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Mineral wool insulation in an atticFoam Insulating Board Identification
Types & Brands of Foam Board Building Insulation

Foam insulating board properties, types:

This article illustrates and describes properties of various types of foam board building insulation.

We give advice to owners and inspectors regarding the R-values, fire safety, insect resistance, and mold resistance of foam building insulation products.

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

Solid Foam Product Insulating Products - Rigid Polystyrene, Polyurethane, Polyisocyanurate Insulation Characteristics

solid foam insulating  board

We provide photographs and descriptive text of asbestos insulation and other asbestos-containing products to permit identification of definite, probable, or possible asbestos materials in buildings.

Solid Foam Product Insulating Products - Rigid Polystyrene, Polyurethane, Polyisocyanurate Insulation products will not contain asbestos fibers and most of these products are rather mold resistant, possibly because of their chemistry or because closed-cell foam insulations simply do no take up and hold the moisture that is required for active mold growth on or in building insulations or surfaces.

See MOLD in FOAM INSULATION and also MOLD RESISTANCE of FOAM INSULATION for details about mold growth on or in foam building insulation products.

What are the Insulation R-Values of Foam Insulation Boards?

EPS Expanded polystyrene insulating board (C) Daniel Friedman

Foam insulation sprayed in a crawl space - this is not mold - Daniel Friedman 04-11-01

Celotex Tuff-R foam insulating board (C) InspectApedia.com  Celotex Thermax TM Insulating board  (C) InspectApedia.com JW

Owens Corning pink extruded polystyrene foam insulating board (C) Daniel Friedman Owens Corning pink extruded polystyrene foam insulating board (C) Daniel Friedman

See INSULATION R-VALUES & PROPERTIES for R-value and other properties of nearly all historic insulating materials as well as contemporary building insulation products. [ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook.]

To compare insulating material R-values see our INSULATION R-VALUES & PROPERTIES

Also see MOLD in FOAM INSULATION, RESISTANCE, see Mold On Foam Insulation for a discussion of when and why we find mold growth on foam insulating materials like foam board and air handler foam insulating board.

Fire Safety and Foam Insulation Board

Polystyrene insulating foam board © Daniel Friedman

Watch out: Foam insulation board should not be left exposed in building interiors.

Details are at FIRE PROTECTION FOR FOAM BOARD INSULATION. Excerpts are just below.

While many modern foam insulating products do not themselves readily support combustion (that is they don't catch fire and burn alone) they may give off thick acrid or toxic black smoke in a fire, making it difficult to safely exit the burning building.

In the photograph above, foam insulating board is shown on a garage ceiling below a second floor bedroom - this material should have been covered with fire rated drywall to meet local building code specifications for fire safety.

 




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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2020-09-13 by CarlosA -

RE-posting:

Carlos A. said:
Hi,
I acquired an apartment and te previous owner left a tile of insulating foam in the kitchen. This was later used by a contractor to help to maintain in place a sink, and cut it in pieces with a saw. I didn't know the material and I wonder if it could contain asbestos, making that decision of cutting it a real mess. Should I be worried?
Thank you very much.


This Q&A were posted originally at ASBESTOS CEILING TILES https://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/Asbestos_Ceiling_Tiles.php


Moderator reply:

Carlos

That looks like pink styrofoam type foam board.

Insulating foam board will not normally contain asbestos.

See details at FOAM BOARD INSULATION TYPES inspectapedia.com/insulation/Foam_Board_Insulation.php

On 2016-12-29 by (mod)

Dennis

Under concrete and with at least 1 1/2" inches of concrete between the PEX and the foam board, no foam board or its facing will have any detectable odor, offgassing or similar effects on the upper components in the system.

I recently chopped through a 6-inch (and more) concrete slab to examine and remove insulating foam board as part of a building repair.

There was no reaction between the concrete and the foam board, though I did notice a surprising amount of mechanical damage to the foam board by the weight and movement of foot traffic by workers during installation of the slab. I'd not worry about the felt facing;

Details of the abandonment of this failed in-floor radiant heat system are at RADIANT HEAT MISTAKES

On 2016-12-29 by dennis

can i use polyiso foam board under my six inch concrete floor if it has a black felt facing? using pex pipe three & onehalf inches above the insulation board. will the concrete & black felt facing cause an unwanted chemical reaction such as unwanted fumes? also wiil the water from the concrete cause any damage to the foam board with felt face & no foil facing on it? Thank You


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