Watch Them Spray Foam On Insulation Day - Day 54 - The House is 50% Done

Friday - I have been looking forward to insulation day since the day we started the project. Today they did the walls of the house - Monday they will do the roof. 

They started the insulation in the master bedroom.

I love this product - Icynene - Open Cell Foam Insulation.

They spray the liquid polystyrene. The other chemical foams it up to fill in all the cavities. Then they slice off the excess. This stuff is water proof. The drywall goes directly over it to make a nice tight "ice cream sandwich."

When we first planned the house - we were considering doing it in Insulated Concrete Foam - ICF. In that method they pile these big styrofoam blocks and then pump concrete down inside the blocks. Since there are a limited number of builders that used that construction method here - we chose to build a conventional "stick built" house. But we still preferred open cell foam insulation. When we built our guest house - we hired All Weather Insulation to spray insulate it. We liked it so we much decided to do it again. 

Liquid Spray Insulation is officially called Open Cell Foam Insulation. SPF is an acronym for Spray Polyurethane Foam.  SPF is a microcellular plastic (micro-cells or bubbles in a rigid or semi-rigid plastic) made from two chemical components that when mixed together create a chemical reaction and form SPF.  The History Channel recently documented spray polyurethane foam as one of its Modern Marvels and calls polyurethane foam the “secret weapon in the war on energy consumption” as well as the “super-insulator of insulation products”. Before I retired - I was a science teacher. I would stress energy conservation and home insulation as one of the big energy savers. When Lulu and I built our chalet in 1973 - we bought styrofoam sheets and put together a "arctic pack roof" that was a 5 inch thick sandwich of wood and insulation - like an Oreo cookie.

Spray Foam is more expensive than fiberglass batts - but Spray Foam has a higher R value. It also cannot get wet like fiberglass batts - water makes batts worthless. Foam also seals nooks and crannies as it is installed. 

The walls have 5 layers - 

1. Hardi board siding -  .15 - R value
2. Tyvek plastic sheeting - 2  - R value (they claim it adds R value by stopping air leakage)
3. ¾ Inch plywood wall - .94 - R value
4. 4 Inches of spray foam - 20 - R value
5. Drywall - .45 - R Value

Total - 23.54 R Value of Walls

The roof has 5 layers - 

1. Asphalt shingles -  .44 - R value
2. Titanium UDL - 2  - R value (they claim it adds R value by stopping air leakage)
3. ¾ Inch plywood roof - .94 - R value
4. 6 Inches of spray foam - 30 - R value
5. Drywall - .45 - R Value

Total - 33.82  R Value of Roof

The insulation job will be completed Monday.

Keystone Work - Gary Wayne and Josh did the external window trim on 16 windows on the front and back porches. The window trim is constructed of hardi concrete boards that are ¾ inches thick. On the cornice of each window is a keystone - the nickname and symbol of Pennsylvania - The Keystone State. In the original 13 colonies - Pennsylvania was the 7th colony from either end. A map of the 13 colonies looked like the arch above a window - with Pennsylvania even having the shape of a keystone.

Since Lulu and I were born and lived in Pennsylvania for 50 years - it would be a neat reminder of our roots.

SucraSeal is the brand of Open Cell Foam we are using.

The master bedroom completely insulated.

They have plastic on the attic floor for when they insole the roof Monday. The contractors were very tidy making a nice clean installation.

The cornice over each window is made of several layers of concrete Hardiboard. Hardiboard saws very evenly but it is hard on saw blades. In Florida since there is a lot of wood rot - Hardiboard saves the day.

Pennsylvania is called The Keystone State. Each window has a keystone above it. The window trim will be painted white.

This the latest picture of the back porch - the house is 50% done today.

This picture was taken at 5 PM today. On Day 54 we are 50% done. Really the first 7 days were tearing down the old house and prepping the lot. Actual Construction is just 47 days. My builder said it would take 100 days to finish from the time we started building. So he is ahead of schedule by 3 days.