I asked something about this before but not exactly.
I want to foam my 30 x 40 foot building. Contractors think that I am Donald
Trump.
I need to do it myself. Any suggestions FROM THOSE THAT DID IT?
Thanks
b
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 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.
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
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