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Installing Spray Foam in the Winter

AVOIDING ISSUES CAUSED BY THE COLD

In a recent post, we talked about avoiding roofing projects in the dead of winter or dog days of summer. The hot and cold are bad for your equipment, your crew, and they tend to slow projects down. Let’s look at extreme weather issues specifically related to spray foam.

Cold Weather Application

Applying standard spray foam in the coldest days of winter is generally not a good idea. As the air gets colder, the material in the drums gets colder, the material in the hoses gets colder, and it isn’t delivered to the spray gun properly to get a good mixture of material. This cold weather means the foam is delivered out of proportion, in addition to the foam not setting up correctly as it is too cold. There are ways around cold weather as long as it isn’t too extreme: drum warmers, foam made for cold weather application, or working only when the sun has warmed up the roof. Sometimes all three of these methods are required for cold weather application. Bottom line, Applying spray foam in the winter can be a hassle.

installing spray foam
One issue with roofing in hot weather is staying cool inside all the necessary safety gear.

Heating Up

In contrast, applying spray foam in the hottest days of summer can cause other types of problems. The hot weather can heat up the material and cause it to set up on the roof too rapidly, and therefore it isn’t a uniform and even setting up process. The material can flow too quickly through the hoses if they reach extreme temperatures. Hot weather is not nearly as much of a threat as cold weather, but there are some days where it is simply too hot and the foam cannot be properly installed.

Taking Care of the Crew

Another consideration to keep in mind is the welfare of the workers on the roof. Extreme heat and cold both have adverse effects on worker safety, energy, effectiveness, and accuracy. The human element cannot be overestimated, as spray foam can’t install itself. It takes people, and people need to be in the right conditions to work properly.

Conclusion

Spray foam is no different than any other roofing system when it comes to temperature concerns. Extremely hot and cold temperatures can inhibit proper installation of the material. Spray foam, however, has some solutions to work around bad weather. Even with these solutions, there are some cases where it simply cannot be installed.

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