Mark King

Residential Insulation: Why Choose Spray Foam

Compared to traditional fiberglass or cellulose insulation, spray foam renders many benefits for homeowners in the Kansas City area.

Fiberglass insulation is used in about 85% of American homes, as it is the most affordable type of insulation. However, it is extremely less efficient, and can cost you more money in energy bills in the long run. Spray foam insinuation is continuing to increase in popularity as more and more homeowners are realizing the incredible advantages that it has for their home.

Insulate Your Kansas City Pipes Before Winter

Because the colder winter months are approaching, it is important to make sure that your home is prepared. The more that you can do to get your home ready now, the less you will stress about the frigid temperatures and icy storms during the wintertime. That is where spray foam pipe insulation from KC Spray Foam Insulators, LLC. comes in.

One of the most important things that you can do for your home is to make sure that all areas are insulated properly. Many homeowners are well aware that their walls, ceilings and roofs, basements, and attics should be insulated. However, one area that homeowners often forget about is their pipes. Pipe insulation can prevent your pipes from freezing and bursting, which causes a variety of issues in your home.

Should I Insulate My Crawlspace?

Your crawlspace is probably not an area of your home that you pay much attention to. You may only even venture down there once a year to retrieve your Christmas decorations. So the question is, why would you insulate such an unused and seemingly unimportant part of your home?

Simply put, the answer is yes, you definitely should insulate your crawlspace. The main reason is that your crawlspace loses a tremendous amount of heat which in turn costs you a tremendous amount of money. Since heat energy moves from higher to lower temperatures, (and increasingly faster at greater temperature differences), the heat from your living area will likely move down into the crawlspace and then quickly move through your concrete or brick foundation into the colder air outside. If your crawlspace is contained by a concrete foundation, you're in even worse shape since concrete has almost no insulation capacity. Another concern you should have for your crawlspace is moisture. There are many things that can contribute to a wet crawlspace, including: poor exterior drainage, plumbing leaks, and expansive soil. If you have a dirt floor in your crawlspace, it can evaporate a ton of water into your home, causing high humidity and potential water damage. Not only will water damage ruin your personal belongings, but it can cause mold and mildew to grow, and damage the load bearing structures of your home.An uninsulated crawlspace can become so cold that condensation can arise, causing even more moisture problems. Also, your water pipes, furnaces, and duct work can be easily affected by cold weather, and these are definitely things that you don't want to damage.

Building Insulation

KC Spray Foam in Olathe, KS is a nationally known building insulation company. Spray foam insulation is the best way to save on energy costs. We offer both open and closed cell spray foam insulation for your building insulation in Kansas City. The benefits of spray foam insulation are:

• Improves home's energy efficiency
• Heating and cooling savings
• Adds resale value to your home
• Reduces the amount of allergens and pollutants entering your home
• Reduces moisture entering your home
• Keeps you and your family comfortable all year round
• Reduces the risk of drafts
• Minimizes noise from external sources and noise from within your home
• Adds structural integrity to your home.

Spray Foam Insulation for Building Insulation

Open Cell Insulation

Why Spray Foam Insulation is a Better Choice in Kansas City

Nowadays, everyone is looking for the best way to be energy efficient. Making your home energy efficient is both a means to saving money and a means to saving the planet. Whichever reason you choose to promote energy efficiency in your home, be sure to remember that insulation is a huge component in this feat. By ensuring that your home is properly insulated, you can help significantly reduce your heating and cooling bills. One of the best ways to insulate your home is by using spray foam insulation from KC Spray Foam.

While spray foam insulation is often more expensive than traditional fiberglass insulation, it tends to be an overall much better investment. Here are some of the benefits of spray foam insulation over fiberglass insulation:

Spray Foam Insulation Costs in Kansas City

When considering spray foam insulation, most people's first concern is cost. Spray foam insulation tends to be more expensive than other forms of insulation, such as fiberglass insulation, because of its higher quality, quantity, and labor. The higher cost may deter some people from choosing spray foam insulation, but what those people need to know is that spray foam insulation will actually save you money for years and years to come. Spray foam insulation is a long term investment in your home. The cost of spray foam is determined by a few variables such as:

• Spray Foam Type: There are two types of spray foam insulation--closed cell and open cell. Closed cell is incredibly efficient insulation and only requires a thin layer of foam, but costs more. Open cell can be just as efficient with a thicker layer, and costs less. Discussing your options with one of our contractors will help you decide which option will be best for you.
• Quantity of Spray Foam: Plainly stated, the more spray foam you need, the higher the cost. If you are insulating your whole home it may cost more than if you just insulate your garage. The cost will depend on the total square feet being insulated.
• Labor: Unlike painting or other home projects, the application of spray foam insulation requires a certified professional. In any case, having a professional complete the task will provide you with peace of mind.

