax Closed Cell Polyurethane Spray Foam in exterior walls between studs to average depth of 2 inches (R-value 14)
UNIT PRICE: $2.25
TOTAL PRICE: $162

Attic
QUANTITY: 675
ITEM DESCRIPTION: (per ft.) Install 1.8 pound RTC Permax Closed Cell Polyurethane Spray Foam under Roof Deck in Attic between rafters to average depth of 2.5 inches (R-value 19)
UNIT PRICE: $2.80
TOTAL PRICE: $1,890

Grand Total $2,988.00



QUOTE 2

Kitchen/Den Ceiling
R-19 3 inches $1,475

Attic
R-19 3 inches $2,635

Grand Total $4,110



QUOTE 3

Gave me a verbal quote but I'm waiting for his email b/c I don't remember it but I'll update this post once I get it.

I'd second the blown in cellulose idea. We do this on rehabbed Habitat for Humanity houses. You can use a special vapor blocking paint to create a vapor barrier on the walls. I can't see you ever getting your investment back for the foam installation.

+1 on the Nu-wool. It doesn't really have any downside, that I've seen at least.

I'm looking into a weatherizaton business opportuity here in Chicago. All the talk is that 90% of the homes that are targeted are low income, balloon framed and need air sealing , insulatoin and either a Boiler cleaning or efficiency replacement. They talk about mandating 2 part spray foam. Is this really necessary? What about Nu wool? Can I use that for exterior walls and attics, etc? Each house is tested with a Flir and Blower Door to get a Air flow CFM reading, then a work order is generated by a ROI model program. The Weatherization contractor then is supposed complete the work order (labor and materials limit of $4200) and perform their own blower door test to see if the target Air flow CFM is met... Is this business worth going after?

Retrofit Foam is expensive for sure. Using foam in new construction is definitely something to consider. Some of the DIY foam sites now tout a 1" foam application int he studs to seal for air -infiltration with batts installed behind to raise overall u-value. This makes a lot of sense to me as air infiltration is a real killer of energy efficiency.