Spray Foam Insulation in Sulphur Springs, TX

Spray foam insulation starts as two liquids that mix at the spray gun, expand, and harden into a layer bonded to whatever they hit. Batts and loose fill slow heat but let air move through them. Foam closes the cracks it covers, so it handles air sealing and insulation together. Around Sulphur Springs that matters because the summer load is not only heat. Humid air leaking into the house carries moisture the air conditioner has to wring out, and sealing the leaks cuts both the heat and the dampness.

Open-cell foam

Open-cell foam is light and spongy. HomeGuide rates it at about R-3.5 to R-3.7 per inch and lists it at $1.50 to $3.50 per square foot installed. It expands a lot, so it fills rafter bays and stud cavities around wiring and odd framing. It lets some vapor through, which lets a roof deck dry toward the inside if it ever gets a little damp. It also quiets a house noticeably. Its main jobs here are the underside of the roof deck in a sealed attic and the inside of walls during a remodel.

Closed-cell foam

Closed-cell foam is dense and hard. HomeGuide rates it at about R-5 to R-7 per inch and lists it at $3.00 to $5.00 per square foot. At typical thickness it works as a vapor retarder and does not soak up water, and it stiffens the sheathing or panel it sticks to. It is the foam for bare steel in shops and barns, the underside of floors over damp crawl spaces, rim boards, and shallow spaces where open-cell would not reach the R-value. It costs more per inch, so we do not use it where open-cell or blown-in does the job.

Where foam makes sense around Hopkins County

The sealed attic is the big one. Many local houses have flex duct and an air handler in the attic, which can run far hotter than the outdoor air on an August afternoon. Spraying the underside of the roof deck and the gable walls brings that space inside the insulated shell, so the ducts sit in air close to house temperature. Other good fits: walls opened during a remodel or addition, bonus rooms over garages, cathedral ceilings with no attic, floors of pier-and-beam houses and lake cabins, and metal shops and barns.

How a job goes

Foam goes on in passes, called lifts, until it reaches the thickness on the quote, because spraying too thick at once can make it cure badly. Nobody stays in the house during spraying, and HomeGuide advises staying out for at least 24 hours while it cures. Attics and crawl spaces often need an ignition barrier coating, and foam in living space needs a thermal barrier such as drywall. Before we spray a roof deck we check for leaks and soft spots, because foam over a wet deck hides the problem.

Want to see foam priced next to blown-in? Ask and we will put both on the quote. Get a free estimate