Contaminated Insulation Removal For Your Home

By any description, contaminated insulation removal is fraught with risk. Materials like asbestos were used for many decades as an insulation material in residential homes and commercial buildings. However, asbestos is only one of the toxic materials that could be contaminating your insulation. Homeowners often replace insulation for a variety of reasons. Insulation may be old and decaying, to upgrade or better insulate their home or to repair damage caused by mold growth and animal infestation.

Contaminated Insulation Removal is not a DIY Project

While materials have become much safer due to increased regulation, many foam insulation companies many forms of traditional insulation materials which pose health risks are still present in older structures. Today, any effort at contaminated insulation removal must be managed with care, and under the supervision of an experienced contractor. Almost universally, professionals recommend the complete removal of asbestos products, mold infested insulation, or broken or damaged insulation- regardless of scope

What’s most important with contaminated insulation removal is to contract a specialist foam insulation company. This is not the right time for a DIY project, even for the home improvement enthusiast. Specialists are trained to handle contaminated insulation with the right equipment and the appropriate safety gear. The affected area will be cleaned properly, and quite importantly, the remains will be disposed of safely. With contaminated insulation removal, there are no shortcuts. The contaminated area must be sealed to protect occupants, and provincial regulations must be strictly followed to minimize any hazards.

Insulation removal and re-installation from Foam Insulation

Removing home insulation during a home renovation is timely. Doing a complete removal is often the best option because it allows for a clean start and an opportunity to upgrade. Whatever the approach, contaminated insulation removal is best handled by professional local insulation companies like Foam Crafters Insolution CO. This will ensure that all the work is done thoroughly, with the right tools and equipment, and safely.

In the event that asbestos insulation is uncovered, there will be no other option but to contract an asbestos removal specialist – a contractor who specifically focuses on working with asbestos. In these situations, there are defined protocols for removal, disposal, and safety procedures. Any attempt to handle asbestos insulation without the right expertise is far too risky to health. On the other hand, in situations where insulation begins to decay or is damaged by mold or animals the team at Ohio Insulation is trained and certified to remove your insulation.

Old insulation, decaying insulation or contaminated insulation removal

At Foam Crafters Insolution CO, highly trained crews remove home insulation professionally. Specialized equipment is used. Waste is safely disposed. And the space is ready for re-installation of new insulation. Renovation or not, insulation removal is worth doing right - it ensures best outcomes for sealing the space tight and for installing new insulation product for long term performance.

With Spray Foam Insulation, property owners are assured of the most comprehensive removal and re-installation of home insulation. From air barriers, to vapour barriers, to ventilation, every effort is made to optimize thermal insulation and energy efficiency. The result is an enhanced level of performance throughout, along with 100% customer satisfaction on all the work.

Soundproof Existing Walls & Ceilings

Read the article below if you find that you do not have the privacy or silence that you require in your you are in a condo, office building, hotel room or your own home.

For best spray insulation companies results you should consider removing your existing wall or ceiling and start the sound control process from your studs as detailed in our How to Soundproof article.

However if you prefer to keep your walls and ceilings in place and are content with a solid upgrade (about 6-9 STC points) then we have outlined the proper steps below.

STEP 1: CHECK FOR INSULATION

For proper local insulation companies you need to have some kind of absorption, usually that is accomplished by having insulation in your walls. To check if your wall or ceiling has any insulation in it, drill a quarter size hole in your wall and look in.

If there is no insulation you may want to consider pumping cellulose or loose fill fiberglass into your walls. You can usually rent the machine and DIY or have an insulation contractor do it. The process involves drilling holes in every bay and sticking a tube in and then pumping the bay full with either cellulose or fiberglass; there is no need to plug the holes as you will be covering the wall with another layer of drywall.

If there is even a little bit of insulation in the walls then do not bother blowing in the cellulose as it will get caught up in the old insulation and will not fill the wall properly.

Tip: Do not try to use any self expanding foams as these are expensive and not as effective as cheaper cellulose and fiberglass. In addition they will most of the time not fill your bays properly.

