I get a lot of ice build-up on my roof and have been told that I don’t have enough insulation in my attic. How can I add spray foam insulation to help that?
One of the biggest causes of ice build-up on a house’s eaves is leakage of warm air into the attic space. Spray foam insulation’s key feature is its ability to effectively seal against this leakage. Theoretically, it would be the ideal product for the attic. In practice, there are some logistical and cost issues. First, as discussed above, spray foam insulation must be applied directly to a hard surface, it cannot be ‘blown in’ atop another insulating product. As such, in any attic space with existing insulation, that material must be completely removed prior to installing spray foam. The cost of this removal can be prohibitive, though in many retrofit situations, the existing insulation contains asbestos and must be removed regardless. Second, spray foam insulation is expensive. At R-6 per inch, to effectively insulate an attic to R-40, you would need almost 7 inches. For most, the cost would be prohibitive. However, a very successful and effective compromise is to put a base layer of
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