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Sure. Yet another good product that got ditched principally because of hysteria over "chemicals".
I talked to an environmental toxicologist one day and asked him why people were getting sick in UFFI-insulated homes, since it clearly wasn't the formaldehyde (otherwise, the same people would keel over the second they set foot in a new car!). He said that the studies he'd seen pointed mostly to mold. Lots of dumb retrofit installations puncturing the weather barrier of the house and permitting the foam to get wet, plus lots of urea to provide the organisms with a nitrogen source, and boom- you get a bloomin' aspergillus farm.
As to icynene: like any product, it's only good if it's installed correctly. Read my own thread to see the nightmare I went through with it. But on the whole I don't regret using it- the thermal performance is astounding. I greatly regret my choice of installer, though!
I'm not sure UFFI was a good product. My previous house had it installed and I ripped it out during the course of my remodelling. I discovered that the material "shrunk" on the sides such that there was a 1/4" gap on both sides and front-to-back. Plenty of room for air infiltration. Plus there were the usual problems of retro-fit installation where some stud bays weren't completely filled to the top. In some of the corners, some bays weren't filled at all due to diagonal let-in bracing.
Perhaps Icyene won't have these issues?
They have been using Icynene in canada for 30 years. I like the icynene's open cell structure better than the closed cell foam. The closed cell is hard so if/when the building and framing moves, the foam will pull away. The icynene is more flexible and can move some with the framing. The R isn't as high with the icynene but long term I think the air seal is better. Also closed cell cost quite a bit more.
"The closed cell is hard so if/when the building and framing moves, the foam will pull away."I'll count that as a myth. Here is why -
With poly closed cell foam the building is FAAR LESS likely to move in the first place. I have worked around plenty of it and I hate to think of ever trying to jack and straighten a house AFTER it had been foameed with the closed cell foam.Also -
If it broke away that easy, there is a problem with the installer or the install conditions. Polyurethene foam has one of the strongest bonds I have ever worked with.
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Air gaps are bad, but when compared to the empty or cardboard-filled stud cavities in my own house, I think I'd prefer the UFFI- provided that it wasn't the "mark of death" on a home purchase as far as mortgaging etc. due to the public's chemophobia! Remember that UFFI was mostly used in retrofit applications on houses lacking any significant insulation in the walls, without ripping down interior or exterior finishes. Though there are some slow-rise modern foam formulations for this type of retrofit, they're very expensive. The only other alternative is blown-in cellulose (i.e. via big holes) or a demo/remodel with something else.