Thread: Retrofit sprayed foam insulation behind brick veneer?

People seem to be doing it, for example:

USA Insulation: What We Can Insulate

My concern is that unless the entire drainage plane can be filled, water will pool at the bottom of voids.

Any experience or opinions?

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Originally Posted by Michael Thomas

My concern is that unless the entire drainage plane can be filled, water will pool at the bottom of voids.

Any experience or opinions?

Same concerns here, only time will tell.

I've had several clients in the past who have had it done (to block construction, new construction), but I was, and am, very concerned about that stuff getting wet and becoming a real big headache, which I told them - many times.

Not allowed to do it to brick veneer, then it would 'no longer be brick veneer', it would be some other 'unapproved wall system'.

I guess they feel whatever it takes to sell their product and to heck with any other systems and their design.

Many of my clients are choosing the spray foam insulation. As Jerry says, time will tell if it lives up to the claims. However, I know of nobody who recommends it for retrofit, only new construction. It is 3 to 5 times as expensive as conventional insulation and the pay back, if all the claims are true, is 5 to 7 years. I don't see how it will ever pay back if you also have the expense of removing and replacing interior walls.

Also, most of the benefits claimed are because the home is made "air tight". This is not done if conventional insulation is used in the attic as described in the ad. Therefore, the payback is even much longer.

Darrel Hood
DILIGENT PROPERTY SERVICES

Since the air space behind brick veneer is designed as a pressure moderated wall with an integral drainage plane, the entire system is compromised with this foam retrofit. I would not be surprised to see mold, rot, and water leakage through the wall when the drainage plane and air space is clogged by foam.
Even great products can be installed wrong. I would want to see the listing and approval for this or any similar product.
This makes me think of the purple foam insulation that was around back in the 70's that quickly disappeared after being installed in many homes once it was discovered to out gas urea or formaldehyde and generally be a sorry product.

Originally Posted by Jim Luttrall

Even great products can be installed wrong. I would want to see the listing and approval for this or any similar product.

Jim,

Even *if* it is listed and approved (I'm guessing it is), it must be used within its listing and approvals, and must not be co-mingled into another system where by it defeats the intended designs and functions of the other system, which foaming the air space would do with any type of anchored masonry veneer (which includes brick veneer).

Around here on new construction, for brick veneer walls, the foam is installed in the stud cavities, not on the drainage plane.

Darrel Hood
DILIGENT PROPERTY

A real fire hazard for older building that have knob and tube wiring

variation - I have a friend condidering installing foam insulation ( Icynene - or a reasonable facsimile thereof) under the flooring in the crawl space. Any thoughts, experience??

Spray foam for the crawl space is fine but the better solution is to take the thermal barrier to the outside walls to at least R-19 (Chicago) and seal off the crawl space vents. This has been argued several times on this board regarding vented and unvented crawls--I am not addressing that concern.