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I have been in the spray foam business for 7 years now, started solo and now run a crew of 4. Wanted to share what I wish someone had told me when I started.
Equipment: Do not cheap out on the machine. Buy a Graco or Gusmer. Factor in 3-5k per year for maintenance and repairs no matter what.
Chemical: Build a relationship with ONE distributor. The pricing deals are worth it. Store drums properly – temperature swings ruin material.
Business: Get spray foam specific liability insurance from Day 1. Regular contractor insurance often does not cover SPF claims. Require a signed contract on every job.
The hardest lesson: Price for profitability, not to win bids. I lost money for 18 months trying to compete on price with cheap operators. Once I raised prices 25 percent, I got better customers and actually made money.
Happy to answer questions for anyone starting out.
Seeing more and more about HFO-based closed cell foams (Lapolla 4G HFO, BASF Walltite ECO, etc.). My distributor is pushing them hard as the future of closed cell.
Currently running standard HFC-245fa closed cell and it works great. The HFO upgrade would be about 15-20% higher material cost per board foot.
Arguments for HFO:
– Lower Global Warming Potential (GWP) – 1 vs 700+ for HFC
– Required by some green building specs (LEED, etc.)
– Some states may phase out HFC products
Arguments against:
– Higher cost passed to customers = harder to win bids
– Some early reports of slightly lower yield
– Limited long-term performance data
Anyone making this switch? Is the green premium actually translating to more business or just more cost?
Doing a crawl space encapsulation job. Customer wants spray foam on the rim joists plus I am doing a full floor system with poly vapor barrier.
Question: If I am spraying 2 inch closed cell on the rim joists, do I still need to extend the poly barrier up the foundation wall to the joists, or does the foam take the place of the vapor control at that location?
Climate zone 5 here (Indiana). IRC 2021 applies.
My understanding: closed cell foam at 2 inch IS a Class II vapor retarder, so the poly is not technically needed at the rim joist location. But I want to make sure there is no air leakage path between the poly on the floor and where the foam starts on the rim.
Also: should I foam the sill plate area before the rim joist, or foam both together?
Had a situation last week where I was getting soft, tacky foam mid-job. Eventually tracked it down to an ISO drum that was running low and had moisture contamination at the bottom.
Wanted to start a thread about field diagnostics for off-ratio foam since I see this come up a lot:
Signs your foam is off-ratio:
– Tacky/sticky surface = too much ISO or resin side issue
– Brittle, crumbly foam = too much resin (A-side rich)
– Off color (darker or lighter than normal) = ratio issue
– Unusual smell = contamination or ratio
– No cream time or immediate skinning = usually heat issue
Quick field tests:
1. Paper test strip – apply small bead, check tack at 30 seconds
2. Knife test – cut sample, check cell structure (should be uniform fine cells)
3. Measure mix ratio by weight per second from each side
Anyone have other field diagnostic tips they rely on?
Working on a 40×80 metal building project in Tennessee (CZ 4A – mixed humid). Owner wants to convert it from agricultural to a climate-controlled shop/garage.
Plan is to spray closed cell foam directly on the metal roof deck and walls. I am concerned about the condensation plane.
With a metal roof, the roof deck gets extremely cold in winter. If I spray 2 inch of closed cell on the interior, is the dew point going to end up within the foam layer, or is 2 inch sufficient to keep the dew point inside the building?
Running the numbers with an online dew point calculator suggests I might need 3-4 inch on the roof to fully control condensation in CZ 4A. Can anyone confirm this from field experience?
Also: what is the typical adhesion like on painted or galvanized metal? Do you prime first?
Great question! Having worked in cold climates (Minnesota and Wisconsin) for 12 years, here are my top tips:
1. Substrate Temperature: Never spray on surfaces below 40F. Use a temp gun to verify surface temp, not just air temp.
2. Drum Temperature: Keep A and B components at 70-80F. Electric drum heaters and a well-insulated trailer are essential.
3. Cold Weather Formulas: Ask your distributor about winter-grade products with adjusted reactivity.
4. Dew Point Check: Ensure substrate temp is at least 5 degrees above dew point to prevent adhesion failure.
5. Thinner Lifts: In very cold conditions, apply in passes no thicker than 1 inch to prevent thermal runaway.
Hope this helps!
I ran solo for 6 years with a truck bed skid unit (Gusmer GH-2) and a 7500W generator. The CDL thing is real – stay under 26k GVWR. My Ford F-350 dually with an 8-ft flatbed skid setup stays just under that limit. Main challenge working solo is hose management – I built a wall-mounted retractable reel system in the bed that made a huge difference. DM me if you want photos of the setup. Also for generator sizing: the E-30i draws about 8-9kW at full load, so your 15kW should be fine.
Solo operator here in Georgia for 4 years. I went the enclosed 16-ft trailer route and never looked back. The van setups are cleaner but you lose drum storage and the ability to work in the elements. In the South we get afternoon thunderstorms constantly – having a full enclosed trailer means I never have to stop a job for weather. Generator-wise, I went with a Kubota diesel 12kW and it handles the E-30i fine.
Solo operator here in Georgia for 4 years. I went the enclosed 16-ft trailer route and never looked back. The van setups are cleaner but you lose drum storage and the ability to work in the elements. In the South we get afternoon thunderstorms constantly – having a full enclosed trailer means I never have to stop a job for weather. For generator sizing: a Kubota diesel 12kW handles the E-30i fine.
Great thread. One thing I will add about the solo CDL question – even under 26k you still need a DOT number if you cross state lines for work. Check your state regulations. Also worth mentioning: solo operators should budget for a helper on large jobs. I do 90% solo but I keep a reliable part-time guy on call for any job over 3000 sq ft. The efficiency gain on large jobs more than pays for his time.
Had an almost identical situation 2 years ago. Icynene Classic, same temps. Turned out to be a ventilation issue – the attic was too tight after sealing and the amine off-gassing had nowhere to go. We cut in two 4-inch passive vents and the smell was gone in 2 weeks. Check if the attic has proper air exchange after the spray. Open cell in a tight attic without mechanical ventilation can accumulate VOCs longer than expected.
This is more common than people talk about. I had a case go to small claims court – customer won $2,400 for remediation costs. The judge sided with them even though our application was within spec. My lawyer told me to ALWAYS include a contract clause about temporary off-gassing. I now use an odor disclosure form that has protected me twice since then. Happy to share the template if anyone wants it – just reply here.
Upgraded from H-25 to H-40 last year. For residential it was honestly overkill. Where the H-40 shines is large metal buildings where you need sustained output for 6-8 hours straight. If your commercial is mostly small buildouts, save the $8k and put it into better drum heaters. The H-25 will handle 95% of what most guys do.
Minnesota contractor here – cold starts are everything in our market. The H-40 has a larger heat exchanger which warms up faster AND holds temp better in sub-zero conditions. I lost a $15k job last January because my old H-25 could not maintain temp at -15F. If you are doing MN winters seriously, the extra $8k is absolutely worth it just for cold weather performance alone. The added output is a bonus.
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Having a nightmare job here. Installed 2 inch closed cell on the interior of OSB wall sheathing about 3 weeks ago. Customer called saying the foam is peeling away from the OSB in some spots.
Details:
– Product: Lapolla 4G HFO
– Temps during install: 55F substrate, 60F ambient
– Substrate was dry (moisture meter under 12%)
– No primer used
– Yield looked normal, cells looked good
The OSB was treated/pressure treated – could that be the issue? Lapolla tech line thinks it might be the preservative treatment reacting with the foam. Anyone dealt with delamination on treated OSB before?