STEP 2: ADD ADDITIONAL DRYWALL AND GREEN GLUE DAMPING COMPOUND

The next and most important step is to install another layer of drywall over your existing wall and ceiling. Our first choice is always to use 5/8 inch thick drywall, if that is not possible than 1/2 inch is fine.

Before installing, apply Green Glue Noise proofing Compound onto the back of the new layer and then screw over the existing wall or ceiling as you would any standard drywall.

Applying Green Glue Spray Foam Insulation Ohio Compound to Drywall Applying an Additional Layer of Drywall with Green Glue

How Much Do I Need? It is recommended to use 2 tubes of Green Glue on every 4 x 8 sheet. For more details see our Green Glue FAQ page, or Green Glue Installation Guide.

Now, depending on the noise type and noise level present, you may either finish your wall or ceiling at this point as described in the next paragraph, or you can proceed to install a additional layer of drywall with Green Glue over the 2nd layer (leaving you with 3 layers of drywall and 2 layers of Green Glue).

One of our suggestions here at Spray Foam Rigs Cleveland is to have you install one layer of drywall with Green Glue and then wait about 10 days; if you are satisfied with the results go ahead and finish off the wall. If not then proceed to install the 2nd layer.

Soundwaves passing through ceilings

Important: When using this technique to soundproofing spray a wall, keep in mind that if there is an open attic space above the 2 walls the sound will jump the wall and enter through the ceilings, see figure to the left. Even in places where there is no open attic space, sound can go over the walls through the air space above the wall that is created by the ceiling joists. This is especially true if the ceiling joists run over the wall from room to room.

The best solution for this is to install a 2nd layer of drywall with Green Glue on the ceiling in at least one of the rooms (preferably the same room that had the wall treated) in addition to treating the wall. This is a must if you have an open attic or crawl space.

Offices and Strip Malls: Usually have drop ceilings and the walls end at the drop ceiling with empty air space above the wall to the roof. This is a major cause of sound issues between spaces and treating the wall without treating the ceiling will not get the desired results. The proper way to soundproof these spaces is by building up the wall all the way to the roof line and treating the entire wall as mentioned above (Caulk all penetrations between spaces and top of the wall with Acoustical caulk).

If that is not possible building a drywall ceiling and treating it as mentioned above will work well.

When that is not an option either than you need to treat the ceiling with ceiling sound barrier tiles that are placed over each individual drop ceiling tile.

STEP 3: SEALING THE PERIMETER

Applying Green Glue soundproofing spray Compound to Dry wall Once you are done hanging your walls and/or ceilings, caulk the perimeter (the outer edge on all 4 sides) with a quality Acoustical Caulk. Be sure to fill the gaps fully, as a complete seal, with no air spaces.

STC Box Seal for Soundproofing Outlet BoxesYou can then spackle, tape and paint the wall as you would to finish a standard new wall. Seal all outlets in the wall with our specialty Outlet Seal.

The above described sound control technique has been used successfully by thousands of our clients, including hotels, office buildings and private home owners. You can do it yourself or hire a reputable drywall contractor in your area. There is no need for your contractor to have any prior experience in installing Green Glue. We will be happy to send you any materials you need and discuss any installation issues with you or your contractor.

Soundproofing Tips for Quieter Homes

Soundproofing Insulation has become very popular as noise pollution becomes a growing problem in Australia, especially in the metropolitan cities and suburbs. It’s a very subtle thing that being exposed to noise over long periods of time can be detrimental to your health. You don’t even realize it at first but a slow pressure starts to build in your head due to noise and it only eases when everything is silent.

That’s a sign of you reeling under all that auditory input. Many Australians have started to become increasingly frustrated with constant noise. According to reports, there are over 2000 noise pollution complaints made to the police in New South Wales every week. While you can’t control the outside noise, you can prevent some of it from entering your home by insulating it. Here are some sound insulation tips:

Seal Cracks and Holes

You might think that cracks and holes don’t matter and in the grand scheme of things, they wouldn’t make much of a difference. Consider sound proofing insulation a step-by-step process. If you follow all steps, you get excellent sound proofing and sealing cracks and holes is the first step. You need to be very thorough here and inspect your home carefully.

