A good part of Medicine Hat's older multi-unit stock is masonry or block rather than wood frame, and that removes the assumption most insulation advice is built on. Multi-family spray foam insulation in Medicine Hat frequently starts with the fact that there is no cavity to fill.
No cavity means the insulation has to be applied, not inserted
Batt and blown products need a space to occupy. A solid masonry wall does not have one, so insulating it means building a new layer against the existing wall on one side or the other. Applied on the interior face, closed cell foam is both the insulation and the vapour control in a single layer, which matters on a solid wall because getting a separate sheet continuous against masonry is difficult and the consequences of failing are hidden inside the assembly.
Solid walls behave differently through a hot summer
Masonry stores heat. Through a bright Medicine Hat summer the wall absorbs through the day and releases into the building through the evening, so the units are still warming up after the sun has gone. Insulating on the interior face separates the living space from that mass, which changes the building's behaviour markedly in July as well as January.
Losing floor area, and being straight about it
Insulating a solid wall from inside takes room. It is a small amount per wall and it is real, and in a compact apartment it has to be mentioned before the work rather than discovered during it. On buildings where interior space is at a premium that trade-off is the actual decision, and it belongs in the conversation up front.
Windows, lintels and the parts that stay cold
On a solid-wall building the openings are where the trouble concentrates - the lintel over each window, the reveal at the sides, the sill. They stay cold when the wall around them has been improved, and if they are not treated they become the new condensation point. Improving a wall and ignoring its openings can move a problem rather than solve it.
Cheap heat paid for a lot of buildings that were never sealed
This city's long history of inexpensive natural gas shaped how its buildings were put together. When heat costs little there is not much pressure to seal an envelope, so a great deal of the multi-family stock here was built to a standard that made economic sense at the time and does not now. The buildings are sound; the assumption underneath them changed. For an owner that is genuinely good news, because it means the easy gains have not already been taken and the same work that is marginal on a tight building is straightforward here.
Multi-family Spray Foam Insulation Medicine Hat: Common Questions
How is a solid masonry wall insulated at all? By building an insulating layer against it rather than filling a cavity that does not exist. Applied to the interior face, foam is the insulation and the vapour control in one layer.
Does it help in summer? Noticeably. Masonry stores heat all day and releases it into the units in the evening; insulating on the inside separates the living space from that mass.
Will it take space out of the suite? A small amount, and that has to be said before the work rather than found during it. In a compact apartment it is often the real decision.
Size it with the R-value calculator, then get a free Medicine Hat quote. More on Multi-family Spray Foam Insulation Alberta.