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.

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

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?

• Expanded, extruded, and cut bead polystyrene insulation products (shown above) have an R-value of about 4.0 per inch of thickness. Typical exterior foam board building insulation sheets have an R-value of 2.64 per inch.
  
  See POLYSTYRENE FOAM INSULATION for details.
• Icynene foam, applied as a spray in insulation retrofits.
  
  See ICYNENE FOAM SPRAY INSULATION for details.

• Expanded polyurethane building insulation products have an R-value of about 5.0 per inch of thickness.
  
  See URETHANE FOAM Deterioration, Outgassing for a discussion of foam board outgassing and R-value deterioration.
• Expanded polyurethane insulation expanded using the refrigerant gas has an R-value of about 6.25 per inch.
  
  See URETHANE FOAM Deterioration, Outgassing for a discussion of foam board outgassing and R-value deterioration.

 

• Polyisocyanurate insulation products (shown above) have an R-value of about 7.04 per inch. Shown above, first photo: Celotex Super TUFF-R polyisocyanurate foam board insulation. Second Photo: Celotex Thermax insulating sheathing, also a polyisocyanurate foam product.
  
  See POLYISOCYANURATE FOAM BOARD for a description of these insulating sheathing products.
  
  See CELOTEX ASBESTOS PRODUCTS for a reader question about possible asbestos content in some versions of this product.
  Polyisocyanurate foam is also used in spray-in-place foam insulating applications.
  
  Also see ICYNENE FOAM SPRAY INSULATION for more details.

• Polystyrene insulating board, typically referred to as Extruded Polystyrene (shown above)
  
  See POLYSTYRENE FOAM INSULATION for details

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

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 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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Continue reading at FIRE PROTECTION FOR FOAM BOARD INSULATION or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• FOAM INSULATION PRODUCTS & PROPERTIES
  • FIRE PROTECTION FOR FOAM BOARD INSULATION
  • FOAM BOARD INSULATION TYPES
  • FOAM SPRAY INSULATION TYPES
  • FOAM INSULATION & INSECTS
  • ICYNENE FOAM SPRAY INSULATION
  • MOLD in FOAM INSULATION
  • PERLITE INSULATION
  • PHENOLIC FOAM INSULATION
  • POLYISOCYANURATE FOAM BOARD
  • POLYISOCYANURATE FOAM and IAQ
  • POLYISOCYANURATE FOAM BELOW SLABS
  • POLYSTYRENE FOAM INSULATION
  • RIGID FOAM USE INDOORS
  • SLAB INSULATION, RADIANT / PASSIVE SOLAR
  • STRESS SKIN / STRUCTURAL INSULATED PANELS (SIPs)
  • UREA FORMALDEHYDE FOAM INSULATION, UFFI
  • URETHANE FOAM INSULATION

Suggested citation for this web page

FOAM BOARD INSULATION TYPES at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to BUILDING INSULATION

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