You can use caulk or flexible polyurethane to seal them. You should also seal gaps in doors and windows. Putty or expanding foam can be used to fill any holes through which wires enter your property. You’ll be amazed by how much noise is blocked by doing this.

Check Doors and Windows

If air can come in, sound can as well. You need to make sure that your doors and windows seal shut when they’re closed. You can do this by adding weather stripping to them. Use door and window seals to ensure that when they close, no noise from outside can come in.

Solid wood doors would keep out the noise better than foam/glass doors; if you can, add the former to your home. You can also install storm-windows with toughened glass and solid frames. The idea it to seal the entry points in your home to enhance Ohio Insulation.

Sound Insulation

Thin walls can let in noise, no matter how well you seal the house. You can prevent this by insulating the walls carefully and thoroughly. This can be done by installing affordable insulation or fibreglass/polyester batts. Cellulose or blown-in insulation is also a good option. These solutions would filter out the noise but they will have to be expertly installed by a professional. Every 1% of the area not covered can result in 5% loss in Insulation Coating effectiveness.

Add Mass

One of the more logical solutions for effective sound insulation is to thicken your walls. You can do that by adding mass to them. Aside from insulation, you can add drywall, which would not only stop outdoor noise but also dim the noise coming from within the house.

If you follow all these steps, you can soundproof your home and keep the noise out. This will give you a lot of relief and let you catch some much needed rest in the peace and quiet of your well-insulated home.

5 Tips for Winter Insulation

Preparing for Winter

As the summer winds to a close, you may be thinking ahead to autumn and all the wonderful things it brings: Thanksgiving, autumn colors, pumpkins… But at Foam Crafters Insolution CO, we’re already thinking ahead to the coming winter season, and we’re sharing with you our top home Spray Foam Insulation Ohio tips for winter so that you can prepare your home before the cold weather hits. If you experience temperature changes from room to room or have mysterious drafts and huge energy bills, you may have a poorly insulated home.

Winter Insulation Tip 1

Starting at the top of your home, the first of our home insulation tips for winter is to insulate your accommodation. The largest proportion of heat transfer happens through your ceiling and roof, making it a key area to insulate in your home.  Most spray insulation companies are specialized in, spray foam and blown-in insulation. Unlike fiberglass insulation, foam insulation doesn’t need topping up or refreshing after a few years, and its high R-Value makes it ideal for this often forgotten part of your home. R-Value is the industry term used to classify how well an insulation material transfers heat - the higher the number, the better it will be at keeping heat in and cold air out. Spray foam insulation has one of the highest R-Values out of any material on the market today, making it an excellent material to choose when insulating your attic.

Winter Insulation Tip 2

The second of our home insulation tips for winter is to seal air leaks and gaps. Cracks in your home’s building envelope are one of the biggest causes of inefficiency and high heating bills in homes.  One of the top benefits of installing spray foam insulation is that it is an excellent sealant and fills those gaps as it cures.

Winter Insulation Tip 3

Your local insulation companies has top home insulation tips for winter is to check your windows. Poorly installed or old windows could be a major cause of heat loss from your home, so applying new weatherstripping or sealing cracks with caulking can make a big difference. If you’re installing new windows, consider installing energy efficient ones for an added boost to your home’s warmth, and don’t forget to have the walls around them adequately insulated to ensure that you’re not adding new air leaks or gaps to your home!

Winter Insulation Tip 4

Tip four is to perform annual furnace and HVAC system maintenance. Cleaning or replacing filters can have a huge effect on the quality and amount of warm air your furnace produces, and years of inefficient operation can have a huge toll on your furnace, causing it to require more frequent maintenance.

Winter Insulation Tip 5

The last of our home insulation tips for winter is to not forget insulation in other parts of your home. While the basement or attic may be the obvious choice, under the floors, interior walls, and around ductwork or even behind light switches or outlets can also have a big cumulative effect on the comfort of your home.

Thinking ahead to the winter season now can have a huge effect later when the snow begins blowing, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with Sheffield Insulation at Foam Crafters Insolution CO for an assessment or consultation on improving your home’s insulation.

