Spray-on expanding foam wall insulation....

[Casco1]

I'd like to add my two cents worth. I own a 100 yr old house with no isulation at all in the walls other than rooms i've redone, 4 out of 8, last year I replaced the original windows I did it myself because I wanted them insulated and caulked to my satisfaction. This year we're building our retirement home in Maine. The first new house I'll have ever lived in. Because of this I've researching all aspects of building, mainly because I want to do it right, and mistakes cost money that I don't have. Now that I,ve set the scenario I'm thinking to go with traditional methods of insulation and live with some heat loss to allow the structure to breathe. I've raised four children in this old house none of us has ever suffered from breathing promblems of any kind in fact very little illness at all. I read about sick buildings, mold problems etc. and most seem to be from fairly new structures. What I'm asking from fellow TBNers ( that I've come to realize are a lot smarter than I am ). Is the value of saving possibly $200 - $400 in heating costs in exchange for potential problems down the road worth it? My concern is new chemicals in these materials that could hurt later. I'm reminded of a problem, I think it was in Texas, where hundreds of new homes were plumbed with a new type of PVC and it took ten yrs and hot water fittings started to blow and wreaked havok on these poor people's homes. Thanks for listening.

 

[DannyD]

Just for good measure I would put in a conduint beside each one. have it above the wall line on top and come down to at least the wall outlets. Never know when you may want to have a computer out there, and need a drop from the house.

When we do a new installation/construction I sort of go nuts on these. I have chases all over the place. Even if I dont have a wire run there, I know that with little effort I can have one there in a few minutes.

 

[_RaT_]

<font color="blue"> I'm thinking to go with traditional methods of insulation and live with some heat loss to allow the structure to breathe. I've raised four children in this old house none of us has ever suffered from breathing promblems of any kind in fact very little illness at all. I read about sick buildings, mold problems etc. and most seem to be from fairly new structures. What I'm asking from fellow TBNers ( that I've come to realize are a lot smarter than I am ). Is the value of saving possibly $200 - $400 in heating costs in exchange for potential problems down the road worth it? </font>

You will learn as you research air thight homes that there is way more to it then what you have mentioned. Air tight does not have to mean poor ventalation or air exchange. A home in Maine would benefit trmendously from tighter construction methods. Don't expect energy costs to be stagnant over the next decade. Electricity will cost you more. I found while building a home in Maine was that electricity was rather cheap, I know that will change. Folks up in Canada are building air tight homes and using air exchange units to keep a fresh supply of air in the home all the time keeping energy costs in check as much as possible. With the right setup, your not going to be submitting your kids, wife or self to the problems you mentioned. I've taken a class on this and would encourage you to research it further.

 

[MotorSeven]

I'm not too concerned about the airtight thing since i'm going to build the house out of cedar logs cut on site, and i really have just enough "carpenter" in me to get the job done /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif. The home will use a soapstone stove for heat. The first and last log home i built in TX in the 80's had a soapstone and we kept an iron kettle of water on top, and had a window cracked open almost all of the time. If we didn't the 1600+ sq ft house got real dry and real hot. The only space that will need add-on insulation will be the gables, under the steel roof, under the 1st floor, and the basement walls. I am investigating all of the "new" invovations because i want the house to use the least amount of grid power.
I appreciate all of the responses, and i am sure to have more questions the closer i get to actually sitting down to draw the plans.

RD

 

[ChrisW]

I priced the Icynene at about $9,000 -$10,000 and the nu-wool at $6,000. The nu-wool also included our interior master bed walls and laundry room walls, the Icynene did not. This was for a 2800 sf ranch and included our 3 car garage area as well.

Chris

 

[rswyan]

Chris,

Thanks. Question:

Was that for an existing home or new construction ?

 

[farmerpsv]

Hey all,
i used icynene in one of the old houses i restored (200 years old). it is great, doesn't off gas (wife has asthma). it was an interesting retro. i took down four sections of clapboard at varying heights and they put a hose down each section between joists and filled it up. i did the insulation at the beginning of restoration, which is a good thing, this stuff finds every hole and expands through it. it does stain, so doing it before painting is best. triming can be done with a hacksaw blade . the huge advantage of foam over most forms of insulation is the envelope that it forms...it breaths but doesn't allow air infiltration forming a very tight seal, that's on top of the insulation factor. it also has amazing sound insulation properties.
paul

 

[rox]

I saw this on the HGTV website. D you ever look at that website? I LOVE it. I love the act of building or remodeling or restoring. I love the creativity and also love learing systems and techniques. If yu ahven't seen it before here is the link to the HGTV website with the foam video. I swear I have seen every video on their website. Being in France and being weak in the French language I get virtually all my information and most entertainment via the internet. I even download the TV show Lost form iTunes!

http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/pac_ctnt_ihdr/text/0,2595,HPRO_20976_40179,00.html

Now don't be entering for the Deam Home contest becasue I am entering every day for my kids. I cna't win because I am not a US resident... + I like where I live now!

 

[ChrisW]

Those prices were for new construction.

Chris

 

[rswyan]

Chris,

Thanks. I was able to talk to a local NuWool installer yesterday and got him to give me a "ballpark" quote, over the phone, sight unseen after describing the building to him - he was talking around 80¢/sq. ft.

I thought that was pretty incredible - about $1600 to do the walls in my 42' x 72' x 12' polebarn. That's only marginally more expensive ($500) than my cost for R19 pink fiberglass, materials only, with me doing the installation work. (And it works out to R26.6 if the cavity is filled to it's entire depth)

Be interesting to see how well that ballpark quote holds up - it may go up some - I realized after I got off the phone with him that the wall cavity depth out to the sheetmetal was more like 7" rather than the 5.5" I told him on the phone. The other problem I see was that he said that he needs the walls studded on 24" centers - rather than 48", which was what I was planning on doing. If I do have to actually stud it in on 24" centers that would jump my framing costs up by about another $300.