Mueller is where I get my metal for roofing and the sales guys that I've spoken to there have told me that if open cell foam insulation is used on their buildings, they will not warrantee it. I don't know enough to argue with you about the ingredients in the foam being the cause for the metal rusting out, but as of a few months ago, that's what I was told at Mueller in Kilgore TX.
I really appreciated your post and information into the changes in foam technology and hope it becomes more affordable. I am personally planning on adding on to my house and I want to foam the ceiling.
As to the original poster and what he should use for a weekend cabin, would you spend the money to spray foam it or fiberglass it? What would you think the cost difference would be to hire somebody to spray foam it compared to an easy do it yourself project if he installed the fiberglass himself?
Eddie,
Sorry for my delayed response, we have been up to our eyeballs in alligators here lately. To add to it, my blue heeler managed to break her leg, so most of this morning was spent at the vet (on a holiday weekend).
Anyway, It's not surprised about the metal suppliers. I think everyone tries to cover their back side these days. Do they have any issues with closed or it just open? As I said, we are in zone 3 and the question I have and can't seem to get a good answer to is what effect would doing the same (open cell on metal) in zone 6 or 7, where the winters are much longer and colder have? Any thoughts?
There's a lot of new things coming and it will be interesting to see what happens. One of the main reasons we went with our equipment supplier was there commitment to both the foam industry and us. When something new hits the market, they are eager to tells us about it and set up training classes for their customers. Without good suppliers it would be almost impossible to keep up. This is not a "brand new" thing, but have you ever seen anyone lift/level concrete with foam? We attended a training source a few months back and it's amazing what it will do. Definitely something we are considering.
As far as the cost difference between foam and fiber. That's sort of a hard question as I don't have all the details, but with some assumption on my part, I would say somewhere around $1,500. Would I use foam or fiberglass? If it's going to be used more than occasionally (which I think is the case) and I could come up with the extra $1,500. It would be money well spent in my opinion.
By the way, I don't think we should argue about any of it. We can share differences in opinion, maybe some debate and you never know, we may both learn something.