Foam insulation is one of the most popular and economical ways to protect a home from heat and cold. Traditionally, homes in many regions of the world have been built from stone or solid wood, both of which have great insulating properties, but those materials are relatively expensive and not always easily accessible. The advantage of foam is that it can provide a simple wood-frame home with a high level of insulation and protect it from both cold and heat.
Foam is extremely easy and quick to use – applied in liquid form, it expands in seconds to fill every crack and corner of the wall interior. Some varieties of it also remain flexible over time, so deformations or buckling of the house frame won’t cause it to lose its insulating properties.
Foam insulation also acts as an air barrier and helps prevent air from escaping through gaps and cracks in the building envelope. It can be used throughout the home to make it airtight as well as retain heat.
Foam insulation comes in open-cell or closed-cell form, with different engineering properties and different R-values (the degree of resistance to heat flow). Open-cell insulation contains bubbles that fill up with ambient air, and use that as the insulating gas. The distinguishing characteristic of open-cell foam is that it remains flexible, though at a cost to its heat resistance. Closed-cell insulation, on the other hand, contains a gas that fills up the bubbles without mixing with air, which gives it a higher degree of heat insulation but makes it rigid.
Call us to find out which type and model of foam is right for your insulation project.