DIY spray foam

[brian89gp]

Does anybody have any experience with any of the DIY spray foam kits? Both the pre-pressurized bottles and the ones you hook an air compressor up to. I will be using the open cell type.

I am hopefully going to start spray foaming the solid brick walls I have as my exterior walls this year and I am planning on doing it on a room by room basis. I would normally have someone come out and do it but it would not be cost effective to have them come out a dozen or more individual times to do one room at a time.

 

[richg]

Does anybody have any experience with any of the DIY spray foam kits? Both the pre-pressurized bottles and the ones you hook an air compressor up to. I will be using the open cell type.

I am hopefully going to start spray foaming the solid brick walls I have as my exterior walls this year and I am planning on doing it on a room by room basis. I would normally have someone come out and do it but it would not be cost effective to have them come out a dozen or more individual times to do one room at a time.

I have experience with cartridge foam and tank foam kits. The cartridge foam was a joke....the gun was as heavy as an 18-wheeler, it sprayed as evenly as the Himalayas and it took forever. I did a job with a Tigerfoam kit in October 2012 and was very pleased with it. The setup was two tanks that looked like 20lb propane tanks, a 15-foot hose that connected to the tanks and mated inside the spray gun and assorted spray tips (cone, fan etc). The Tigerfoam kit sprayed a beautiful even coat. If you want to store it, you put vaseline or axle grease on the gun face and put a used spray nozzle back on. You're good for 30 days until you have to spray again.

 

[peakbagger]

I used the a two tank kit to do a wall that I had opened up. I did a flash and bat where I sprayed in at least 1" of foam on the exterior wall and the corners then filled the rest of the cavity with fiberglass. The kit worked well but you need to read the directions and cover everything within about 20 feet as when it spatters or drips (which it will) the stuff sets up permanent. The bummer is that you end up throwing away a lot of stuff and have to pay to ship it. Make sure you wear full safety gear including goggles, tyvek suit and respirator.

 

[RichVT]

If you have not yet educated yourself on the potential problems caused by insulating brick walls, you should spend a little time on the internet.

Here's a start:

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/insulating-old-brick-buildings

 

[brian89gp]

If you have not yet educated yourself on the potential problems caused by insulating brick walls, you should spend a little time on the internet.​

That was one reason I was going to do open cell and no moisture barrier, still has some vaper permiability. The exterior is unfortunately already pointed with cement mortar (old brick...) and painted, has been about 30 years and no popped faces or other freeze damage. I bought it that way so I had no choice on the paint/cement.

What are your thoughts on the matter? I loose just over 100k BTU in the winter and gain about 38k BTU in the summer through my walls at design temps.

 

[RichVT]

I don't have any advice, I just happened to read about potential problems and thought that you should be made aware of them if you were not already.