Foam board insulation on windows

Conduction is the movement of heat through a medium, which means that reduced heat conduction created by foam board insulation can work to keep your home more comfortable if it is installed correctly.

That means the higher the R-Value, the greater the insulating power of the insulation in some cases. The most common types of material used to make foam board insulation include polystyrene, polyisocyanurate polyiso , and polyurethane. Polystyrene is a colorless, transparent thermoplastic, according to the U. Polyisocyanurate is a thermosetting type of plastic, closed cell foam that contains low-conductivity, hydrochlorofluorocarbon-free gas in its cells.

Overtime, polyisocyanurate can lose R-Value as some of the low-conductivity gas escapes and air replaces it. Polyurethane is a foam insulation that can be either open cell or closed cell. Reflective foil placed facing an open-air space can also act as a radiant barrier.

This is a material that can be done as a DIY project, but you need to make sure you do it correctly or you will continue to have comfort issues. The foam board must be cut to perfectly fit the cavity where it will be installed. Next you will use tape or caulk to ensure everything is sealed up nice and tight. Foam board can be installed on your roof deck, attic floor, exposed walls, rim joist , and exposed basement walls or crawl space.

There are more than a dozen signs and symptoms that your home needs updated insulation. To see how many of these symptoms apply to your home, check out our 18 Signs and Symptoms checklist. Amanda previously has worked as a breaking news and crime reporter, TV news producer, and editor in Flint and Detroit. Value For The Money: They say you get what you pay for. We try to measure how much value for the money you can get from your Spray Foam Insulation For Windows before putting them on the list.

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Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Skip to content. Table of Contents. One method for increasing the insulation level of the walls in existing homes is to remove the exterior cladding and install rigid foam insulation, possibly new house wrap, and new exterior cladding over the walls.

This step not only increases the wall R-value, it can also greatly improve the performance of the walls to control the movement of air, vapor, and water through the walls. Some advantages to this retrofit approach include minimizing the impact of the wall retrofit on the interior finishes of the existing house, supporting continuity of the water and air control layers, reducing thermal bridging or heat transfer through wall framing, and lowering the risk of water damage and condensation within the existing wall structure.

In Figures 1 and 2, the wall siding is represented as lap siding, which could be wood, vinyl, or fiber cement lap siding. Taped insulating sheathing may serve as a layer to control water, air, and heat loss. However, house wrap or a paint-on membrane could also be applied to the original sheathing before the insulating sheathing is installed.

The vertical furring strips also provide the means of attachment for the exterior siding and provide a ventilation gap under the siding. See Figure 2. If more than one layer of foam is used, the exterior layer of the foam is the water control layer and all seams in that layer should be taped with appropriate foam-compatible tape. The exterior foam layer should be foil-faced polyisocyanurate or XPS and the layer should be at least 1 inch thick.

If the exterior of the rigid foam serves as the water control layer, the air control layer would still be house wrap or paint-on membrane that is installed between the existing house sheathing and the rigid foam. The location of the water control layer has implications for how the water control function is handled at transitions and interruptions.

For example, in window installations, if the water control layer is over the existing sheathing, the windows are installed within the existing wall framing. If the water control layer is at the face of the insulating sheathing, the windows are installed within the insulating sheathing layer of the wall, in order to integrate the window flashing into the water control layer. When installing this retrofit wall assembly, it is recommended that multiple layers of insulating sheathing be applied to the exterior of the existing wall.

For example, rather than installing one 2-inch layer of rigid foam, two 1-inch layers are installed. This creates a vapor impermeable layer on the exterior of the existing wall. If there is a wetting event e. To allow drying to the inside, any new or existing application of closed-cell spray foam in the wall cavities should be limited to a thickness of no more than one inch.

For other types of spray foam insulation, the vapor permeance of the installed thickness must be at least 1. Open-cell spray foam insulation meets this criteria for typical framed wall cavity depths. This may not be the case for some medium-density spray foams. It is advisable to avoid use of an interior vapor barrier and vapor impermeable wall coverings such as non-latex paint and vinyl wallpapers with this retrofit wall approach because these limit the drying potential to the interior.

These types of wall coverings may contribute to problems if the interior space has high humidity, there is a history of water leakage in the wall, or the exterior wall has gotten wet during construction.

Refer to the current adopted building and energy codes for information on appropriate levels of insulation for the different climate zones as well as the proper ratios of vapor and air impermeable and permeable insulation. Remediate any hazardous conditions that will be affected e. Follow applicable laws and industry procedures for mitigation of hazardous materials. Engage the services of a qualified professional when needed. Given the increased airtightness associated with this retrofit, combustion safety testing and controlled mechanical ventilation upgrades are required to maintain acceptable indoor air quality.

The exterior wall assembly should be designed for the specific hygrothermal region, rain exposure zone, and interior climate where the home is located. The map in Figure 1 shows the climate zones for states that have adopted energy codes equivalent to the International Energy Conservation Code IECC , 12, 15, and The map in Figure 2 shows the climate zones for states that have adopted energy codes equivalent to the IECC The insulation levels should be based on the minimum requirements for vapor control in the current adopted building code and the minimum requirements for thermal control in the current energy code.

Additional insulation can be added above these minimums to create high R-Value exterior wall assemblies. The minimum insulation requirements for ceilings, walls, floors, and foundations in new homes, as listed in the , , , , and IECC and IRC, can be found in this table. If your home is located in one of the designated high-wind zones shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4, ensure that siding is wind resistant to minimize the risk of damage to the rigid foam sheathing layer.

Rigid foam should not be used as the sole sheathing material in gable end walls in high-wind areas; it should be supported by plywood or OSB. In the house shown in Figure 5, the vinyl siding at the gable end wall was installed over plastic foam insulation with no plywood or OSB wood sheathing behind it. The foam insulation and vinyl siding alone were not able to withstand wind pressures which caused the wall to fail allowing wind-driven rain to freely enter the attic and saturate the ceiling insulation, causing collapse of the ceiling.

With limited exceptions, International Building Code Section Compliance The Compliance tab contains both program and code information. Code language is excerpted and summarized below. For exact code language, refer to the applicable code, which may require purchase from the publisher. While we continually update our database, links may have changed since posting.

Please contact our webmaster if you find broken links. If the state or local residential building energy code requires higher insulation levels than those specified in the IECC, you must meet or exceed the locally mandated requirements. Some states have adopted the or IECC. Visit the U. High-Performance Insulation. Thermal Enclosure System 1. Alternatives in Footnote 4. Fully-Aligned Air Barriers. Also, at exterior vertical surface of ceiling insulation in all climate zones e. Reduced Thermal Bridging.

Footnote 6 For purposes of this Checklist, an air barrier is defined as any durable solid material that blocks air flow between conditioned space and unconditioned space, including necessary sealing to block excessive air flow at edges and seams and adequate support to resist positive and negative pressures without displacement or damage.