anyone ever do it themselves??
thanks
-paul
I considered it, but decided it would be too much of a pain in the ass. Good decision on my part. The contractor I hired to do it said it would take them 2 hours from arrival to completion. It took more like 6.
I had a specialist contractor do it. Thank God!
It is not a job for a diy. The blowing agent for closed cell foam is hydrocarbon based and the mix is important to prevent off gassing.
Hire a professional.
A rare consensus among Berserkers!
I did it myself. My only real mistake was overfilling the wall cavities. Was a huge pain in the ass to shave it back. I was using many of the existing 2x4 framing so I wanted to get as close to 3" of insulation which gets you to around 18-20RValue. Live and learn. You have to use a respirator and should have a plan in place to ventilate the area you spray as much as possible.
I’ve tried the kits, they are expensive and temperamental. The propellant fills the air with noxious fumes. Avoid at all costs.
As an alternative you could use 2" rigid closed cell (the blue or pink stuff) and cut to fit the joist cavities and spray in place with canned spray foam.
Yes. It was a mess but otherwise not bad - kit came with bunny suit and mask. Threw it all in trash at end.
I did a 7x11 cellar. Much larger and it’s probably worth hiring for.
I would reiterate that this is not a job for a diy’er. I just finished doing closed cell throughout my basement and the entire roof deck of a new home. I did a ton of research on foams prior to selecting my contractor. While you may be able to get a good result yourself, there are too many pitfalls of risk. The primary one being that the mix is not proper and you end up with both a degrading and delaminating product that off gasses extremely noxious fumes. CAVEAT EMPTOR.
Yeah, but my sense is that you’re a DIY black belt. I manage to avoid maiming myself 9 times out of 10, but file me under hell to the no.
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This was the approach I used. Just measured each bay in between 2x4’s, cut it a 1/16" to an 1/8" over and then pressed it in. I then added a 1" thick piece on top of that. It was a one day project. FWIW, I just used a long straight edge to draw lines in pencil and then cut it with a circular saw. Very quick and easy to cut and get a good result with careful measurements and lines. Did make a hell of a mess on the patio with little tiny pieces of foam though.
I did a relatively small space. Yes, a mess. I would do it myself again unless I found a contractor at a reasonable price.
When I was building mine I consulted Chris. He gave me this advice and it has worked out very well.
Same. I just did my cellar (11’x11’) and attic for $3350. There’s no bloody way I would ever try to attempt to do this on my own, those fumes are bad. Shop around as the prices are all over the place.
I did it myself in September, and I will never do it again. It was awful.
My space was 5’x9’ and it flat out SUCKED.
It’s HOT (the chemical reaction between two agents creates tons of heat), it’s extremely messy, it is not as easy to use as it looks online (those guys have tons of practice), and the fumes are AWFUL (mask and all).
Where I live, closed-cell foam is rare, so the savings of doing it myself were considerable (kit was about $1,200 quotes from professionals were north of $6,000). However, from what I understand it’s very inexpensive to hire a professional anywhere with a cool climate.
I really don’t recommend doing it. I’m pretty handy, and it was an awful experience.
If you insist though, make sure you order at least 50% more than what you need - you’re going to have a lot of waste.
+1
This is exactly what I would do if I did it again.