A link to article on House Fires linked to Spray Foam

[clydewater]

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/...m-installation


Hi
This is interesting to know and how care must be employed when applying spray foam insulation
Thanks
Rich

[Dick Seibert]

Re: A link to article on House Fires linked to Spray Foam

It should also be noted that if you apply an intumescent coating to it you have to have a Special Inspector dressed in full HAZMAT protection continuously inspecting the application, this is the intumescent coating and not the foam itself, so if you use it better to cover it with 5/8" Type X gypsum, it will be a lot cheaper than Special Inspection. .

1704.13 Mastic and intumescent fire-resistant coatings.
Special inspections for mastic and intumescent fire-resistant coatings applied to structural elements and decks shall be in accordance with AWCI 12-B. Special inspections shall be based on the fire-resistance design as designated in the approved construction documents.

Note that this isn't just California's amendments to the IBC but in the IBC itself, and the IRC defaults to the IBC on Special Inspections, Special inspectors here run about $125 an hour, with lots of other fees for writing reports that have to be submitted to the engineer of record and the AHJ. Since we've got a Green Code now that requires proper disposal of foam I have to wonder if the Special Inspection firms are going to feel obligated to follow the material to the disposal site, and I know of no disposal sites that take foam.

[jimAKAblue]

Re: A link to article on House Fires linked to Spray Foam

As I gaze into my crystal ball; Do I see foam as the future lead paint, asbestos, and mold issue?

[Ted S.]

Re: A link to article on House Fires linked to Spray Foam

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Dick will be a hero.

[clydewater]

Re: A link to article on House Fires linked to Spray Foam

Back in the late 70's I had used a foam made by Bordens, the same people that make Elmer's Glue and this stuff was amazing. It was used as cavity fill material. It would not burn, was super light weight and did not settle 10 years later when I ripped open a wall to install a door. The down side was that is was fragile. If you brushed against it, the stuff flaked off easily. But hidden in the walls it was not an issue.
I do not know if they still make or use it.
Rich

[mike maines]

Re: A link to article on House Fires linked to Spray Foam

Clyde, that was UFFI, or urea formaldehyde foam. Good stuff, as long as you don't mind breathing formaldehyde fumes or the tendency for the foam to shrink away from framing members. It hasn't been used in the US for many years now, though I understand it may still be used in Europe.

[clydewater]

Re: A link to article on House Fires linked to Spray Foam

Hi Mike
Acutuallly this stuff did not have formaldehyde in the foam. which really surprised me because at the time most of the foams did. That was one reason I spec'd it for the 2 projects. I think it was more of a latex based foam product.

[Allan Edwards]

Re: A link to article on House Fires linked to Spray Foam

It appears to me all of the fire related problems have to do with the installation process. Correct?

[mike maines]

Re: A link to article on House Fires linked to Spray Foam

Clyde, are you sure?

Your description sure sounds like my experiences with UFFI, and (from this website: http://openjurist.org/807/f2d/1169/m...v-borden-inc):

"From 1975 to 1978 Borden manufactured and sold Insulspray, a patented urea-formaldehyde foam insulation product. Insulspray is composed of a urea-formaldehyde resin and a surfactant, which a foaming gun mixes and propels into a wall cavity where the mixture hardens."

They got out of it in 1978, so your project must have been from '78 or '79?

[clydewater]

Re: A link to article on House Fires linked to Spray Foam

Hi Mike
I stand corrected based on your research. Yes, it was about 77 or 78 That is not what the rep told me when I was spec'g it. Must have slipped his mind or mine. That is what happens when you get old.

Did you use this product also?

I tried to open that link but went to a generic page. can you send the complete link.

Thanks
Rich

[mike maines]

Re: A link to article on House Fires linked to Spray Foam

Nah, I was born in 1973; I started working fairly young but not that young! I have remodeled houses that had UFFI in the walls, dry and crumbly like you said.

http://openjurist.org/807/f2d/1169/m...c-v-borden-inc

If that doesn't work, google "bordens uffi." This is a good page on UFFI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFFI

[jrsavoie]

Re: A link to article on House Fires linked to Spray Foam

Read the comments on the article they are very informative