Strengthen Your Home with Spray Foam Insulation

According to a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) study in San Antonio, Texas, spray foam insulation is your best option for cutting your home’s heating and cooling bill compared to traditional forms of insulation.

But there’s another major benefit to using closed-cell polyurethane foam insulation – it strengthens your home’s structure and enhances overall building stability.

In fact, a prominent spray foam consultant notes that he has found that “when added to the inside of a structure, spray foam ‘glues’ the whole building together, enhancing overall wind and pressurization resistance.”

Spray Foam Improves Roof Strength and Durability

Applying spray polyurethane foam (SPF) to a home’s roofing system can improve its strength. Roofs sprayed with SPF are reported to increase a roof’s effective lifespan beyond 30 years.

SPF conforms and adheres to the surface on which it’s sprayed. This enables the formation of a strong bond to protect the roof. The spray foam layer is seamless and self-flashing, thereby eliminating water’s ability to seep through weak spots, such as fasteners and seams. Spray foam can be applied in a sloped manner to allow water to easily drain off the roof.

The University of Florida, Clemson University, and numerous spray foam suppliers also have demonstrated that spray foam applied as an adhesive bead on the underside of the roof joist can significantly enhance the wind uplift strength of your home two to three times greater than nails alone.

The Florida state government even issued Product Approvals for spray foam insulation. This requires insurance companies to provide rebates when these preventative systems are used.

Spray Foam Effects Wall Strength

Walls, the main structural component of your home, can also benefit from spray foam. In wood frame construction, there are tremendous downward forces on the walls called “compressive force.” This compressive force is due to the weight of the roof, shingles, standing water, and snow.

Strong winds and gusts also inflict lateral forces onto your home’s walls. These forces – called “shearing force” – can distort walls. Since most home walls are built with minimum standards, movement from high winds can cause cracks and other structural problems.

Applying closed-cell spray foam in the cavities of the walls increases the wall system’s durability because of the foam’s ability to mold and adhere to the surface upon which it is sprayed. A wall with spray foam insulation has a greater “racking” strength, an ability to maintain its shape under duress, than a wall assembly without spray foam.

Tests conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), show that closed-cell polyurethane foam is the only insulation material that adds structural integrity throughout a home’s wall system.

NAHB research demonstrated spray polyurethane foam (SPF) could add from 75% to 200% racking strength to walls of oriented strand board OSB, plywood, light gauge metal, vinyl siding or gypsum board.

Spray Foam Insulation and Flood Waters

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which responds to natural disasters, reports that closed cell spray foam insulation is highly resistant to floodwater damage. Even if your home is not on any kind of flood zone, this can be very important – Mother Nature has a way of surprising us.

FEMA notes, “These materials can survive wetting and drying and may be successfully cleaned after a flood to render them free of most harmful pollutants. In addition, spray foam prevents moisture and condensation throughout the building envelope, thereby helping to prevent the growth of mold and mildew.”

This has dramatic health benefits for family homes and other structures. Eliminating mold growth reduces the likelihood of rotting wood in a home, and allergic reactions to mold spores.

Many of the home repairs being made today, years after Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, are using spray foam to not only strengthen those structures, but also to prevent mold from coming back and creating another health hazard.

Learn More About Spray Foam

To learn more about how spray polyurethane foam can improve your home’s structural strength – as well as its many other benefits – call Foam Kit Solutions today at 1-330-837-7700.

The spray foam experts at Foam Kit Solutions provides spray foam kits and accessory equipment for homeowners who want to save money and apply the foam themselves. (NOTE: All Ohio residents who buy spray foam kits from Foam Kit Solutions will get a special discount on their purchase to help cover the state tax they must pay.)

Or call us for expert professional installation at 1-330-837-7700