The area in our basement around the sill plate leaks air like a sieve.
Wishing to do the responsible and money saving thing, Colin wished to fill
the gaps with expanding polyurethane foam insulation. Being the
neurotic-eco-pain-in-the-ass person that I am (at least on occassion), I
demanded that I do some research on the whole topic first before “the big
spray”. Here’s
a little bit about the question of whether or not the use of expanding
foam has any health concerns involved. I like the idea of this Air Krete stuff, but how do I get a
hold of it? Here’s
a good page from Environment Canada on general air leak management. Here’s
a clear and informative pamphlet from the US energystart program that
explains about the rim joist of the house, and how to seal air leaks in
this area. It also highlights the difference between sealing off air
leaks, and insulating. Here’s
a document that lists different types of sealing materials. The low
expanding foam that we’ve used in the past is “an
expanding foam made of polyiso and a polyol resin”, according tothis
document. The document notes that there are different types of blowing
agents used. The one we have uses chlorodifluoromethane. Apparently,
however, you can also get ones that use carbon dioxide or water, which
might be a nicer alternative although, according to this
page it might not be so good for larger gaps. The resin may also be
partially soy based,
as is the case with this
product.
posted at 16:32 on Sat, 03 Feb, 2007 |
path: /living
All material copyrighted by Jen Schellinck. All rights reserved.