Room Insulation

[wenger7446]

Hello All, I am in the process of insulting a room in our house. The room is down to studs with new lighting & wiring. One major problem is most of the room of does not have 16" on center studs. I thought about getting a foam insulation company but I have not been able to get a reasonable quote.

Does anyone have any suggustion on what would be the a cost effective way to insulate the room?

 

[JustWood]

Spray foam is worth the extra $. I had a little over an inch sprayed in my garage 2 years ago. The engine heat from the trucks is enough to melt snow and ice off and dry the floor almost completely by the next day.

From my experience I would have to believe that if a whole house was done with foam you could heat for next to nothing .

 

[pete324rocket]

if the spacing is smaller,then get yourself a long straightedge, longer than the batt and simply cut them lengthways to fit the space.I just finished a 24 " on center in the basement and the wider batts can still be cut but they have to fit snug or they will flop-it is a skill of the cutter to give a little extra for a tight fit...oh and you need a razor blade type cutter and a piece of wood under the blade when you cut the insulation with lots of fresh blades...and extend the blade fully when cutting. Get organized and the job will go smoother-one measurer/fitter and another person cutting works best.

 

[Highbeam]

The "straight edge" I use is a 2x4 or 2x6 piece of lumber to compress and cut the fiberglass bats. You want to compress the glass with your weight on the board so that the blade cuts it rather than ripping it.

This sounds like wall insulation so it is okay if the insulation isn't cut just perfect. You will be using the sheetrock to hold everything in place. In a crawlspace, the loose fit might cause the batts to sag out of place.

 

[Hogwildz]

I just insulated my addition. The previous owner had many studs less than 16" centers.
I used a pair of $9.00 scissors from home depot, and cut the insulation lengthwise leaving the paper in tact, then trimmed the paper down leaving enough to overlap the stud for stapling.
Very tedious, but if done patiently, works fine.

 

[wenger7446]

Thanks for the input guys. I am meeting with another foam company tonight. If this guy is too spendy I am going to insulate this weekend using everyone recommendations.

Thanks!

Ryan

 

[begreen]

Fiberglass is great for DIY, but you will never create a solid barrier, wind proof barrier like sprayed in foam. Comparing the two is not really fair unless you add the cost and time to add a vapor barrier, caulk and joint taping to the fiberglass cost. And even then it will only approximate what a good spray foam job can do.

 

[SE Iowa]

Out here, a lot of people are using spray foam BUT a much cheaper and eco-friendly product is th sprayed-in-place wet cellulose. It's the same type of recycled cellulose that you buy at home depot etc but is mildly wet and is sprayed in place by a contractor. I'm told at about 50-65% of the cost of spray urethane thype foam. It is probably not quite as efficient as foam but is better that fiberglass. Kind of a happy medium b/w fiberglass and foam for both cost and efficacy.

 

[verne]

you can use un faced insulation , cut about an inch wider and friction fit then use poly for vapor barrier.

 

[wenger7446]

We signed a contract for closed cell sprayed in poly. The cost was almost 2x of batt but we felt it was worth it. For an 8x 18 foot room the cost was $800.00. They will be installing it next Friday.
I hope all goes well.
Ryan

 

[pete324rocket]

quickly ,the only bad thing I might worry about is if any in your family are sensitive to chemicals,and if so does this foam have a clean safety rated in this respect. good luck pete

 

[tkirk22]

How thick are they going to spray the foam?

That's about 400 square feet and as I recall, the DIY foam kits cost about a buck a foot to spray just 1" thick.

If the contractor is going to spray to full stud depth, I'll be pleasantly surprised....and looking for a contractor.

 

[wenger7446]

Hello All,

They spray foam he is using is derived from a Soy product and does not have as many of the algerian problems as the petroleum based products.

I confirmed everything with the contractor yesterday. They will be spraying full depth on the walls and the ceiling. R-24ish in the walls and R-42Iish (the ceiling has a slope to it).

A quick correction on my last post. He will be spraying open cell, not closed cell, poly.

I will take some pictures once its all finished.

Ryan

 

[mjbrown]

i have a 1969 mobile home with 2x3 walls and the insulation is approx. 1" glass. my question is , can this foam be sprayed thru a hole in the interior without tearing out the paneling to bare studs? this is a very interesting topic and i would like to know more as i am interested in doing this in my home.

i have already removed the vinyl siding and put the 1 1/2" foil covered foam panels cut to fit between the strapping, and on the backside of my home i built a 16 x 40 addition all 2x6 construction , with 6' glass and the 1'' foam board inside.

thanx, mike in maine