Spray Foam Insulation handy advice

[Gretchen]

Has anyone self spray foam insulated their boat? And have any handy hints or advice? Like what mask/goggles did you use? How long before you could use the room? Anything go wrong that could have been avoided? I’ve been imagining an Ibiza Foam Party.

This is being tackled this weekend. Have googled, YouTubed as much as possible but just wondered if there’s anything we’ve missed and would like some first hand input and advice.

We are going to go under the water line and will do roof too including wheel house.

Dutch Barge renovation project

[Simpo Two]

Wouldn't it be easier and much less messy to use Rockwool?

[Gretchen]

Any pinprick holes will be sealed with the foam, any water wouldn’t do the Rockwool much good and as she’s over 100 years old and will be a liveaboard the investment should be worth it for the insulation alone. Hopefully.

[PurpleFox]

I had it done on an industrial building, underside of the roof where any other type of insulation would have been prone to voids and condensation which would have meant cross ventilation that would have been very difficult.

I think for a barge it's probably the ideal solution for similar reasons, no voids between the insulation and Hull which could trap moisture.

Just make sure you have all your fixings in place for anything that might need fixing back to the Hull as you cannot get much of a fixing in the cured foam. Having said that I did find a fixing that was ideal for securing cables, like a big plastic corkscrew. I had all my ceiling hangers secured to the roof slab first (with rubber washers to stop the thermal bridging)

The overspray is a nightmare so make sure everything is well masked.

Are you doing it yourself ? I had a company in and it took them three days. The guy doing it had a full suit on with air pumped to the mask via a massive umbilical chord from his van outside which had a compressor in it. No one could use that floor of the building for a day or so which wasn't really an issue for me.

Good luck!