So the weather is about to take a several-month long turn into the below-freezing realm. In preparation, I’ve been working on buttoning up the house for winter. Given what I’ve learned since our energy audit last year, I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for a good way to insulate the rim-joists around our crawlspaces.
I really don’t like the sound of the “recommended” DIY method, known as cut-and-cobble. It seems like it would work, but that’s an awful lot of work when you have to cut out each chunk of foamboard then crawl in and place it. Worse yet, it doesn’t actually seal out air, you have to use more expanding-foam insulation around the edges to get the air sealed out.
It’d be cheap, probably $150 for the whole job, but it would be lots of absolutely miserable work.
That’s why I was pretty excited to see a new spray-foam product in my local home-improvement store.
This stuff looks like pro-grade two-part closed cell spray foam, just in “prosumer” sized tanks. The same rim-joist job would cost $275 (on sale!) which is quite a bit more, but you could get it all done at once, seal and insulate. Plus, it’s got a higher R-value than regular pink foam-board (R7 vs. R5 @ 1″) Sounds like it’s just what I need.
One problem, and that’s the application temperature. It has to be applied above 75°F, which means that it’ll have to be a summertime job.