Spray Foam Insulation Savings in Kansas City

Spray foam insulation will provide you with a variety of benefits and savings. This type of insulation will provide you with lower energy costs. Because spray foam insulation is of a higher quality, it will do a better job keeping the cold out in the winter and the heat out in the summer. Your air conditioner or furnace will not have to work as hard to keep your home at a comfortable temperature. This also helps the environment, as well! An added benefit is sound control. Spray foam insulation adds another barrier to the outside, which can provide a noise cancelling advantage. Spray foam insulation also creates an airtight seal to keep moisture out. This can also keep out pests, as they have nothing to nest in.

Customer Service: Subcontractors Chance to Shine

After recently changing my cell phone provider it came to my attention how bad Customer Service is in most industries (including construction and with subcontractors). When I called my old cell phone company to find out what the buyout was on my cell phone, I was immediately transferred to a “retention specialist.” After several minutes of questions of why I wanted to cancel my service, I finally got a buyout number. I told the “specialist” that I understood he was doing his job, but he got quite pushy with me. The first thing that came to my mind was that if he was an employee of my mine he would be retrained or let go.

This got me thinking of how we handle our current and future customers. What are we doing right and what can we do to change to improve ourselves?

Spray Foam Insulation will Save you Money

Your energy bills may be unnecessarily high due to air leaks, gaps and holes. This can be prevented by using spray foam insulation by KC Spray Foam. Our spray foam is both an insulation, air sealant and air barrier. By closing and sealing the leaks, gaps and holes, you can save up to 20% on your monthly energy bills.

Spray foam insulation can help reduce the workload on your HVAC system. It has a high R-value and effectiveness. KC Spray Foam offers both open and closed cell foam insulation.

Spray Foam Education

After being in the spray foam insulation business for almost 10 years (completing thousands of projects in multiple states and under different code versions), I have come to learn that most of our customers we come in contact with have no idea regarding spray foam insulation. I’m not talking about spray foam just exists, but rather how it is installed, used correctly, and its benefits.

After answering more questions that I care to remember, I started speaking publicly about spray foam insulation and building science soon after I began in this business. Anytime a group, organization, or seminar would allow me to make a presentation I would. Now of course this was originally designed to further our marketing approach, but I quickly realized how little people knew about spray foam insulation. Many people had misconceptions about how spray foam would play into building science. Many people in the industry simply just didn’t (and still don’t) know their stuff and were constantly providing misinformation to clients.

Roof Coating Warranties Explained

Having been in the roof coating business for many years, we often get asked about what kind of warranty we offer. I thought I would explain a few things about warranties. There are a few different types of warranties available for roof coating systems. The two most common types include a material warranty and a labor warranty.

The Real Cost of a Leaking Commercial Roof: Risk Management

Property managers and building owners often know what it takes to replace a commercial roof. Costs range from as low as $3 per square foot to over $10 per square foot depending on the type of roof and if it needs removed and then replaced.

While that price per square foot can scare a property manager or building owner who may be trying to keep their investment property turning a profit, it can really scare them when they have large buildings. As an example, a 100,000 square foot facility (which isn’t too hard to find) would incur a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars or even breaking half a million in cost.

Keep the Heat out in the Summer with Spray Foam Insulation

Those summer months can be downright unbearable if you can't escape the heat. While it is common knowledge that insulation helps keep your home warm in the winter, did you know that it also keeps your house cool in the summer? Insulation stabilizes temperature in your home, so when you turn on the air conditioning, your house stays cool. It prevents the cool air from escaping the home, which helps energy efficiency, as well. Having high quality insulation is the best way to stay cool and lower your energy bills. That is where KC Spray Foam can help you.

