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Truck vs. Kit
Most insulating pros with truck-mounted units have a minimum charge of $500 to $700. So buying a spray foam kit makes sense for small jobs, and for those jobs where you need to insulate in stages over the course of a few days or weeks. Kits are also handy for insulating jobs in remote locations where the nearest spray foam company is 100 miles away.
You can buy kits that produce foam with the same R-value as the foam sprayed from truck-mounted units (just under R-7). But if you have a large area to insulate, it makes sense to hire a pro because the cost will be considerably less than if you use a kit yourself.
You’ll also want to call in a pro if the weather is cold. Truck-mounted units have built-in heaters, which can spray foam at close to freezing temperatures, but most kits require tank temps, air temps and surface temps above 65 degrees F. Keep in mind that a house will have to be vacated for up to 24 hours if a truck is called in, but many of the kit products allow you to inhabit the house immediately after spraying.
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Open Cell vs. Closed Cell
There are two kinds of spray foam on the market: open and closed. Closed-cell foam costs more than open-cell, but its properties make it more popular. Closed-cell is more resistant to water and can provide an air and vapor barrier (depending on the thickness). It provides almost double the R-value per inch. The one superior property that open-cell insulation has is that it works as a great sound barrier/deadener. It’s often used under stairs and between walls and floors for that reason.
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Never Spray a Wet Surface
Never spray foam on a surface with a moisture level of more than 20 percent—the foam won’t stick. If the surface you’re spraying hasn’t been exposed to water for a few weeks, it should be OK to spray. But if you’re patching a wall that recently sustained water damage, or was just assembled with new, wet lumber, you may want to test the moisture level before you spray.
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