7 Costly Insulation Mistakes to Avoid

Every one of us hates making mistakes, and costly ones are the worst! They’re the most embarrassing, the most expensive, and the hardest to fix.

Here are the 7 Costly Mistakes that are easy to avoid once you know how.

Focusing Just on R-Value

We all see R-value comparisons time and time again. It's hypnotic. It can easily sway you to going back to comparing apples to oranges.

But, there's more to insulation performance than just R-value.

Keep that in mind, and ask how the insulation performs against air leaks, moisture, mold, and pests.

Air leaks alone count for up to 40% of energy wasted in heating and cooling.

So, stopping air leaks is vital and it has nothing to do with R-value.

Mistaking Cheapness for Good Value

When did the confusion start?

Homes are definitely not cheap. Energy is no longer cheap and won't be for at least 50 years. So, why do we expect the very things that control and contain this energy in our homes and buildings to be cheap?

It must be that energy was once so inexpensive. Customers tell us every day about how their builder used no insulation, or the cheapest possible. Imagine fiberglass in a house next to the ocean where the wind whips the spray through the wood and into the insulation!

At the time, the cheaper insulation choices offset only a small cost of energy so it made sense. Back then, energy was cheap. Therefore a larger investment in insulation would take longer to get back in energy savings.

Plus, America is pretty late to the green party so very few people cared if a house was energy efficient or not.

Now people are paying premiums for energy efficiency (up to $20 in home value for every $1 in energy savings).

Do your insulation once and do it right. It's not something you see every day and once the drywall is up you won't want to take it back down.

Misunderstanding Payback Periods

This is a huge one. If someone thinks 2 years is too long to get money back, then they’re turning down a 50% return on her or his money.

Now, investments that return 50% every year are EXTREMELY RARE and frankly quite exotic. The S&P used to average 8%. Homes used to gain 3% a year. So a 50% return is incredible.

The truth is a 50% return on an investment in your building's insulation is possible. But let's look at other common scenarios:

Even if it took 10 years to pay for itself (and it often takes less), investing in the right insulation outperforms most other investments out there.

Too bad it's a limited amount of money you can, or need to, put into your home's insulation. And you're not really investing in insulation, you're investing in avoiding energy costs and your home's comfort and value.

There's another thing to think about here. It's important to say the right insulation. Most people add insulation based on R-value and never get any savings. Why?

Air and moisture lower the cheaper insulation's ability to control Conduction. And we know that the cheaper insulation options can't stop the convection that is already undercutting their performance.

Adding more of them isn't going to stop the problems plaguing them! That's like adding more wood to the fire.

Forgetting About Your Family’s Safety

It’s not surprising that we suspend our disbelief at times.

Everywhere we look we find examples of things going sideways. But if we only operated from fear we’d never get anything done.

You see, there is a very real problem that’s affecting the insulation industry right now.

The majority of people aren’t being told they need to leave their home for 23-72 hours when a spray foam insulation contractor uses a high pressure trailer. That means their family is being exposed to above OSHA safe levels of airborne MDIs. That’s because the high pressures they use to push the chemicals from the trailer to the job site shove a huge amount of chemicals into the air.

Why aren’t they told?

Because it makes the contractor’s sale MUCH harder. It means you can’t be there when the contractor is spraying in your home (aka hotel stays and inconvenience) for 23-72 hours. Plus, you have strangers in your home while you’re not there.

But very few people are warned. That’s a dangerous mistake.

If you use low pressure spray foam insulation kits (Foam it Green) you don’t need to leave your home. You can be back in the sprayed area in an hour. That’s a huge difference.

And Foam it Green has an added benefit.

It's green color indicates when it’s mixed properly so that you know the job is done right. This is a big advantage over most spray foam insulation where there have been problems with leaving uncured foam in people’s walls and calling it a day.

Misunderstanding Time & Effort

You work hard. Your time and energy are vital to all you do.

