icynene vs bio foam insulation

duffman21

Hi
i am looking into insulating my roof (dormer) with either icynene or bio foam, Now I have spoken to certified companies who deal with both and the icynene company say they can spray directly onto the felt as long as its breathable (which it is) but the bio foam company say that this cant be done (even if the felt is breathable) and that a vent card must be used.

Just wondering if anyone has sprayed directly onto the felt and what the result was? any problems etc?

Poor Uncle Tom

This might be worth a read.

moan 77

duffman21 wrote: »

Hi
i am looking into insulating my roof (dormer) with either icynene or bio foam, Now I have spoken to certified companies who deal with both and the icynene company say they can spray directly onto the felt as long as its breathable (which it is) but the bio foam company say that this cant be done (even if the felt is breathable) and that a vent card must be used.

Just wondering if anyone has sprayed directly onto the felt and what the result was? any problems etc?

Hi Duffman,
I had both up to me as well awhile back, I went with the bio foam and had the vent card fitted. It's done awhile now last march to exact, as I haven't moved in yet I cannot say what's it's really like only I had a delivery last Saturday morning at 7:30am and by 7:35am all were stripped down to t-shirt and I was asked to turn off the heating, heating I said I have none. If you want more info look up a lad called macspower on boards, he did my job.

duffman21

Cheers for the replies

I've checked on the NSAI website, and the Icynene cert states (section 2.3.3)

"Alternatively, the product may be sprayed onto breathable roof underlays where the space beneath the roof tiles is ventilated by means of timber battens.
To satisfy the requirements of ICP 2:2002 and BS 5250:2002, a vapour control layer must be installed behind the plasterboard lining, unless an assessment shows it to be unnecessary."

http://www.nsai.ie/NSAI/files/8a/8aba7f43-cf8d-4d6c-a668-2e94196defd1.pdf

Whereas on the biofoam cert is does not say this
http://www.nsai.ie/NSAI/files/9f/9f32db57-a05c-46da-b624-5d612894e3a7.pdf


just wondering if anyone has sprayed Icynene directly onto breathable felt as what where the results?

BryanF

duffman21
how old is the house?
do you have breathable felt?
did you read the concerns raised by the mainly archs/ specifiers on PUT's link?

duffman21

Hi BryanF,

Its a new build,
has a breathable felt
and I've had a read through PUT's thread.

jenningso

duffman21 wrote: »

just wondering if anyone has sprayed Icynene directly onto breathable felt as what where the results?

I have. I planned this from the outset and used SOLITEX breathable felt, which was quite expensive. But Icynene was and IS the only foam that can be sprayed directly onto the felt. Also, it's water-blown. Some spray foams may contain blowing agents such as Formaldehyde! I didn't fancy breathing that and also having humidity problems with mould and damp etc. The main thing about foam for me was the customised fill it achieved around rafters and the resulting improvement in air-tightness. And the NSAI cert for Icynene sealed it for me. It's not cheap, but insulation probably is the best investment you can make. Good luck :cool:

Note: The above comment is not directed at the Company BioFoam

RGMR2

I've been investigating the spray foam option for a while and I have been going through this on felt/ cards scenario. I've been in touch with the supplier of the Icynene product and he recently sent me a new BBA Agrément Certificate (2011) for the Icynene LD-C-50 product. The following is an extract from the document I received which seems to be more up to date than on the BBAcerts website.

Pitched roofs, including tiled or slated to BS 5534 : 2003
3.11 The product can be applied directly to bitumen felt, breathable roof tile underlays or timber sarking boards.
Counter battens must be used below the tile battens when applying the product to breathable roof tile underlays.
3.12 Care must be taken to ensure the integrity of the roof tile underlay drape, when spraying the product.
3.13 Pitched roofs are defined for the purpose of this Certificate as those roofs having a pitch in excess of 15°.

I would be very interested on what others think of this option. The supplier has done interstitial condensation calcs on my particular arrangement and they indicate no risk of condensation. If the cost is right, (which I hope to find out in a day or two) I think that this could be a runner.

derealbadger

jenningso wrote: »

I have. I planned this from the outset and used SOLITEX breathable felt, which was quite expensive. But Icynene was and IS the only foam that can be sprayed directly onto the felt. Also, it's water-blown. Some spray foams may contain blowing agents such as Formaldehyde! I didn't fancy breathing that and also having humidity problems with mould and damp etc. The main thing about foam for me was the customised fill it achieved around rafters and the resulting improvement in air-tightness. And the NSAI cert for Icynene sealed it for me. It's not cheap, but insulation probably is the best investment you can make. Good luck :cool:

Note: The above comment is not directed at the Company BioFoam.

Im afraid you are 100% wrong there my friend BIOFOAM is water blown caster based and is made from the identical substances as Icynene also if you ring NSAI they will tell you that no foam can be sprayed directly on to felt also Icynene if you have a look at their cert it is much older than BIOFOAM's and when it was writen they were supposed to sark the roof in timber and if you spray straight onto a breathable felt you will have the rest of your life to regret it

derealbadger

BIOFOAM's N.S.A.I cert can be viewed here http://www.biofoamsprayinsulation.ie/Biofoam%20Certification.pdf

Poor Uncle Tom

I am locking this thread now.

This is a very good example why we don't want companies named on threads, it can descend into a mud slinging match.

There is more than enough information on this thread for anyone considering using a spray foam to get started on their research.

If anyone has a problem with this please PM me.