Should I Full Foam my house?

[Bonibelle]

Trying to improve the insulation in my house..it is really inadequate. I talked to a company that blows in foam like they use in hot tubs. Has anyone done this? I asked about running wire later, and it is virtually impossible once the foam is in place. I was thinking that the foam might be a good choice in my attic since I have a whole house fan and the loose stuff would blow around...my other choice would be batting. I wonder though if the foam traps moisture from the living areas and would create problems if trapped between the drywall and foam. I have no idea of how much this costs..but the R factor is 20 in a 6 inch application. They are coming to give me an estimate next week!!

[Spatech_tuo]

Trying to improve the insulation in my house..it is really inadequate. I talked to a company that blows in foam like they use in hot tubs. Has anyone done this? I asked about running wire later, and it is virtually impossible once the foam is in place. I was thinking that the foam might be a good choice in my attic since I have a whole house fan and the loose stuff would blow around...my other choice would be batting. I wonder though if the foam traps moisture from the living areas and would create problems if trapped between the drywall and foam. I have no idea of how much this costs..but the R factor is 20 in a 6 inch application. They are coming to give me an estimate next week!!

I grew up in a very large farmhouse in Upstate NY that was literally built in the 1870s. When I was a teenager my father had someone come in and blow foam insulation all throughout the house. It made a HUGE difference.

[Vinny]

Boni,

There is a technique of superinsulating a house. You also need all your window frames and door frames sealed as well. I will assume that the windows and doors are good quality as well. I know a person who bought new windows and didn't seal up the areas around the window that were allowing air to infiltrate, they were cold in their house.

As a house gets sealed better and better, indoor polution becomes a bigger problem. The humidity will become a problem along with stale air, dust and whatever makes up indoor air. Ozone is NOT a solution , the solution is a air exchange ventillation system.

Having R 20 in the walls with an R30 or more in the ceiling will certainly be a great thing heat wise and with the foam that solidifies it will seal up any drafts in the wall. If you don't get the window frames and door frames you will still feel cold IMO.

Anything you do to add insulation or stop the air infiltration will help. But after saying that it is possible to still feel cold after doing it all .. my wife always complains she's cold even though she's in a totally insulated room!

[Bonibelle]

Vinny, my windows are relatively new and I made them pull the molding in several windows because I didn't feel they did a good job insulating around them. I am a PIA customer..As I have added on to my house, I have used 2X6 for the walls and the insulation is much better than the old stuff in my 2X4 walls. My big concern is in my attic and in behind the knee walls in the front of the house. There is something called "Cape Cod Syndrome" that allows heat from the living area below to be lost through the eves in the front of the house because there is no block between the heated areas and the insulation in the floor of the eves. I think the foam stuff would not only add the insulation, but also seal that entire area. When we built our house, the insulation crew had no clue of what they were doing. Instead of insulating the walls in my basement, they insulated the basement ceiling. Who knows if I even have any insulation in my attic floor  :-/ !

 I wish I knew how much I could save in heat. Even with my wood stove, I used quite a bit of oil last year.

Spatech, my grandparents had a huge old stone home built in 1812..the walls were 18 inches thick (you could sit in the window sills..it was so cool)..I remember living with my grandmother and writing the checks for the oil heat..this was 25 years ago..they were astronomical! I guess those thick walls were solid but not good insulators. So did your Dad have the insulation blown in the ceiling? I am hoping just insulating my second floor ceiling and in the eves will make a difference. :-/

[Vinny]

Boni,

My house has the same thing where the first floor and second floor has openings to the cold outside air because they didn't seal off the openings. My first floor has a porch roof in the front and where the roof and the wall meet it's open; the second floor is extended about 1 foot in the rear. I can't do anything about most of the rear but I did put insulation when I opened the walls to do my kitchen - used R14 (? - 2x4 stuff) I imagine it is doing something ... I can only hope.

When we do the roof, I may have the roofers do something about the front. But hopefully that won't be for a very long time!

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

There's a study that shows that 1" of sprayed in polyurethane foam (R-7.5) is more effective than R-30 of fiberglass insulation. The reason is air infiltration. The poly foam seals out ANY air infiltration. Attic insulation, believe it or not, is VERY prone to convection.... air actually does waft through it, slowly. Some studies show up to 1/2 the insulation in an attic is doing very little to insulate anything. Also, fiberglass insulation IS prone to condensation, literally saturating the insulation with water. Fiberglass typically has a paper or foil on one side. The directions say to put the foil against the warn side, the house. WAIT a minute, the house may be warmer in the winter, but what about the summer? HELLO condensation... There's some new fiberglass insulation that's put in plastic tubing, but, the tubing is perforated. It's supposed to help.... a little

[Spiderman]

Why would you want to waste money on such a silly thing as full foam?  Just let the dead airspace insulate like a TP spa.       OK, that was a little sassy, but seriously;  we went with batts when we built our house and I think the R value is around R-19.  My neighbor built his house at the same time and had insulation blow into the walls which gave him an R value of R-21 or 22.  My builder recommended the foam, but it was pretty pricey, and I don't how much better it will insulate.  I would check the difference in R Value between the foam and blow in as well as the price difference.  

[Bonibelle]

Spiderman, I am looking for a dual advantage with the foam...that would be to stop the air leaks that occur in a Cape Cod through the eves...I have a second company also coming to see about blown-in  insulation (non-foam) but I am concerned about my whole house fan redistributing the insulation all over.

[tony]

Vinny, my windows are relatively new and I made them pull the molding in several windows because I didn't feel they did a good job insulating around them. I am a PIA customer..As I have added on to my house, I have used 2X6 for the walls and the insulation is much better than the old stuff in my 2X4 walls. My big concern is in my attic and in behind the knee walls in the front of the house. There is something called "Cape Cod Syndrome" that allows heat from the living area below to be lost through the eves in the front of the house because there is no block between the heated areas and the insulation in the floor of the eves. I think the foam stuff would not only add the insulation, but also seal that entire area. When we built our house, the insulation crew had no clue of what they were doing. Instead of insulating the walls in my basement, they insulated the basement ceiling. Who knows if I even have any insulation in my attic floor  :-/ !

Actually, your basement ceiling needs to be insulated while your walls do not...at least here in MA.  I've never heard of Cape Cod Syndrome.  Your first floor ceiling (from outside wall to outside wall) and your knee walls and second floor ceiling need to be insulated.  At the same time your roof needs to be vented from the eves to the attic usually in rafters and the attic needs venting with either gable vents or a ridge vent.  Insulation is no good without the proper venting.  If done properly, there should be no heat loss from the heated areas to the unheated.