Warming with foam, a distant "relative" of foam
As you know, cheapness always implies and not particularly high quality, exceptions from this rule are negligible. For example, the insulation of a wooden house with foam plastic - the insulation is relatively good and "cheap", but a fire-fearing insulation in combination with a tree gives twice the danger with the slightest ignition. However, and quite expensive mineral wool, as it turned out, can be harmful to health, if made with a deviation from the standards. Therefore, foam insulation foam polyurethane( or short PPU) opens up completely different horizons for those who are looking for optimal thermal insulation. Needless to say, covering 500 square meters per day is almost the entire total area of the interior surfaces of a country house.
Insulation foam, in a frozen state resembling polystyrene, is very simple, although for the beginning it is necessary to put on a dense protective suit - it will be difficult to wipe the insulation even with the help of weak acids. After the equipment is prepared and put on, the process of spraying begins, as the foam is a ready-made mixture. By the way, it's unlikely that you will independently perform insulation with polyurethane foam, since it is difficult to meet in a wide sale, most often on the market services are provided for the spraying of polyurethane foam. But if this heater was in your hands, safely take a special pneumatic gun and direct the stream of the composition to the prepared surface.
Polyurethane foam, hitting the heat-insulated surface, begins to harden very quickly, while gaining volume. It is at this moment that the viscosity of the insulation increases, as well as its adhesion to the surface.
Filling the gaps between the roof rafters and specially tilted vertical bars, you can quickly warm your house without any seams and joints. Taking into account that polyurethane foam does not pass moisture and is an excellent vapor barrier , and also is not afraid of wind and can withstand heating up to 80 degrees without any damage, with insulation of walls and ceiling, you can do without additional insulating layers, saving a lot on this. In other words, the proper insulation of the house justifies paying for the polyurethane insulation.
Thermal insulation by mounting foam - an unexpected way of using
In the process of building a building or simply by replacing old window frames with double-glazed windows, workers often use mounting foam to fill the space around the window boxes. This action is carried out in view of the fact that this material is an excellent insulation, everything else sealed, and provides excellent protection from drafts and street dampness. And why not go further and make insulation by mounting foam, say, the whole space of walls and floor? And at the same time, and capture the ceiling? A slightly different scale, the technology is the same, especially since it is, in fact, the same polyurethane foam that was described above, used for domestic needs as a sealant.
What is the most attractive in the mounting foam - the output volumes. Completely emptying a small, seemingly capacity, you get from 40 to 50 liters of foamed mass , which, evenly distributed on the surface, will cover a considerable space even with a layer thickness of more than 10 centimeters. The use of mounting foam for floor insulation in a wooden house is completely justified, since it has such high strength after hardening that it can be walked on even if there is no flooring. Enough to fill the foam with the space between the lags and you have already prepared a monolithic thermal insulation, not afraid of moisture, or mechanical damage. The same is with the attic - the bay with mounting foam between the rafters, you can immediately close the resulting heat insulation layer with any decorative panels.
What you need to know about polyurethane foam in general and mounting foam in particular
Of course, polyurethane foam is not a universal tool for plugging absolutely any gaps in your home to make it invulnerable to various natural factors strength. So, for example, polyurethane foam is able to withstand rather high temperatures, but within certain limits, up to about 80 degrees, there is a possibility of ignition of a heater, and if it is made poorly, burning should be expected to release harmful substances. Also, polyurethane, produced with questionable technology( an unknown manufacturer), may eventually break up into components even from the constant action of water vapor. Hence the conclusion - choose only high-quality materials from proven manufacturers.
The mounting foam, also a polyurethane, is more heat resistant and even with direct contact with fire. However, it also has a couple of drawbacks that should be considered when creating thermal insulation. Firstly, the mounting foam should not be flooded with enclosed spaces, since without access to air with a certain level of moisture, the composition will not go into a foamed state, remaining, in fact, the original liquid polyurethane. And one more thing to consider - polyurethane foam in all its forms does not withstand the long-term exposure to direct ultraviolet rays, that is, the solar baths of the mounting foam are contraindicated. Observing all measures to smooth out the shortcomings of the material, one can confidently count on its long service.