Eco Insulation Chatham is renowned in the local area for their attention to detail, quality of workmanship, and availability of the latest and greatest in home insulation technology. There is nothing but upsides to an insulation upgrade, you’ll save money on your heating and cooling bills each and every day, and you’ll also lower your environmental impact, too; talk about a win – win!
Our team of trained, licensed and insured Chatham insulation contractors offer all types of insulation products, including batt sheets, cellulose, and the latest high tech material – closed cell spray foam insulation. Spray foam insulation has been around for a little over 30 years, making it something of a newcomer in the industry. But regardless of its short time in existence, polyurethane, or closed cell PU spray foam has made a big splash as the gold standard in home insulation. People in Chatham Ontario are raving about the product, so, let’s talk a little more about why it’s so awesome!
Photo of Spray foam insulation in an attic
How Does Polyurethane Spray Foam Insulation Work?
PU Spray foam insulation benefits from the highest R-Value of all of the home insulation materials available today. Put simply, R-Value is the measure of how effective an insulator is; the higher the R-Value, the more effective the product is. The spray foam that Eco Insulation Chatham use is a closed cell type, and it works so well because it blocks heat transfer by all three means:
- Conduction
- Radiation
- Convection
Chatham Ontario is very much a 4 season town, Winter is cold, Summer is hot, Fall and Spring are somewhere in between, and while it makes for great living, it certainly leaves your HVAC system confused. Proper application of spray foam insulation can ensure that your home remains comfortable all year round. You won’t find uneven heating where one room just won’t warm up, and you won’t find that your AC just can’t keep up.
It is suggested that Chatham Ontario homes are insulated to an R-Value from R 38 to R 60. Our spray foam is rated to an R-Value of R 6 for every inch of applied foam, which means you’ll need somewhere between 6.3 and 10 inches of material to reach your desired insulation between those parameters. Compare that to older technology like fiberglass batt sheets, their typical R-Value is around R 2 per inch, making it one third as effective as Eco Insulation’s spray foam. For context, you’d need a whopping 19 to 30 inches of batt sheets to get an equivalent level of insulation.
How to Prepare for Spray Foam Insulation Installation
- Like with most things, prior to any big job starting it’s a good idea to make sure you’re starting with a clean workspace. We aren’t just talking tidying up, but we’re mainly referring to the removal of the old insulation materials you currently have installed. Eco Insulation of Chatham, of course, offer this as a service – you can rely on our professional crews to thoroughly remove all traces of old materials, and properly dispose of it. The risk in trying to do this yourself is that old insulation materials, especially fiberglass can cause a serious health hazard, plus dragging it through your home without the proper equipment can lead to a big mess.
- If you use your attic for storage, make sure you move anything that you don’t want to be contaminated with spray foam. As with any misted product, there is a high chance of overspray, and this could cause permanent damage to your possessions. In the event that your items in attic storage are too heavy or bulky to be removed, let your Eco Insulation Chatham Contractors know, and they will make sure your items are covered with plastic sheeting and sealed up with strong tapes, like duct tape.
Reasons for Using a Professional Spray Foam Insulation Contractor
Why do people bother to install their own insulation? Generally, it’s to try and save a buck or two, but this can turn out to be a false economy, especially if insulation is incorrectly installed – not only is it a waste of materials, but any air gaps are going to hemorrhage warm air, and your HVAC system is going to be working overtime. In addition to this, the Canadian National Building Code specifically states that closed cell spray foam insulation can only be installed by licensed contractors who are certified to install the material.
Even if you were allowed to install your own spray foam insulation, it still wouldn’t exactly be the best idea! First of all, you need extremely specialized equipment, you see, spray foam insulation doesn’t just come out of an aerosol can. PU Spray foam insulation as used by insulation contractors in Chatham Ontario, like Eco Insulation, is comprised of two parts, and the gear that our installation experts use actually draws these two individual components through their own hoses into a mixing chamber. Our teams will ensure that the ratio of the components is exactly right to get you the best finish, and this takes proper training.
On top of requiring specialized installation equipment, you’d also need to invest in the right personal protective equipment. Once it’s been installed, PU Spray foam insulation is nontoxic and completely inert, but before it cures (while it’s still settling), it is a real health hazard, and that’s why you’ll never see our teams installing spray foam without their safety gear. We mentioned earlier that the ratio of the component mixture has to be exactly right, this goes beyond getting a good finish, as incorrectly mixed spray foam has the potential to remain as a health hazard long after the installation is over.
“Fast and Professional! These guys spray foamed my basement in a morning , now everything is warm and cozy and it doesn’t smell like a basement anymore! Spray Foam is the way to go! These guys are highly recommended! Will hire again!” – Cory Chauvin
Other Benefits of Spray Foam Insulation
Spray foam insulation offers some surprising extra benefits that you might not even have thought of, for example, due to its monolithic makeup, spray foam insulation can improve the strength of your home, with structural strength by up to 400%.
Closed cell spray foam insulation is also waterproof too, unlike other insulation materials, which, if they become wet can be completely ruined – so a leak in your roof or a burst pipe isn’t going to cost thousands extra in insulation replacement with this material.
In addition to its other benefits, it provides a complete barrier against pest infiltration, making it incredibly difficult for creepy crawlies to make their way into your home via the attic. Not only is it more difficult to for pests to get in, but it’s also more difficult for pollen to get in, too. Allergy sufferers rejoice! Spray foam insulation can reduce the amount of pollen that enters your home for additional symptom relief.
Spray foam insulation also provides additional insulation bonuses; did you know that it is also an incredible sound insulating material, too? This makes it ideal if you live near a major road, have noisy neighbors, or find that your home seeps in a lot of ambient sounds. You’ll find your home to be overall quieter and more comfortable to live in.
One of the biggest additional benefits of spray foam insulation is that due to its inert nature, it provides no nutritional source for mold, meaning that the chances of your home suffering from this problem are vastly reduced.
Lastly, with a name like Eco Insulation Chatham, you might have guessed that we care about the environment; spray foam insulation is not only beneficial for the environment due to its capacity to help you lower energy use, but because it has an expected lifespan of over 80 years, and in many cases the entire life of the building it’s in, it reduces the amount of non recyclable fiberglass insulation sheets making their way to landfill!
We hope this has been an insightful look at the benefits of spray foam insulation. Eco Insulation is the premier insulation installers chatham area has to offer and are pleased to offer you a free, no purchase required insulation consultation. Call us today, and one of our experts will attend your home for an assessment of your needs and a free quotation. Remember, the faster you jump on this offer, the faster (and more) you’ll begin to save on energy bills. While they are there, ask your Eco Insulation contractor in Chatham all about the amazing rebates that are available for environmentally friendly home renovations like spray foam insulation in Chatham Ontario today – they can help you to offset the cost of insulation and put you on the path to savings even faster. Thanks for joining us, and we hope to talk to you soon!