Spray Foam Insulation Homeowner's Guide

The importance of distinguishing between the two types of spray polyurethane foam cannot be understated. When it comes time to insulate a home or commercial building, you must opt for open-cell foam or closed-cell foam, or a specific combination thereof. Each type of foam distinctly impacts project costs, application methods, and building performance. There are two major factors distinguishing closed-cell and open-cell foams: structure and density.

SPF insulation can reduce energy usage and lower utility bills. U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reveals that air infiltration contributes to 30% or more of your home’s heating and cooling costs. Air infiltrates homes in the form of drafts through any opening in the building envelope, be it doors, windows, or miscellaneous gaps. Spray foam is used to seal the entire building envelope of your home to prevent air infiltration, so savings of 30% or greater can be achieved when compared to the alternative insulation and roofing systems. The upfront cost of SPF insulation or roofing systems can often be recovered in a matter of years through energy savings alone.

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Spray foam also has sound-deadening properties. Soft, spongy open-cell foam can prevent sound from traveling between rooms when installed in the interior walls of a home or building. Open-cell foam can also be installed between levels in multi-story homes & high rises to prevent sound from traveling through floors. 

Sound Transmisison and Open-cell Spray Foam

There is no practical way to completely eliminate mold spores from entering a home, but the way to control indoor mold growth is to control moisture. Thankfully, spray foam functions as an air barrier and a moisture barrier, giving homeowners a valuable tool for maintaining a healthy indoor environment. Spray foam firmly adheres to wherever it’s installed to create a monolithic layer that restricts the flow of air and moisture.

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A strong roof is one of the most important aspects of a safe home when it comes to natural disasters. Closed-cell spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation, when applied directly to the underside of the roof deck from the inside of the home, can improve a roof’s resistance to wind uplift during high-wind storms by creating a robust bond between the roof sheathing and the joist assembly, while simultaneously increasing a home’s energy efficiency.

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Closed-cell SPF is known for its robust insulation properties, with aged R-values upwards of 7.0 per inch. Those R-values are attainable because of the density of closed-cell foam. Closed-cell foam’s density also has another property: strength. When used for roofing applications, closed-cell foam is strong enough to walk on. When used for insulation, closed-cell foam can strengthen the walls in which it’s installed, preventing them from sheering. 

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Traditional fiberglass insulation is only stapled or simply placed into the wall cavities and does not seal the stud and wall cavities from end to end, or top to bottom. Air infiltration can easily pass through these gaps, making it far less efficient than spray foam. On the contrary, SPF firmly adheres to the substrate on which it’s installed to create a tight seal and an insulating barrier that stops this air leakage. In addition to being an air barrier, SPF also helps to reduce moisture infiltration, which is a source of dangerous mold and mildew growth, and can also cause structural damage to your home or building.

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Spray foam insulation has redefined traditional construction methods to facilitate the energy-efficient green building initiatives of modern building science. Spray foam used in the building envelope outperforms fiberglass insulation. SPF is a superior air barrier that defies traditional, and perhaps outdated, building practices of attic and crawl space ventilation.

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