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Last Updated: Thursday, March 28th, 2013, Created: Friday, October 15th, 1999
Colour: Yellow - Orange
Thermal Resistance: RSI - .042/mm R - 6.0/in. Very High.
Cost: Professional application -- expensive
Capacity to dry out if wet: Fair
Fire Resistance: Poor: produces toxic fumes.
Fungus / Vermin Resistance: Good
Limitations:
-- Difficult to control quality of field application (temperature, humidity, workman's skill). Assure that your applicators is experienced.
-- It should never be used to fill a closed cavity as it tends to expand with age.
-- It's uneven surface is difficult to cover for fire protection when used on the inside of the house.
-- It degrades rapidly if left exposed to the sun.
Advantages:
-- Good for insulating irregular shapes.
-- Effectively seals large cracks.
-- When properly applied it is a rapid and complete method of sealing and insulating a surface.
Applications:
-- Exceptionally good for air sealing and insulating joist/header areas.
-- Used extensively for sealing window and door installations. But caution -- most one component cans on retail shelves expand too much to use to fill the entire cavity -- it will expand and jam the window. Contractors use a "non-expanding" type and fill in the space in at least three passes, waiting a little while between each pass.
-- Large surface applications should be limited to areas that are truly otherwise impossible to insulate.
-- Choose the contractor very carefully and demand references.
Keywords: Insulation, R-Value, Types
Article 812