FIRE INSULATION MATERIALS

People have a right to expect that their homes, workplaces, schools, and hospitals are safe. Building fires do happen and when they do, the safety of building occupants and first-responders depends overwhelmingly on how the building performs during the fire.
Our home foam insulation is a key component in fire-resilient buildings as its stone wool fibres are inherently non-combustible and can resist temperatures up to 1,000º C. This is crucial to containing a fire locally and securing that a fire in a building will not become a building on fire. And with minimal organic content, ROCKWOOL insulation will not produce any significant toxic smoke.

As a minimum, every medium- and high-rise building should only be clad and insulated with non-combustible materials that do not emit any significant toxic smoke when exposed to fire.

1- Spray Foam Insulation Company

Wall, Flooring, and Roofing Applications:

Glass wool, rock wool, gypsum boards, fiber-cement boards, ceramic wool, perlite, vermiculite, glass foam, calcium silicate, special mastics, heat-expandable special dyes, etc. special doors and glass seals.

2- Fire Glazing – Fireproof Glazing

The anti-shattering property of E Class Glazing delays the passage of the gases and fumes released by the fire, through the broken glass for a certain time. They are not capable of preventing the passage of heat generated by fire (frosted wire, wire polished glass, borosilicate glass).

Your Local Insulation Companies can guide you professionally that fire fumes and gases, E1 Class Glazing delays the passage of heat generated by the fire. The intermediate filler of this special-filling, multi-layered glazing, which preserves its transparency up to 120°C temperature, foams, expands and becomes opaque by the fire heat.

3- Technical (Industrial) Insulation

Glass wool, rock wool, gypsum boards, vermiculite, perlite, calcium silicate, glass foam, Spray Foam Insulation Contractors Ohio etc.

Spray Foam Insulation

One of the high-tech spray foam insulation company products being utilized these days is a foam-spray product called “Icynene,” which is a foam that starts as two liquid components (a and b, if you will) that are heated up and sent through two hoses and meet at a tip of a gun where the magic begins. This is a thin film that expands to 100 times its volume in eight seconds, when it’s permanently set up.

During the installation of this particular spray foam the house begins to look like the set of a sci-fi movie, and protective gear is needed because the over-spray can be harmful to lungs.

After the product sets up it has a rough texture that expands beyond the drywall barrier. The installers have to “scarf” — scrape off — the foam in order for the drywall to fit properly. The installers basically make sure the foam is cut smoothly.

This particular local insulation companies won’t allow air to move through or around it, creating a complete air barrier. Insulation can also be applied to the underside of a roof deck, creating an airtight seal between the roof and the attic space.

Note: The practice of foam insulating the attic has raised eyebrows in the building industry because “standard” roofing techniques call for the attic to be ventilated; however, in a vented attic situation it will become approximately 130 degrees in the summer. There’s no reason for an air-conditioning and vent-duct work to have to work in that type of severe conditions. By applying Spray Foam Rigs Cleveland right on the underside of the roof deck, the severe temperatures no longer exist in the attic. In short, the attic is now a “conditioned” space of the house that is just as comfortable as any other room in the home. This is called a “home foam insulation“, which means you can frame right up against it. The one drawback of using expanded foam on the inside of the roof is that this will cause the temperature of the shingles to rise, but how much is not yet known. And how much damage a rise in temperatures could cause is debatable.

The Best Way to Soundproof a Wall

If you are building a new home, finishing off a basement, or considering remodeling, soundproofing walls is a great value added improvement to make to your home.

Your soundproofed walls will enhance your everyday home living experience. Rooms that were formerly sources of irritating noise can be isolated, and rooms that should be a relaxing retreat will meet their full potential.

Wall soundproofing does not have to be an expensive project, but you also need to set your expectations. Nothing will provide the performance that a professional would, but we are talking about DIY soundproofing in this article to save you money.

If you are doing the project on your own, please do your research thoroughly and understand the products and soundproofing basics. Then by following these steps on the best way to soundproofing Spray Foam Insulation Ohio on a wall, and using recommended soundproofing materials, you can achieve pleasing results without blowing your budget.

