Masonry Magazine November 2011 Page. 24
AIR BARRIERS AND INSULATION
Many older schools have found use in using CMU foam fill around band rooms, mechanical rooms, and even the restrooms.
The ratios get off from manufactures specifications. The following steps insure a proper CMU foam fill job has occurred:
1. The installer does a foam quality test before pumping into the wall.
2. Holes are drilled in no less than every other cell between horizontal bond beams.
3. When starting to foam fill, a hole is drilled at the top of the wall at the first few cells to get an average time of complete fill.
4. Fill the cell until foam begins to come out the following hole, then the hole is plugged temporarily until foam can be seen coming into the third cell.
CMU foam is specified worldwide for the high-performance and quick installation of the product.
5. Move to the third hole, and repeat Step 4, verifying consistent fill time for each cell.
6. Patch the drilled holes.
Retrofit with foam
RETROFITTING OLDER HOMES and buildings with CMU foam insulation is growing as owners want to decrease their energy bills and make the inside environment more comfortable. CMU foam can be injected into preexisting concrete blocks or air space cavities behind veneers. This product also is used for its sound reduction quality. Many older schools have found use in using CMU foam fill around band rooms, mechanical rooms, and even the restrooms. If you are looking for foam to retrofit stud walls, specific retro foams are available in the market for that. It is not recommended by many manufactures to use CMU foam fill for stud wall applications.
Become an installer
THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES with certain manufactures to become a certified installer. By adding this scope of work to your Division 4 bids and doing the installations yourself, you can increase your profits on each job that has CMU foam fill. IMAS Christopher Liner is national executive director of Polymaster. He can be reached at 800-580-3626 or chris@polymaster.com.