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What’s The Best Type Of Insulation For Each Area Of My Home?

The geographical location and orientation of your house make it unique to other homes, even ones that are just down the street from you. We bring this up because knowing this before installing your new insulation is crucial for getting the best experience. Leave it to your local experts at Foam Bear Tampa to introduce you to spray foam insulation and how to use it in different areas of your home!

Spray Foam Is Your Home’s New Best Friend

Your typical insulative materials might get a passing grade in most other states, but spray foam is the only fitting type of insulation that can protect Florida homes with its flexibility and overall quality. Before you start making plans with spray foam, you should know that there are two main types for different uses:

• Open-cell spray foam expands the most, up to three inches. This makes it useful for air-sealing homes and closing up gaps. It’s also a cost-effective way to cover the most ground.
• Closed-cell spray foam only expands one inch, but it’s a denser compound. This tight-knit substance can act as a barrier against water, wind, and pests. It also offers the highest r-value between home-appropriate insulation options.

Both types of spray foam are worthy upgrades from fiberglass insulation, and they can be used interchangeably between rooms or specific areas of the house that need insulating. Now, learn the trick to knowing which type of spray foam to use for each area of your home:

Your Attic is High Maintenance. Give it Your Best Stuff.

Your attic (or general roof area) gets hit with the worst of any weather conditions like hurricanes, rainfall, you name it. That’s why this spot requires the most protection to shield you from nature’s wrath. Since we mentioned high winds and heavy rain, you’d be right to assume that closed-cell spray foam is the best type of foam for the job. Getting expert installation will keep the inside of your home dry and your indoor temperatures where you want them to be. This is especially true for Florida homes during the peak of summer, saving your air conditioning unit from collapsing under pressure.

Never Underestimate Crawl Space Insulation

Keeping exterior temperatures outside of your home is only half the battle. The second step is to make sure any conditioned air that you generate in your home stays inside so your AC won’t have to keep conditioning more air.

One way to lose conditioned air is by letting it seep through the floor. How do you stop air from falling through the floor? By insulating your crawl space. Since you’ll need wide coverage for this task, most people often go with open-cell spray foam since it’s more cost-efficient, but you can also choose closed-cell if it’s within the budget. Either way, encapsulating your crawl space is a great way to increase your home’s value while staying comfortable any season of the year.

Getting the Best Coverage With Wall Insulation

Of course, your walls will need to be heavily insulated as well. This is a perfect opportunity to reap the benefits of both open-cell and closed-cell insulation because both can be used in a situation where your walls are older or worn out. A common method is to use closed-cell spray foam for the majority of the wall for the best insulating effect and touch up corners and edges with open-cell foam. This technique will take care of any gaps or cracks in your walls since open-cell foam has a greater expansion rate.

Want the Best Home Insulation? Leave it to the Experts at Foam Bear Tampa!

Call Foam Bear Tampa today at (727) 580-1090 for a free estimate on top-notch spray foam insulation near you! Our experts know all of the best practices, methods, and techniques for a comfortable home all year round.

Is High-Density Foam Good For Insulation?

There are countless myths and facts regarding what makes good insulation, but one thing is for certain and it’s that density matters. Under the right circumstances, spray foam can be the most dense type of insulation you can find for your home or commercial property. Learn more about how high-density foam makes for good insulation before reaching out to your local spray foam experts at Foam Bear Orlando!

Higher Density = Better Insulation. It’s That Simple.

With so many insulation options involving lightweight materials, many homeowners would be under the impression that density has nothing to do with regulating temperatures. But if you look at the numbers, these lighter materials tend to have a much lower R-value than denser products. If r-value doesn’t mean anything to you, let us break it down into simpler terms:

When air comes into contact with light insulation, there’s more room for it to pass through with less resistance. The wind that makes it past your insulation affects your indoor temperatures, causing your AC to work more with the possibility of cold or hot patches throughout different rooms. With higher-density insulation, the air that gets into the building is kept to a minimum, allowing you to enjoy controllable temperatures.

Are There Additional Benefits to High-Density Insulation?

Other than keeping your indoor temperatures where you want them, dense insulation comes with a handful of additional perks. Dense materials are often moisture-proof, decreasing the likelihood of mold in your walls or ceiling. Thicker materials are also harder for bugs and pests to chew through, keeping them out of your property. You’ll also notice sound-dampening qualities with fewer sound waves passing through your reinforced walls.

Spray Foam Offers the Highest Density, But What Kind?

When people think of density, they think of hard or stiff materials like wood or foam boards. However, density can be found in the most unlikely places, like a sticky substance called spray foam insulation.

Spray foam can be categorized into two types: closed-cell and open-cell. Both have their advantages, but if we’re talking about density, then closed-cell foam is the one to get. Because of its highly dense structure, closed-cell spray foam has an r-value of 6-7, can repel moisture, and is practically impenetrable to bugs and rodents.

Closed-Cell Spray Foam	Open-Cell Spray Foam
● R-value of up to 7 ● Expands one inch ● Incredibly dense	● R-value of up to 3.8 ● Expands 3 inches ● Low density

“Can you make spray foam more dense with thicker layers?”

Closed-cell spray foam is already incredibly dense, and that won’t change if you apply thicker layers. It’s actually advised to not spray it on too thick or it won’t cure how it should, leading to a whole mess of problems. Even if you wait for the first layer to fully cure before applying a second layer, you’ll still receive the same level of insulation.

Learn more > How Thick Should Closed-Cell Spray Foam Be?

The Best Areas to Apply Closed-Cell Spray Foam

Now that you’ve identified closed-cell spray foam as the densest type of insulation, the next step is to locate the areas of your property where it’ll be the most effective. As a general rule of thumb, you can’t go wrong insulating any of these spots:

• Along the attic ceiling
• Underneath the roof
• On the exterior walls
• Inside any gaps or cracks

Another trick to getting the best spray foam experience is to check your home for air leaks beforehand so you can seal off any holes that are accelerating your energy usage.

Equip Your Home With Premium-Grade Spray Foam From Foam Bear Orlando!

Where can you find high-quality closed-cell spray foam near you? Foam Bear Orlando offers premium spray foam insulation from top brands installed by skilled and qualified professionals in your area. Call us today at (727) 580-1090 for a free estimate or learn about our financing options on our website.