Spray Foam Insulation Questions From New Hamburg

Ontario prices for foam generally sit between $2.50 and $7 per sprayed square foot. Open cell costs the least, and closed cell costs the most. Access, depth and prep also shift the figure, which is why a free visit is the way to get your actual price.

At typical Ontario rates, 1,000 square feet of foundation wall might land between $3,000 and $5,500. Closed cell on a roof deck could run higher. Those are market ranges rather than a quote, and the paper quote is the number to trust.

Closed cell is dense, adds about R-6.5 an inch and blocks vapour at full depth. Open cell is soft, adds about R-3.6 an inch and stops air but lets vapour pass. Closed cell goes where dampness matters, and open cell goes where it does not.

Yes, after it fully cures. During spraying the area is closed off and ventilated, and people and pets stay out for about a day. Foam that still smells strongly weeks later was probably mixed wrong and deserves a look.

Foam seals drafts as it insulates, while fibreglass only slows heat and lets air drift through. Wet or squashed batts also lose much of their value. Foam costs more up front, but it covers both needs, and closed cell keeps working in damp spots where batts give up.

Kits are tough to mix and spray evenly, especially somewhere cold. Off-ratio foam can shrink, split or smell, and then it has to be torn out. A heated rig keeps both liquids at the right temperature and pressure the whole way through.

In a living space, yes. Foam there needs a fire-rated layer such as half-inch drywall. Attics and crawl spaces nobody uses can often take a thinner ignition barrier instead. The building department has the last word.

Yes. Bad foam gets carved off with knives and scrapers down to bare wood, then fresh foam is sprayed. Covering bad foam with more foam does not fix anything. We also pull old batts and loose fill before new foam goes in.

Properly sprayed foam lasts as long as the building around it. It does not sag or settle the way batts and loose fill do. Off-ratio foam is the exception, and it usually shows trouble in the first few weeks or months.

It leaves them nothing soft to nest in, which helps. It is not a rodent barrier, though, and mice can chew through it. Closing up the holes they use to get inside still matters.