Foam insulation is a very important part of insulating various parts of your home, in order to make it as energy-efficient as possible. When talking about foam insulation some people picture the wrong thing in their minds. This is not foam like the material that is in the seat cushions of your couch and it is also not the foam that fills the pillows on your bed.
This type of foam is much more rigid; in fact it is commonly called rigid foam insulation or rigid foam boards. The material used to make this insulation is polystyrene. Polystyrene is a thermoplastic substance which just means that when it is heated it becomes a liquid and when it cools off it becomes a solid again. This property allows it to be molded into whatever shape is needed.
                               
There are two types of polystyrene foam insulation: Molded Expanded Polystyrene (MEPS) and Extruded Expanded Polystyrene (XEPS). You really don’t need to know all the technical differences other than the fact that XEPS is somewhat more expensive than MEPS and it also has a more consistent density. We are able to install either type, and can make a recommendation based on the characteristics of your home.

Rigid foam insulation can be used in a variety of places around the home:

• Roof – in fact, some rigid insulation really is quite rigid – enough so that a man can walk on it safely
• Foundation
• Overhead garage doors
• Water pipes
• Cathedral ceilings
• Walls – exterior walls can really be a problem with letting cool air-conditioned air out in the summer and allowing cold air into the heated house in the winter. Rigid boards of foam insulation can be cut to fit precisely between studs to make sure that doesn’t happen.

As you can see by the list above, the foam insulation used in each location would require a different shape. That is the big advantage of this rigid material; it can be formed to whatever shape is required.

A re-roofing is often a good time to consider upgrading the energy efficiency of your roof particularly if you have cathedral ceilings. The rafter cavities above the ceiling are sealed on both sides – the roof on the top and the finished ceiling surface on the bottom. One of those two surfaces has to be opened up in order to retrofit rigid foam insulation and if the roof is being torn off anyway that presents the perfect opportunity to solve two problems at once and not have to rip apart the ceiling from the inside. If your home is more than about 20 years old, odds are it is a good candidate for an energy efficiency upgrade.

Whenever we install polystyrene foam insulation over a ceiling we make sure that the interior side (the side that faces the ceiling) is covered with a minimum of ½ inch gypsum wallboard. This is to serve as an added layer of fire protection (and in fact is required by fire codes). Some homeowners that attempt this kind of work on their own are not aware of details such as that and end up with a completed project that is not only out of compliance but one that also puts their family at a greater risk of danger in case of a fire. We encourage you to have a professional handle a job such as this. All of our repair specialists are certified technicians and they are highly trained to analyze various heating and air conditioning situations. They will advise you on the best way to proceed and all of our work is backed up by our company’s reputation and warranties.

We our authorized dealers of all major brands: Trane, Carrier, American Standard, Lennox, Amana, Goodman, Payne, Bryant, York, Rheem, Rudd and many more.