KC Spray Foam & Coatings, LLC - Blog

How can Spray Foam in Your Kansas City Home Save you Big Money

A poorly insulated home makes heating and cooling a home even costlier. Older home are especially likely to be insulated with outdated, under-performing insulation. With the properinsulation, you can save hundred of dollars in energy costs.

Spray foam insulation has an ability than other types of insulation lacks - the ability to seal out air. Foam insulation has the highest R-value that all of the common insulation types on the market today. The R-value of a product refers to its ability to reduce heat transfer. The more efficient the insulation, the higher the R-value. Some of the other advantages of spray foam are:

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you have some familiarity with spray foam insulation. But what about other insulation options that might be available to you, like wet blown cellulose? For those of you who don’t know about this product, it is ground up, recycled newspaper that has a dry adhesive that is activated with water when it is blown into place. While it is very different from spray foam insulation, some builders will use it as an alternative to spray in foam insulation.

Before we go on, watch the short video below to get an idea of how wet blown cellulose is installed:

Why is Professional Spray Foam better than a Spray Foam Kit for your Kansas City home?

When it comes to home insulation, spray foam insulation is definitely the best choice. Spray foam seals out air and moisture, keeping your home well insulated in both the cold months and the warmer months. Spray foam insulation will also help strengthen your home and prevent mold growth, which can cause serious health issues for you and your family. Spray foam insulation, however, is a job that is best left to the professionals. If you are in need of spray foam insulation in your home, do not try to handle it yourself; contact one of the professional insulation installers from KC Spray Foam as soon as possible.

Although there are several DIY spray foam kits available today, it is still best to have a professional spray foam expert install your spray foam insulation. First, spray foam can be very demanding to apply; if the instructions on the DIY kit are not followed exactly, the spray foam may not work properly. While applying spray foam, you cannot take long pauses, as any interruption longer than about 30 seconds will cause the spray foam to clog the spray nozzle, requiring a new one to be put on.

During the building process, there are many ways to try to cut costs. And while some of these make good sense, one that generally does not is using a flash and batt wall system for your insulation. Flash and batt uses closed cell spray foam insulation as an air barrier, and then a fiberglass batt or blown in fiberglass or cellulose insulation is installed over the top of the spray foam insulation. If you’re making insulation decisions, particularly related to insulation foam spray Kansas City, read on to learn more about this option as it very well may come up during your build.

While we have seen this wall system used many times, it is not one we recommend. In fact, a quick Google search will turn up horror stories of this system failing. Here’s just one example where a hybrid system was initially installed and then ultimately corrected after the immediate appearance of moisture issues. In cold climates, flash and batt is particularly problematic. In cold climates, vapor drive comes from the interior of the home, driving outward through the fiberglass insulation, creating condensation on the cold surface of the spray in foam insulation. The key for this to work is that the spray foam insulation has to be applied at a sufficient thickness so the surface of the spray foam will not be cold, depending on your climate.

The prep work ahead of a sprayed insulation job is an important step. It’s how we protect the job site from overspray. It’s also how we ensure we leave the site better than when we started a job. When you contract with KC Spray Foam for your spray on insulation needs, this step is included in our price quote. We come in and cover all windows, doors, showers, tubs and other surfaces that need to be protected with plastic sheeting. With experience we have learned certain ways to cover efficiently. Leaving this work to us also helps avoid any questions that could arise. If the customer does the prep work and overspray gets on a window, it’s more complicated to determine who is responsible.

Our policy is, if you don’t want overspray on it, it must be covered or removed from the space. Keep in mind, our sales people consider all of this during the bidding process. If there is anything you can remove from the building in advance of the project, it can save you money. This also guarantees your things are moved and stored just the way you want. Building components that cannot be removed, such as prefinished floors, can increase the installation cost because they must be protected.