Last summer, after insulating my lower shop with fiberglass bats and plywood, I called the Icynene man for the unfinished 2d story of a stick built 24' x 32' gambrel truss building. The second story's ceiling is 5-6' below the roof and fiberglass would have been very difficult.
The Icynene man sprayed the 4" deep side-walls and 6"under the roof, between the trusses (OSB) Also downstairs he sprayed those triangular spaces on the sidewalls at the ceiling from the truss floor and 1/2 of the those rectangle spaces between the ends of the floor trusses( I did one wall of these and a lot of cutting and fitting is involved) Also one neat trick he did was seal 32 24" x 6" spaces on the 2 d floor between were the roof trusses come off the top plate (it's a gambrel roof so the 2d story is defind by the roof) and soffit ventlation is. He would spray about 18" above this opening and as it was puffing-up over 10 - 15 seconds, he would grab-it with his gloved hands and fold it down into the opening and perfectly seal it off. You don't dare spray right above the perforated soffit - it would ooze through the perforations and create a mess. The material is 138 degrees F as it comes out of the 2 nozzles at the spray gun and reacts.
He wore a Tyvdek suit and hood and a respirator connected to an little outside compressor. A fine, very adherent, dust gets all over everything. It is a very hot job and, in fact, the guy came stumbling out after several hours with the "chills". He was flirting with heat stroke ! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Think ahead about serious ventilation /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
After he was done spraying he used one of those thin long japanese saws that cuts on the pull, to cut off the puffy over-spray flush between the studs on the sidewalls where paneling or drywall would go.
He showed me photos of multiple jobs that they had done. He said it was perfect for pole buildings because it stuck to the inside of the metal paneling even if it was frosted over and elimentated any space for condecsation. Also it's a vapor barrier (altho it is open cell and water can slowly transverse it- so it's not to be where it could wick moisture), it "glues" the building together ( there is is a canadien study in progress quantifying this ) and air infiltration is eliminated (often this factor significantly compromises the insulating value of fiberglass bats) and deadens sound.
Romex, wires, plumbing lines don't need any special protection but trying to fish lines would be a real challenge so you got to plan ahead. For a shop or barn I like to run those in conduit on the outside for access and safety.
The whole building had a sweet cotton candy smell for a year. The building is as tight as a garage and I've had no bird or varmit issues. The second story is much cooler with the icynene on the underside orf the roof, I hade 2 roof vents I sprayed over but are marked with chunks of styrofoam and could easily be cut open. I was concerned about starting a diesel and trapping the fumes in the winter but I do that infrequently. O yes, an ill-fitting and cheap roll-up garage door can become the worst offender re heat loss.
The Icynene job cost me $2788, took one guy 10 hrs with a big van truck with obviously specialized equipment. Clearly this is not a do-it-yourself task. An experienced applicator is a must considering safety, tweeking the equipment, the mess and gauging the final thickness.
One question that wasn't addressed was toxic fumes in a fire which would be more dicey in a home. All in all, it wasn't cheap but it could easily make up for the labor and it has some real solid advantages. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
