The roof insulation polyurethane foam
The contents
If you are winterizing your home, then you should know that it is not enough to insulate only the walls of the structure. In order for the insulation to be effective, need to insulate your roof. Statistics show that heat loss occurs through walls, floors, roof and Windows. As a percentage they are: the walls 30%, floor 7-10%, roof 20% Windows – 20-30%. You may notice that the roof is almost on a par with walls and Windows. That is why it is important to the insulation of the roof: it needs to keep warm, to protect the house from wind and moisture.
Most often for this purpose, mineral wool, Styrofoam, foam, foam glass. One of the modern materials, which has become quite popular is the polyurethane foam. Today it is increasingly used in the insulation of the house. All thanks to its properties. But, how good is this stuff and how to complete the roof insulation polyurethane foam?
Why polyurethane ↑
This material is fairly new and if you haven’t heard about it then you have the opportunity to learn more about it and its benefits. Polyurethane foam (PUF) is a material that is the result of the technological combination of two components – polyol and polyisocyanate. Blended products under high pressure in a special unit in a 1:1 ratio. Through a system of hoses, the material passes to the nozzle and applied to the surface. Unusual that getting out, the polyurethane foam reacts with carbon dioxide and the eyes increases in size, usprivacy. It fills all gaps, voids and irregularities, preceives securely to the surface. For 20 seconds it solidifies, becomes hard and dense.
What are its advantages over other materials? They are:
- insulation occurs without seams, adhesive mass, fixtures, etc. therefore, the monolithic layer;
- ecological purity of the product;
- low thermal conductivity;
- light weight, which is important for the roof;
- high vapor barrier;
- resistance to chemicals, mold, fungi and rot;
- long operational life (25 years or more);
- excellent soundproofing;
- bad burns;
- due to the high adhesion, adheres well to almost any surface (except polyethylene).
It’s not all his dignity. If we talk about the roof insulation polyurethane foam, it is worth noting that you don’t have to disassemble the entire structure to place the insulation. Enough to prepare her and get to work. The insulation itself will not take you much time, but the end result will surprise you, because the foam will hide all defects, cracks, bumps and potholes. Due to the structure and low thermal conductivity (1.5 times less than polystyrene), the thickness of the material 50 mm thickness 80 mm foam, and mineral wool 150 mm. It will reduce the load on the entire structure. As you can see, this is a very effective material that you can use. But, the question arises, how is the roof insulation foam from the inside, what you need to do?
More about the process of insulation with polyurethane foam ↑
One of the main advantages of roof insulation foam is easy. You won’t need many tools and materials. It all boils down to purchase material, equipment and to prepare the surface. First you need to know that the roof insulation foam can be accomplished in two ways:
- Method of filling of polyurethane foam.
- The method of spraying polyurethane foam.
Whichever method you choose, you can not do without special apparatus for supplying the material. Simply put, these units consist of two tanks containing the polyol and poliizotsionat of air compressor and system hoses. High pressure components are fed into the hoses, mix, pass through a sensor and fed into the gun. At the exit they the foam, increasing in size up to 120 times.
Casting is most often used to frame houses. It involves the filling of polyurethane foam prepared by the closed cavity of the wall or roof. In this case, a hole, through which is supplied the liquid material. This cake is well insulated and will prevent heat loss. As for spraying, the material is applied on the exposed surface of the spray gun as long as the layer reaches the desired thickness.
Now, all you need to bring to life. In this article, we describe a method of spraying polyurethane foam. Let’s look at how you can do all the work.
Stage 1 – preparatory work ↑
First you have to stock up on material and equipment. If the material is not difficult to buy, because it is not so expensive, the equipment may have problems. The price of such devices is quite high, so if you only need to insulate your home, it would be advantageous to borrow it or rent.
As for the foam, you will need to choose its density. The higher the density, the less voids in the material. The roof is quite suitable 40 kg/mThree, the load on the roof will not be large. Why 40 kg/mThree? The fact is that if the material is not dense in the voids can accumulate moisture. As the roof was quite wet (rain, snow, etc.), the density should be higher. You only have to calculate how much material to buy. Use a special calculator calculate PPU.
After everything is bought, it is possible to start the preparatory work. Good news is that you don’t need to spend a lot of time to prepare foundations, or to disassemble the roof. All you have to do is to clean the surface. Simply remove all dirt, dust and other debris. Standard in roof pie includes waterproofing and vapor barrier layers. Whether mineral wool or foam, you had to buy these materials. To work with the polyurethane foam they are needed, which is a big plus. In fact, this whole training ends. You only have to move it to the attic to do the job.
Stage 2 – insulation of the roof ↑
After all the preparatory work, you can proceed directly to the roof insulation with polyurethane foam. Your task – to make spraying foam on the surface of the roof, between the rafters to the desired thickness. The material will fill in all the cracks, will be monolithic and will effectively prevent heat loss through the roof. There are some rules that you should know before starting work:
- It is important to provide ventilation.
- Not recommended for insulation in the winter. The optimum temperature was 20 to 30 ?C.
- When on the roof there is a door or window, they can be taped.
Now you can start. Take your gun, unlock and do a trial run to see if evenly distributed foam. If all is well, it is possible to conduct sputtering. Start with the edges and fill each section (the space between the rafters). Apply foam from the bottom up.
Once you have painted the surface with a spray bottle? It is something similar. As soon as the foam reaches the surface, will be increased several times. Spend manipulation to until thickness is desired. After solidification (about 20 seconds) it will become solid and harmless. You have to fill the entire surface, carefully working through the corners. The foam will wrap around any shape and curves that will make it easier. In the end, the excess material is cut and produced internal lining. For clarity, look at the photos, there is shown a detailed diagram.
That’s all, your roof is insulated and ready for operation. Now its heat loss with 20 % decrease to almost zero. Polyurethane foam is the best material for insulation. The thermal conductivity of the material is 0.2 W/(m·K), which provides a strong conservation of heat