ANYONE EVER FOAMED THEIR METAL BUILDING THEMSELVES?

Well, I saw an online video of the two-part Freon-style containers and it was a disappointment inasmuch as the process would take forever to do a bldg.. like mine.
Maybe it was just the gun that they were using.
I guess that I really need to contact some suppliers and see what they suggest.
If you buy this stuff from SOME distributors, they, too, think that you are rich.
I will share what I find out.
Maybe one can rent the gun and gear.
b

I haven't done it. If you find a way to do it that's cost effective, please share it with the group. I know you can buy foam in freon style containers, but I always thought that large scale projects require expensive two part mixing equipment.

I believe that you have been looking to do this yourself for a while. These are just my opinions on the matter so here goes.
Just what exactly is your time worth to you? You have already invested quite a bit I believe. (Lost time = Money going down the drain)
So you actually find the equipment and someone willing to rent it to you. (More time to figure out the system and replace consumable parts in the gun when you toast them from inexperience with system)
I am sure that you will get better pricing on the drums of material (this is a two part process) than say a guy that does it for a living and purchases 40 or 50 grand worth a year. Just like steel, stainless, and aluminum this stuff is cheap these days. It is getting cheaper every day too.
Back to the time thing again. I bet that you will be able to apply your materials with rented equipment much more efficiently with better results than a guy that does this as a means to feed his family.
I realize that this all sounds sarcastic, maybe a bit caustic, but there are some things that you will just be better off getting someone equipped with the skills and equipment to do.
How do I feel that I have any grounds to put forth my opinions on this subject you may ask? I have been around this stuff being sprayed into approximately 150 aluminum boats, numerous shipping containers, truck reefers etc. My neighbor also owns a spray foam company and there was a significant investment involved in the equipment. You don't even want to ask him how expensive the learning curve is. (consumables, ruined material, cleaning, etc).
On top of everything else I already mentioned, this shit is TOXIC. Applicators use supplied air respirators even in somewhat ventilated areas.
In some instances, the final cost of a professional will actually be well cheaper than doing it yourself. For your interest, I have paid roughly $1.50 sq/ft sprayed approximately 1 1/2" thick.
Best of luck with your project. Drew

I've worked with the foam, and the materials are expensive by themselves.
Why do you not want to put up the plastic lined fiberglass insulation that is often seen in metal buildings? It might be cheaper and easier than foam.
Just my thoughts,
Don W.

That's true of fiberglass insulation in this area - there's not much difference between the price of having it professionally installed and the cost of just the materials at the building supply.
Ned Simmons

-- snip --
Not to mention the fact that your walls will be perfectly prepped so the stuff won't peel off, you'll get it sprayed just right so it won't slump before it hardens, it _will_ harden, etc., etc.
When I work for folks doing the design work that I do well, I charge up the wazoo because I'm among the best. When I need work done on my house, I make sure I'm working with a responsible professional and I pay what I'm charged.
-- snip --
Ditto.

I found that out too. I needed my attic insulated with blow in fiberglass. The materials were $750 to do it myself, plus a day of screwing around with equipment and blackmailing a friend to help. I called a couple insulating companies to get a price and neither would get me a firm price, but one gave me a range the seemed reasonable, so I gave him the job. They were out and did it and took a couple hours with a small crew, and cleaned everything up well, no evidence they were even here, other than the insulation. The bill showed up a couple weeks later for $775!! Less than his lower end price! Seems to me the job was well worth the extra $25 dollars!! Greg

Well, I insulated my basement with foam board. I put 2 layers of 2" foam on the concrete foundation with generic liquid nails type adhesive. The giant (14 Oz ?) tubes are WAY cheaper than the smaller ones. The foam is pretty expensive, though, like almost $30 each. I glued the 2nd layer on top of the first with the same stuff. Then I put fiberglass-filled stucco cement over the foam, and it worked quite well. Part of the job has been up over a year so far. I roughed up the foam with a steel brush before applying the stucco with a giant trowel.
I don't know if this scheme will work with a metal building due to thermal expansion or other problems. I have had some adhesion problems on the concrete because it was painted. I attempted to scrape the paint off first, but I couldn't get it all.
Jon

My advice - don't do it yourself. The kits are damn expensive and you expose yourself to nasty toxic crud. If you smoke 4 packs a day, have an iron back and neck and lots of patience then buy the kit, spray half the shop, then end up hiring someone to finish it for you...
BTW, I had my shop sprayed for me. Works great, like it. After watching it get done I was glad I didn't do it.

