Rigid Foam Insulation Walls

Rigid foam can be used in walls roofs and foundations for retrofits or new construction.

Rigid foam insulation walls.

Expanded polystyrene eps extruded polystyrene xps and polyisocyanurate. Eps is used under roofing over foundation walls and beneath siding. Rigid foam can be used as sheathing a continuous layer of insulation on wall exteriors attached before the installation of house wrap and siding. Rigid foam insulation also known as insulating boards provide high r values.

3 benefits of rigid foam sheathing. This foam board insulation is the rigid pink or blue panels that can be found at home centers in many different thicknesses. Plywood has an r value of 1 25 and fiberglass batts have an r value of 3 14. Indoors rigid foam is the material of choice on walls where the insulation will be touching masonry mostly this means the exterior walls in basement build outs except for daylight facing walls such as.

More effective insulation with r values ranging from 3 6 to 8 0 rigid foam sheathing has much better insulation per inch than other materials i e. Most builders who install a continuous layer of rigid insulation use rigid foam polyisocyanurate expanded polystyrene or extruded polystyrene. For a 1 in thick 4 8 panel comes unfaced or with a number of different plastic facings. After that thin furring strips are installed on top of the foam to provide a firm base for the drywall screws and drywall but can you run rigid foam between the studs just as you would do with fiberglass rolls or spray foam.

A small minority of builders use semi rigid panels of mineral wool. It provides an r value of 4 per inch of thickness and is the cheapest type of foam board insulation. In installing the rigid foam insulation on an interior wall inspect the walls beforehand. Types of insulating boards choose from three types of insulating foam core boards for wall insulation.

In other words rigid foam can be applied on walls foundations and roofs and works great for both retrofits and new constructions. The correct method of using rigid foam is to run continuous 4 foot by 8 foot sheets of the foam across the concrete basement wall making the rigid foam the de facto wall. There are three main types of rigid foam insulation. Falls in the middle of the three types of rigid foam insulation in both cost and r value used most in walls or below grade applications recyclable and at about r 5 per inch costs around 42 per sq.

Check for any moisture problem on the interior walls and apply a waterproof paint on the affected area to resolve this. Not only does it provide high r values but foam board insulation is also easy to install lightweight and can be used in any room of your home. Products with a higher r value have a higher cost but have an increased. Most varieties of foam have a higher r value per inch than fiberglass cotton or cellulose.