Wall spray foam insulation in Blackfalds is applied where a wall is open, which on this stock means during a renovation, a basement development or a build. It is not usually the first thing worth doing to a house here, and that is worth saying before anybody prices it.
Walls that are already insulated to a real standard
The walls in a house built here in the last twenty years have insulation between the studs, a vapour control on the warm side and modern sheathing. They are not the weak point. Opening a sound wall to improve it is rarely justified on its own, and anybody quoting a whole-house wall job on this stock should be asked what problem it is solving. The honest answer on most of these Blackfalds houses is that the walls are fine and the junctions are not, and that is a cheaper answer than the one people expect to be given.
Where a wall in a young house actually leaks
Not through the middle of the cavity. It leaks at the top plate where the wall meets the ceiling plane, at the bottom where it meets the floor system, around windows where the gap was filled with something that has shrunk, and at every electrical box and penetration. Those are air paths rather than resistance problems, and they are exactly what a sprayed application closes when a wall happens to be open.
The exterior corner, and the wall that meets a garage
Two specific walls in these houses are worth more attention than the rest. The corner where two exterior walls meet is a genuine cold spot, because it has more exterior surface per unit of room and frequently a stack of framing that leaves little space for insulation. And the wall between the house and an attached garage is an exterior wall doing a separation job as well, which makes it the one wall in the house always worth treating properly when it is opened.
Only worth doing when the wall is already open
That is the practical rule here. During a basement development, a renovation, a window replacement or a build, the cavity is accessible and the marginal cost of doing it properly is small. Outside those moments, opening a finished wall in a young house to insulate it is money that would do more at the band, the ceiling plane or the garage. Being told that saves an owner from the largest version of a job they did not need.
Wall Spray Foam Insulation Blackfalds: Common Questions
Should we do the walls? On a house this age, usually only when they are open for another reason.
Where do these walls actually leak? The top plate, the floor junction, around windows, and at penetrations. Not the middle of the cavity.
Is any wall always worth it? The one shared with an attached garage, because it is doing two jobs at once.
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