A lot of homeowners are not aware that the roof plays a crucial role in keeping your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter. For this reason, it’s crucial to have an insulation solution applied to your roof—and one good way to insulate it is through a polyurethane foam application. According to the Energy Saving Trust, your home loses at least 25 percent of the heat through an uninsulated roof or attic.
When it comes to insulation where should you start?
If you really consider it, there’s actually no limit to the home improvement projects you can do. Depending on your goals, you can go for landscaping, building an outdoor deck or patio, exterior wall repainting, or kitchen remodeling—the list is endless! However, before you do any of these, ensure that you cover the basics first.
For example, many people upgrade their HVAC systems in time for the extreme summer or winter seasons. Often, this comes in the form of window repairs, heated floors, or a better HVAC unit. However, many people often forget the most crucial temperature regulator that a home should have: roof insulation.
What is polyurethane foam insulation?
Polyurethane is a closed-cell foam insulation material. It prevents heat transfer effectively because its cells are filled with low-conductivity gas, helping the foam expand to fill the spaces around it. It comes either as a liquid sprayed foam or a rigid foam board.
What are the advantages of using polyurethane foam application to insulate roof?
There are many kinds of insulating material that you can use for roof insulation. However, a polyurethane foam application has a few tricks up its sleeve. Here are three benefits of using spray polyurethane foam for your home’s roofing insulation:
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Versatility
If you’re thinking about adding roofing insulation as a home improvement project, you probably don’t want to do any major construction work. Ideally, insulation work should be conducted during the construction process. Thankfully, insulation materials such as spray polyurethane foam (SPF) exist.As its name suggests, SPF insulation application involves a trained insulation installer spraying the polyurethane foam application to a surface that needs insulating. The polyurethane material starts as a liquid material but quickly expands to fill a cavity or surface. The spraying action precludes the need to make precise measurements and cut rigid foam boards as the foam automatically fills a space.
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Fire Protection
Besides preventing heat transfer, polyurethane foam application is also an excellent fire retardant. This means that if a fire hazard such as a lightning strike or a nearby fire can land embers on your roof, it has the added fire protection due to the polyurethane foam.
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Cost-efficiency
An R-value measures how well an insulating material prevents heat transfer. For roof and attic polyurethane foam applications, it’s ideal to have at least R-30, R-38, and R-49 insulation. Many homebuilders prefer using SPF for its ease-of-application because it only takes four inches to achieve an R-value of 30.As insulation materials go, SPF is not the cheapest. However, it makes up for the initially high cost—as compared to other materials with the same features—through cost-savings and the added protection against fire hazards. While other materials such as single-ply membranes have a lower upfront cost, they are more expensive in the long run because of poorer durability, as these sport a shorter service life than that of SPF applications.
Conclusion
Some homeowners are leery of SPF for insulation because of the purported health hazards. The truth is that this material is entirely safe once the material has cured completely! This means that only professionals with the right protective gear should apply SPF insulation, and your home should be vacated for at least 8 to 24 hours. This ensures that the insulation has dried and cured completely.
American Foam Experts specializes in spray polyurethane foam application for roof insulations in the Bay area, North and Central California, and Northern Nevada. Our competent staff is equipped with proper equipment and experience to finish the job, whether for residential, commercial, or specialty applications! Contact us today to get a free quote.