1. Prepare the Wall Cavity

You want to have cleared out wall cavities, ready to accept insulation and sealant. If you are remodeling a room, you need to take down the old drywall, and remove the old insulation if there was any. You only need to do this to the room you are trying to isolate. If you are finishing a basement, or have new construction, your walls likely already have open stud frames.

At this point you will want to take note of the locations of any electrical boxes, wires, pipes, or any other obstruction. You will need to fit the fireproofing insulation around these objects in huge next steps.

2. Choose Your Soundproofing Materials

This is one of the most important steps. You’ll want to chose a quality soundproofing batt to fill the empty stud cavities.

Roxul makes a variety of popular rock wool insulation products. Roxul Safe ‘n’ Sound and AFB (Acoustical Fire Batts) are two of the more popular and more reasonably priced insulation available.

Fiberglass products like ATS Acoustics Rigid Fiberglass are another good option. There are many more options, which you can see in our comparison chart.

You should also consider buying some cases of Green Glue noise proofing foam compounds and Green Glue Sealant from foam insulation company. The compound is used to help partially decouple and bond dual layer drywall panels. The sealant is used to fill up any cracks or open gaps where sound is guaranteed to leak out. Both products are sold in tubes, so you can apply them with any standard caulking gun.

3. Install the Insulation Batts

Now that you’ve got all your materials from spray foam insulation companies, and the walls are prepared, it’s time to fill the stud cavities with insulation. The insulation bats are designed to press snugly in between the studs, so as not to leave any air gaps. Air gaps are excellent noise transmitters, and will weaken the overall performance of your soundproof walls. We will cover filling up those gaps in the next step.

As you encounter obstructions like electrical outlets or wires, use a bread knife or other serrated edge utility knife to create cut outs.

Creating cut outs that fit well can take some practice. But don’t worry because if you do end up with a gap, you can seal it up in the next step.

For wires and pipes, it’s best to measure twice, and cut a small v notch to get a great fit over the round objects.

4. Seal Up Air Gaps

Next, you will want to carefully go over the entire wall looking for any air gaps. When your find a gap in the insulation, for example around an electrical outlet, you should apply the Green Glue Sealant to seal it up.

Check the edges of the insulation batts, and fill in sealant wherever there is a space.  By filling these air gaps, you’re removing sound transmission paths, where unwanted noise can leak in or leak out of the room you are soundproofing.

5. Put Up New Drywall

You have several options at this step depending on your budget and how far you want to go in your soundproofing efforts.

First, you can simply put up the standard drywall again, but keep in mind your end result may not reduce noise as dramatically as you had hoped.

Second, you could apply a layer of Green Glue Compound on top of the first drywall layer, and sandwich a second layer over the compound. Be sure to stagger the sheetrock so that your seams are not lined up. This would create an unwanted pathway for sound. The compound acts a dampening agent between the two layers of sheetrock.

Third, you could choose to decouple the sheetrock from the stud wall, thereby removing the vibrations from the studs and preventing noise transmissions. To do this you need to screw **Green Glue Clips** onto the studs, then snapping hat channels onto the clips.  Then you just screw the sheetrock onto the channel and finish. Click here for a complete guide to this method.

Fourth, you can purchase specially engineered Spray Foam Rigs Cleveland drywall. These are composite Sheetrock panels, usually composed of gypsum outer layers sandwiched over sheet metal, mass loaded vinyl, or other dense materials.  Quiet-Rock 500 is one such product that we have reviewed.

6. Finishing Touches

Now you must go around the base of the drywall you just installed and apply a bead of the soundproofing sealant. Also apply a bead around the small spaces between sheetrock and door and window frames. The sealant is slightly flexible and helps stop sound from passing through between frame and sheetrock.

All that is left now is to do a thorough job taping, mudding, and painting your new soundproofed walls!

Soundproofing Existing Walls with Noise Proofing Sealant

This short video shows you how you can actually create soundproofing walls out of existing walls just by using green glue sealing compound in between a second layer of sheet rock.  The idea here, is that the compound acts as a noise isolator, with superior low frequency Ohio Insulation to mass loaded vinyl.  Hopefully you can see that the best way to soundproof a wall doesn’t have to be super expensive or complicated.  Simple materials installed throughout the walls of your room will get the job done.