[Cob] icynene

[Marlin]

We used icynene on a retrofit project down in Illinois (Underwood Gardens seed company) to insulate under a hollow uninsulated roof. I was working on other parts of the building but did help some. The final decision to use it came down to my business partner, at the time, and he had heard of it and liked what he heard. A contractor comes out with a big trailer and blows it in (more below)

To my understanding it's starch/water/veggie at it's base. The curious thing is that it's so benign (reportedly) and yet has many properties of expandable styrofoam. We didn't need to setup any venting system on the roof as it stuck to the underside of both the wood and metal roofing and effectively sealed it up (a real bonus). The guy who sprayed it in took a bite out of it to show us how non-toxic it was (After it dried).

It expands like 100 to 1 or something as areas where he got too much sprayed on it hung down like stalagtites for a foot or two. So he just walks around and sprays it against the surface of the roof and just lets it 'grow'. Then within an hour or so he cuts off the excess hanging below the roof beams so a ceiling can be installed.....

The downside (besides the lack of local reproducibility - it's high tech I believe, seemed to be) is that it's pretty expensive. I wish I could remember what they paid for the roofing portion but it was many thousands of dollars (3-4 ?) for a 800 sq. ft. barn. But the labor savings in the goofy roof/vent situation and the sealing effect of the icynene expansion into all the cracks made it the choice for that situation.

Would I do it, recommend it? Probably not but it appeared to work as advertised. Wish I had more data on R values and exact costs (look it up on the net I guess). The excess he cut off we stuffed in some hollow floors and such as it dries to this foamy, light consistency and he cut off a great deal of it (which they paid for too!$) as it appears impossible to get it even without cutting it flat ....maybe this group would like a bunch of stalagtites (mites?) hanging from their ceiling : )

Best

Marlin



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-----Original Message-----
From:     Mary Hooper <mjhooper at trccomputing.com>
Sent:     Wed, 25 Feb 2004 08:49:28 -0500
To:       "Copper Harding" <copperharding at yahoo.com>;<coblist at deatech.com>
Subject:  Re: [Cob] icynene

What is this stuff made of? I've not heard of it before. One thing I try to
think of in this most environmentally destructive 21st century is what
things are made of and what happens to the people and the environment where
products are manufactured. I kind of think, from the name, that that is a
consideration here. Thanks for any info. Mary
**************************************

y  Does anyone> have any experience with icynene insulation and cob?
> It has good R-values and is more mouldable than your
> regular insulation.  It says that it will stick to
> metal - which might be a good choice with a metal roof
> on a cob cottage.  >
> Just thinking,
>
> Thanks,
>
> Copper
>
> ==== > Ms. Copper Harding
>
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