Wellllll....I'm in the same boat. I am in the process of adding a 24X72 extension on an existing 40X72 steel building. I had the original building spray foamed way way back and it cost $1500 then. I am totally happy with it. It is now 33 yrs old and no problems. Now I have an estimate of $9,400 to spray 1" thick polyurethane foam on approx 3,600 sq ft. I've priced the materials and ignoring shipping which can be expensive, I'm looking at about $4,000 for materials. I discovered a neighbor who has had a 600 bd ft DIY polyurethane foam kit for more than a year. It had been setting around, according to a date sticker, just over three years. We didn't expect any real results but we warmed up the tanks in the sun and let her rip. About a couple hrs later we ran out of the material in the cans with no problems with a plugging nozzle and he had nearly 1/4 of his shop sprayed. We would have had it quicker but he didn't clean the shop out before to give us good access. It appears that we shouldn't have too much trouble doing my building in no more than 2 days and thats allowing for a beer break in the evening. Recommendations. Get several sets of throw-away coveralls that cover your hair. Get a face shield with tear offs to keep your vision clear. Wear a respirator. (My friend didn't and had one nostril plugged with foam that adhered to the little hairs in the nose. It really adheres) Empty your building completely. Wash down the walls. Warm the tanks to 75F or more (Sun light is good don't use a torch) Practice in a spot to get the right speed of the gun for the thickness you want and try to make consistent passes. From our limited experience, it appears that if you can use a spray gun reasonably well and think about what you are doing just a bit, it isn't hard and the throw-away spray gun worked quite well. I don't think that I'm willing to pay $5,000 for two days labor when it appears it is well within my capability. BTW the estimate was for two days to complete.

I tried to find the spray at Home Depot and they claimed they never heard of the stuff. So where would I find it?
Richard W.

On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 21:27:27 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, "Richard W." quickly quoth:
for info often cited for online purchase
-- Losing faith in humanity, one person at a time.

I spent $1400 for two do it yourself foam kits to cover about 600 ft2 of metal roof about 2 in. thick. Don't do it! The stupidest waste of money ever. I'll be lucky if I don't end up having to rip it all off and build a new roof. Had problems with the finished surface being too lumpy and humpy, very difficult to lay it down to one smooth surface. Also had problems with proper temperature and mixture, some areas came out very brittle, to dense, and cracked. What a pain in the butt! The only reason I tried it was cause the roof was already foamed, by a professional, and it was a very good job, but skylights that were added later leaked and ruined 1/2 of the roof so I figured I foam it to match.

Stuart,
Thanks for your reply. Also, I was beginning to believe that no one that replied actually believed in 'doing it yourself'. If I ascribed to letting someone else 'do it', except for brain surgery, I would never have done or learned anything.
A company that I worked for years ago had a shipping dept. with a very simple foam gun/tanks and believe me when I say that it could not have been very complex or difficult for those guys to have lined the insides of boxes with foam and dropped electronic equipment in.
Now much did your neighbor pay for that kit and where did he get it?

Drew,
I have made two posts about this in here and that took very, very little time. Besides, I am retired and time is not money.
Many things that I fool with are toxic.
I believe in 'trying' and 'learning' and not running to some guy and load up his bank account just because something is hard.
Sometimes I win, sometimes not, but I always am glad that I tried.
b

On Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:48:16 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "buffalo" quickly quoth:
I do everything I can myself, but some things are better done by pros. I think foaming your huge building would be one of them unless you have access to an elevated man-crane system and rent one of the -much- better gun systems do do the whole job in a day or two. Find a couple or 3 local foamers and make them get into a bidding war. Ask local contractors who they use and maybe make a deal with one of them. You'll get a good job and a guarantee. I don't think you could get and use a Tiger Foam kit which would compare to the results from a pro system used by a person who was familiar with foaming.
BTW, there are different foams for metal buildings, and still different ones used on roofs due to higher temps.
I used to work at Southcom, Int'l. in the mid 1970s and they had an Interpak heated-hose, plural-component system which was great. I got to help out there a few times and had fun using the system, but it had a flood style of tip vs. a spray nozzle. The shipper occasionally overfilled a box and it exploded. Lotsa fun.
I'm still using the old A and B component tanks as portable air tanks. They were (nylon?) lined and I've never seen rust come out of them.
-- Losing faith in humanity, one person at a time.

Think of this -
I owned an A frame in Northern Ca. for 17 years. The roof was 2x10's and above that was 4" of Blue foam - in 4' x 4' x 4". Then the roof was lapped (edge) and likely special glue - flexing and sealing.
The Blue foam is insulation quality and is very good. Consider a mechanical cover in place of a foam based one.
Martin
Martin H. Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net TSRA, Life; NRA LOH & Endowment Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot"s Medal. NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member.
buffalo wrote:

Hey Buffalo,
Did you ever find a shaper?
Jay Cups
buffalo wrote:

Hah! I think so. I laugh because it has been such a nightmare with the trucker.
Supposedly, he was to pick it up today but so far this evening, I have not heard from the seller.
He is pretty good about emailing so I expect to hear something at any moment.
Of course, not hearing anything so far, I am nervous as the trucker might have 'flaked' again and the seller is mad, too.
Thanks for asking
b