How Is Spray Insulation Installed With Finished Walls?

How Is Spray Insulation Installed With Finished Walls?

Installing spray foam is an effective way to insulate walls, however, the procedure requires specific skills and equipment and can be done only by a professional installer. Installing spray foam in an existing finished wall is even trickier, and once it can be done at all, it’s cheaper than installing polyurethane in new, unfinished construction.

Spray Foam Products

Spray foam insulation products are polymer compounds that are applied in liquid form. The chemicals are delivered by a spray applicator that unites two parts in the nozzle, initiating a chemical response. After the mixed compound is sprayed into the cavities between wall studs, the mixture quickly expands and hardens into a strong foam which fills the cavity. The expanding foam fills air gaps in the wall cavity, making an effective insulating barrier.

Factors With Finished Walls

Some spray foam goods extend very fast, to up to 100 times the quantity of the liquid form, and this fast expansion exerts tremendous pressure on the structure of this wall. When these products are implemented within a finished wall, they can push outward on the wall exterior sheathing and interior wallboard, resulting in harm to the wall or leakage of this foam. Installation of foam at a finished wall typically requires specialized goods or other installation methods.

Closed-Wall Installation

The normal method for installing spray foam within a finished wall involves first drilling little holes in the wall, either through the wallboard on the inside of the wall or through the exterior sheathing on the exterior. The installer then sprays the foam through the holes to fill in the wall cavities. The foam products used in closed-wall programs are less aggressive in their expansion than some other foams, so they are not as likely to cause harm to the wall.

Installation Alternatives

Depending on the construction of your walls and the foam products available, it might not be possible to install polyurethane insulation without opening the wall. The insulation installer might recommend either removing the wall board so the foam can be implemented at the open wall cavities or building up the inside of the wall therefore insulation can be set up between new studs laid in addition to the present wall.