Our attic spray foam insulation is a great option when it comes to insulation. With other forms of insulation, such as fiberglass, you have to have tons of material to have sufficient insulation. But with our spray foam insulation, all you will need is about an inch of spray foam and you will see and feel results. Spray foam also reaches those small nooks and crannies where traditional fiberglass can not; you will receive better coverage with spray foam insulation. It also repels mold, pests, and water, keeping the home's environment and air safe for your family.

Spray Foam is the Better Option for Metal Roofing

Metal roofing is a wonderful option when it comes to roofing. It is a long lasting material that will not deteriorate. Metal roofing has been known to last for 50 years. It has fantastic wind resistance and fire resistance capabilities. It is a light weight material which helps preserve the structural integrity of the structure. While metal roofing is more energy efficient than other types of roofing material, it is not perfect. There are two main problems with metal roofing; without proper insulation, it can easily transfer heat, and it also can build up condensation, which can cause mold, mildew, and sometimes rust. Luckily, if your metal roof is insulated with KC Spray Foam's polyurethane coating, neither of these problems will effect your metal roofing.

During the winter, without proper insulation, metal roofing can release heat out of the home and make the home much cooler. During the summer, again, without proper insulation, metal roofing will allow heat into the home, making it much warmer. With our polyurethane foam insulation, you will no longer have to worry about this inefficiency. Just an inch of coating will help almost completely eliminate these problems. It will also rid your metal roofing of condensation. With regular fiberglass insulation, condensation would ruin it. You would have to replace it often. Polyurethane is a waterproof material that will not be damaged, and that's if it even happens. Polyurethane should remove your worries about condensation. It also keeps pests and mold out. It fits into every nook and cranny, making it much more effective than fiberglass insulation.

Different Types of Roof Coatings: A Guide

Not all roof coatings are the same. In fact, there are many different features and drawbacks for most (if not all) types of coatings. So I thought I would highlight some of the differences in these coatings to clear the air for the average consumer. Let’s begin with the different types:

Acrylics:

Roof Coatings for Commercial Roofs: What You Need to Know

When it comes to low-sloped commercial roofs that are leaking, there are two basic ways to fix them: replace the roof or apply a liquid coating to seal in the roof.

Don’t Leave the Windows Open in New Construction

We’ve learned a lot in the last decade about building new structures to new levels of efficiency. However, windows have not kept up to the level that many other building materials have when it comes to thermal resistance (aka R Factor). Most available windows on the market today are coming in with a U-Factor of around .3. So, we know that we can convert U-Factor to R Factor easily (done so here).

What really matters is that most windows on the market equate to around an R-3 in insulating value. Why is this important? Because the 2012 IECC Energy Code is requiring in Zone 4 that walls must have an R-20 or R-13+5 to meet code. So in this R-20 wall we are going to cut a big hole into this wall and install a window that is only going to perform to an R-3 level. Makes a lot of sense doesn’t it?

Digging Deeper: Comparing Spray Foam Estimates

After surviving multiple home shows in the past month or so, we have settled down to a mountain of projects requesting bids for this upcoming year. Many of our prospective customers were wandering the aisles of the home show after asking questions, taking notes, and obtaining prices.

What can Spray Foam Insulation do for my Kansas City Home?

Kansas and Missouri are known for their extreme temperatures. It's very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. This simply means that having a well-insulated house should be a high priority for most home owners. There are a variety of benefits to having a well-insulated home, and little to no disadvantages. Those benefits are increased even more if you choose to use a polyurethane spray foam to insulate your home. KC Spray Foam can help you there. We have an experienced team of professionals who will help you insulate your home. Call us today to learn more about our company.

When it comes to spray foam insulation and insulation in general there are a ton of benefits, both short and long term. Some of these benefits include:

Spray Foam Myths

I have been a spray foam contractor since 2006 – almost 9 years now! I have had an exhibit at close to 100 home shows over the years. After spending time at my third home show in the past two weeks and preparing for the fourth coming this weekend, I thought I would share some of the most common myths about spray foam we often get asked.

Home Show Season: How to Find a Spray Foam Contractor

Like every year, mid-winter brings a flurry of Home Shows across the Mid-West.  Prospective buyers and people looking to beat cabin fever walk the isles restlessly. We here at KC Spray Foam are seasoned Home Show Exhibitors – in fact there have been times where we have participated in 8-10 home shows a year!