"GREAT STUFF"

Posted by MiamiCuse on November 3, 2009, 10:48 am

I have a question on those foam sealant especially the GREAT STUFF
products.

First, I think those are basically for insulation and nothing else,
right?

Would you use it in places where no insulation is necessary, but you
still want to put up a water tight barrier?

For example, I have a 3" PVC pipe that exits the house below the slab
through the block wall (the block wall extends below the slab to at
least 24" below, don't really know how deep it goes have not got to
the bottom of it). Anyways I drilled a hole through the block wall
about 3"x3" for the pipe to pass. The hole is uneven and it's through
a hollow block wall. I don't need to insulate it since it's 18" below
my concrete slab, but I want to stop bugs, tree roots, rodents, or
rain runoffs from coming through it. I patched it with concrete mix
on the outside of the hole. But the entire hollowed space in between,
do I spray the cavity with this foam stuff?

Are there any fundamental differences between the Fireblock foam, door
and window foam, cracks and gaps foam and big gap foam?

There are many places in my block wall electricians have hollowed out
for recessed boxes. I am thinking of filling those with foam.
However since the wall is made of hollowed concrete blocks, the space
behind the hole is big, sometimes it extends above and below to the
voids of the adjacent blocks. Being in Miami I would like to insulate
best I can. What do you recommend be the most effective way to seal
these holes?

These small cans are expensive at $4-$7 a can. If I need larger
quantities, they don't sell them in garbage can sizes?

MC

Posted by RicodJour on November 3, 2009, 10:59 am

> I have a question on those foam sealant especially the GREAT STUFF
> products.
> First, I think those are basically for insulation and nothing else,
> right?
> Would you use it in places where no insulation is necessary, but you
> still want to put up a water tight barrier?
> For example, I have a 3" PVC pipe that exits the house below the slab
> through the block wall (the block wall extends below the slab to at
> least 24" below, don't really know how deep it goes have not got to
> the bottom of it). =A0Anyways I drilled a hole through the block wall
> about 3"x3" for the pipe to pass. =A0The hole is uneven and it's through
> a hollow block wall. =A0I don't need to insulate it since it's 18" below
> my concrete slab, but I want to stop bugs, tree roots, rodents, or
> rain runoffs from coming through it. =A0I patched it with concrete mix
> on the outside of the hole. =A0But the entire hollowed space in between,
> do I spray the cavity with this foam stuff?
> Are there any fundamental differences between the Fireblock foam, door
> and window foam, cracks and gaps foam and big gap foam?
> There are many places in my block wall electricians have hollowed out
> for recessed boxes. =A0I am thinking of filling those with foam.
> However since the wall is made of hollowed concrete blocks, the space
> behind the hole is big, sometimes it extends above and below to the
> voids of the adjacent blocks. =A0Being in Miami I would like to insulate
> best I can. =A0What do you recommend be the most effective way to seal
> these holes?
> These small cans are expensive at $4-$7 a can. =A0If I need larger
> quantities, they don't sell them in garbage can sizes?
> MC

Bugs, particularly ants and termites, love eating the foam for some
reason. You don't have ants or termites in your area, do you? Yes?
Below grade is a bad idea. DAGS.

R

Posted by DD_BobK on November 3, 2009, 11:44 am

MC-

I would have shoved some hardware cloth into the cavity and filled
with cementious material. Maybe sleeved the block by dry packing the
next 1/2 sized pipe in place and then caulked the resulting annual
gap.

Those canned foams are ok for some uses but they aren't cheap, hard
(impossible?) to re-use and not very strong. One trick to discourage
rodents is to embed 1/4" hardware cloth in the foam. The little
critters give up & look elsewhere.

Bugs don't "eat it" per se but they do eat "chew" into it, burrow,
nest, etc. Its a decent weather barrier (if covered) but cannot
survive the sustained attack from animals. I tend to consider more
like very soft wood & only use it were wood is appropriate (a bit
conservative)

I have drain plumbing penetrations through the sills of my 1930's
house that have been filled with a simple cement / sand mix ...still
working just fine. If there are small gaps, I fill with latex or
epoxy caulk to limit air infiltration and insect access.

Hilti makes a more professional gun type foam applicator that uses
sightly bigger cans and is somewhat cheaper per in^3.

cheers
Bob

Posted by on November 3, 2009, 4:04 pm

wrote:

> One trick to discourage
>rodents is to embed 1/4" hardware cloth in the foam. The little
>critters give up & look elsewhere.

"Discourage" is the right word. A motivated rat will chew right
through hardware cloth.
Usually rats chew to get out and then come back in that way once they
establish the route.

Posted by Red Green on November 3, 2009, 7:27 pm

> wrote:
>

>> One trick to discourage
>>rodents is to embed 1/4" hardware cloth in the foam. The little
>>critters give up & look elsewhere.

>
> "Discourage" is the right word. A motivated rat will chew right
> through hardware cloth.
> Usually rats chew to get out and then come back in that way once they
> establish the route.

Enough with the political comments :-)

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