Commercial Insulation Projects

Introduction

As Government focus on cavity wall insulation shifts to ‘hard to treat’ homes RetroFoam UK Ltd offer an affordable solution to the problems created by timber frame construction dwellings for local authorities, housing associations and house builders.

Whether it is a single home or housing scheme we aim to offer the same attention to detail, a prompt reliable service and a premium quality product to cover all your requirements.

RetroFoam™ is a world leading next generation foam insulation specifically designed to provide cavity wall insulation in buildings of timber frame construction where it is injected into the stud cavity rather than the cavity between the internal timber frame and the external wall. The unique formulation allows its application even when other insulation products such as mineral wool exist.

The Installation Process

There are three separate parts to the raw product that fuse together to create the foam, compressed air, resin and a foaming agent.

The fusing process takes place via a foaming gun at a pressure of around 50psi creating a mix, of shaving foam consistency, which is injected into the void and cures to form the finished insulation product. Importantly the foam does not expand after fusing at the gun unlike DIY gap filling foams and spray applied polyurethane foams ensuring that no additional pressure is placed on the internal plasterboard of the properties during the installation process.

The process begins by drilling 18mm diameter holes through the external blockwork/brickwork and through the rear of the timber kit at the top and base of every stud bay.

All vapour barriers are left intact. The foam is injected and over a 72 hour period cures to become a rigid insulation which is completely inert and will last the lifetime of the building.

If the foam is installed on external walls from within the building, such as where timber cladding exists, the holes are larger discs, which allow us to patch the vapour barrier correctly then refit the disc and finish with a plaster skim.

However it is fair to say that the preference, where practical, is always to install from the outside of the building. Our trained technicians take great care during the installation process to ensure the stud void is filled completely maximising the insulations effectiveness. The holes drilled to facilitate the install process are slightly larger than the injection nozzle itself which allows back-pressure from a full stud void to go into the cavity thus significantly reducing the risk of blowing off plasterboard.

These holes are then cleaned after the install to reduce the risk of foam crossing the cavity. We randomly carry out thermal imaging of our installations as part of our own quality assurance.

Once the installation is complete, all holes are filled and patched to best match the existing building finish and the site is cleaned up.

We aim to leave the site in the same condition as it was when we arrived. When working internally within a home great care is taken to protect the home. We use dust sheets in the working areas and polythene runners are laid out from the entrance door to the work area.

If working on internal stud partitions all holes are filled using a deep-gap filler.