Doorman’s next big adventure

[LouNY]

As far as spray foam in the roof, at this time I'm all for it.
We have a vaulted ceiling in our kitchen and living room that was originally built in the 70's using fiberglass batts.
The roof was always melting the snow letting it run down and ice dam above the soffits it had been an issue for many years.
We remodeled the ceiling this summer removing all the fiberglass batting and had 5-6 inchs of closed cell foam sprayed on.
The AC requirement dropped considerably and the heating requirement has also decreased. No ice dams this year yet.
I can go outside and look up on the roof and the snow cover is still there and not melting off like it used to.
The R value per inch may not be great but the complete lack of air infiltration is a plus.

Will I be still enthused about it or 5 or 10 years who knows, I am well aware that any roof repair requiring new sheathing
will be a major undertaking.

 

[ovrszd]

As far as spray foam in the roof, at this time I'm all for it.
We have a vaulted ceiling in our kitchen and living room that was originally built in the 70's using fiberglass batts.
The roof was always melting the snow letting it run down and ice dam above the soffits it had been an issue for many years.
We remodeled the ceiling this summer removing all the fiberglass batting and had 5-6 inchs of closed cell foam sprayed on.
The AC requirement dropped considerably and the heating requirement has also decreased. No ice dams this year yet.
I can go outside and look up on the roof and the snow cover is still there and not melting off like it used to.
The R value per inch may not be great but the complete lack of air infiltration is a plus.

Will I be still enthused about it or 5 or 10 years who knows, I am well aware that any roof repair requiring new sheathing
will be a major undertaking.

Spray foam value takes some thought. Even the experts can't agree in regards to comparing R values with other types. The #1 advantage to properly installed spray foam is that it stops air exchange. That's why it commonly causes humidity problems if the entire building is foamed.

For Closed Cell, the R value is 5-6 per inch. And it gains 90% of it's R value in the first two inches. That's why it's usually sprayed in 2" thickness. Not much gain in R value for the additional inches. Only gain might be if spraying a rough area as in the under side of rafters and sheathing.

Fiberglass or Cellulose allows limited air flow. So the humidity problem is minimized. R value multiplies with each additional inch of application. The gain starts for fall off once you reach R-60.

Our house is R-60 blown in fiberglass on the ceiling. Our ground is currently frost free. Yesterday afternoon we got 3" of snow at 30F degree temp. Temp this morning at daylight was 28F degrees. This afternoon at 2 pm. it's 38F degrees and cloudy.

Here's a pic of my roof. You can see how warm it is outside by the water standing on my garage apron.

 

[Doorman63]

As far as spray foam in the roof, at this time I'm all for it.
We have a vaulted ceiling in our kitchen and living room that was originally built in the 70's using fiberglass batts.
The roof was always melting the snow letting it run down and ice dam above the soffits it had been an issue for many years.
We remodeled the ceiling this summer removing all the fiberglass batting and had 5-6 inchs of closed cell foam sprayed on.
The AC requirement dropped considerably and the heating requirement has also decreased. No ice dams this year yet.
I can go outside and look up on the roof and the snow cover is still there and not melting off like it used to.
The R value per inch may not be great but the complete lack of air infiltration is a plus.

Will I be still enthused about it or 5 or 10 years who knows, I am well aware that any roof repair requiring new sheathing
will be a major undertaking.

My insulation contractor said the same thing in regards to 2” being the sweet spot. Each additional inch was something like 5-7% more insulating value…..not worth it.

The sealing of the structure abulity is where it excels.

Metal roof on our building…..rot shouldn’t be an issue

 

[5030]

It’s hard to justify floor heat.

Not really. Like Oversize, I have in the slab hydronic heat. Nothing better than a warm floor on a cold winter day and once you have the slab at the desired temp, it takes little to keep it there. I did mine myself. Menards sells everything you need, including the Cryoteck fluid. I 'idle' mine at 50 degrees in the winter and I start it when it's still warm out to take advantage of any ground temp. Because I have machine tools on the floor, my slab is 14" thick with 4" of insulation under it and 4" plus in the rat walls. Under the insulation is 6" of machine tamped sand. It gets cold here, real cold. Shop is always comfortable. An added advantage is, I can cool it in the summer by circulating the Cryotek with no heat applied.

 

[Doorman63]

Not really. Like Oversize, I have in the slab hydronic heat. Nothing better than a warm floor on a cold winter day and once you have the slab at the desired temp, it takes little to keep it there. I did mine myself. Menards sells everything you need, including the Cryoteck fluid. I 'idle' mine at 50 degrees in the winter and I start it when it's still warm out to take advantage of any ground temp. Because I have machine tools on the floor, my slab is 14" thick with 4" of insulation under it and 4" plus in the rat walls. Under the insulation is 6" of machine tamped sand. It gets cold here, real cold. Shop is always comfortable. An added advantage is, I can cool it in the summer by circulating the Cryotek with no heat applied.

Man…….you guys are gonna cost me money!

 

[ovrszd]

Man…….you guys are gonna cost me money!

It's the pay me now or pay me later philosophy. If you have long term goals for that building then think long term in it's construction.

 

[Doorman63]

It's the pay me now or pay me later philosophy. If you have long term goals for that building then think long term in it's construction.

It’s never going to be a full time residence.

It will eventually have a fenced area for goats/chickens/cute mini cows (wife’s plan). The “house” side will be a she shed. Approx 2 years before retirement we will build a small ranch.

 

[ovrszd]

It’s never going to be a full time residence.

It will eventually have a fenced area for goats/chickens/cute mini cows (wife’s plan). The “house” side will be a she shed. Approx 2 years before retirement we will build a small ranch.

Then go cheap.

 

[dodge man]

At least where I live in Illinois there is no zoning, no inspection’s or anything, except for the septic.

 

[4570Man]

My insulation contractor said the same thing in regards to 2” being the sweet spot. Each additional inch was something like 5-7% more insulating value…..not worth it.

The sealing of the structure abulity is where it excels.

Metal roof on our building…..rot shouldn’t be an issue

Local code requires 5.5 inches of closed cell foam in a ceiling to meet minimum required R value. It’s also expensive. We usually use blow in. It’s 1/5th the cost of foam. I typically only use foam when the insulation cavity thickness wouldn’t allow enough thickness to get the required R value.