You want to make the most of it, and frankly, having someone install spray foam insulation for you sounds pretty good. After all, now you have time you can use on something else.

But, you might just thinking about the day it gets installed.

Unfortunately, that’s not the half of it. Not even close.

Here is what your to-do list will look like:

• Identify companies for bids.
• Wait for when their schedule permits them come out.
• Let them (a stranger) in so they can see the place and know what they’re bidding on.
• Ask tons of questions to fully understand what you’re being quoted.
• Wait for the bids, and maybe chase them to finally get it to you.
• Check for references, licenses and insurance.
• Read 7 pages of legalese before you even compare bids.
• Clean up your home and secure the rooms you don’t want strangers inside.
• Take time off of work to let them in to do the spraying.
• Find some other place to live for 23-72 hours.
• Pack up your family to live 23-72 hours outside of your home…They did warn you about that, right?
• Come home and see what’s been done (how will you know if it's done right?).

Yikes. This is no longer quick. And it’s definitely not easy.

We’re talking days turning into weeks. We’re talking about a lot of researching, thinking, talking, learning, debating, moving, packing, cleaning, and hoping.

All of that supposed "convenience" is pretend.

Sure you could just choose someone at random or ignore your responsibility to do due diligence before you sign a contract. You could also just fill your walls with newspapers.

But that’s not you. You’re looking at options for spray foam insulation because you’re looking for the right way so you get outstanding results. So don’t be fooled by how easy it seems to have a spray foam contractor do it.

With Foam it Green, you can be done in just hours and it can be much easier than you ever thought possible.

Look at the customer comments here to see that this is a very common experience. You can save lots of time and effort just by listening to others to see how quick and easy spray foam insulation can be.

Wanting to Avoid Mistakes

This one is ingrained in us from childhood. In school, a mistake costs you grades. Most of us are taught to never make mistakes.

That’s not a very good lesson. Why?

Because to learn, do, or gain anything new we need to open ourselves up to make some mistakes.

When you want to learn tennis or golf, do you go from zero to master? No. You hit the ball into the net tens of thousands of times. You slice and hook your way through the course. Does this sounds frustrating to you?

If so, you’re not alone. It’s very common not to want to make a mistake.

But learning and growing is what makes you great.

The best answer is to try to avoid costly mistakes. You get to learn, do lots of things, have fun, and avoid most of the worst pitfalls.

So what’s this have to do with insulation?

It’s easy. You don’t want to make a costly mistake when you’re choosing insulation.

Insulating can be as easy as one and done. Or it can be something that needs to be fixed. You want to avoid that.

Just don’t confuse making a bad mistake with trying something new.

Big mistakes often come from relying on old or incorrect information. Or using old ways of doing things that no longer bear fruit.

Be 100% aware that trying something new like using Foam it Green spray foam insulation kits for the first time may be in your “new to me” zone. That’s 100% to be expected.

Here is what Scott Irving said about his first time using Foam it Green:

"Your product was great! The set up was simple and the directions explained how and why which for me made the job go even faster. I sprayed the interior of my house walls and ceilings. I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome. And our city building inspector was happy as well when I showed him the Product Data Sheet!"

Over 25,000 others have done it for the first time too. So it’s a tried and true system that yields fantastic fruits.

Choosing Based Only on Price

In a world of thinking R-values are king, and confusion between options, most people default to price.

That's a disaster.

Why? Because the lowest price choices are often the very sources of the problems people are trying to solve.

Mold, moisture, high energy bills, noises, rodents and insects, drafts, allergies, safety, convenience, peace of mind. These are the problems people want to solve with insulation.

When they choose on price it has nothing to do with addressing any of these problems.

What's the net result? A huge waste of money and they're no closer to solving the problem that's driving them to action in the first place. Yikes.

Base your decision on avoiding the 7 costly mistakes above. We’re here to help every step of the way.

Over 25,000 others have used Foam it Green for the first time too. This is a tried and true system that yields fantastic results. If you’re ready to go for it, figure out what you need, or Learn More.