house insulation question...

[yellowjacket]

Hey guys... figure someone one here may have expieriences with house insulation.

Im building a new home....builder is putting r21 batts in the walls.

Or i can upgrade to the sprayed in insulation.the kind that goes on wet,and fills the cavities between the studs.after a week it dries and can be covered. It is 1500 more for the house for this type.builder says the r value is the same but it performs better.which im sure it does. 1500 isent very much in my mind if it does a better job.

But then my neighbor came over and told me what he has in his wals.i think he called it icing(?) .it looks like sprayed on foam,only about half inchs worth,then batts over that. It looks impressive. Builder dident give me that option but im curious.

Any expeirience on here? Idk if it matters,but house is 2x6 with brick exterior.

Thanks for any advice.

[tbshakie]

do the spray in foam insulation. worth every penny. it seals up all the little cracks that bats miss. do this and it will be the tightest house you will ever own.

my sister did the 2 inches of spray foam and then the bats (they wouldnt offer full foam). the builder said (after the fact) that this was the first time anyone sprung for the foam insulation and that house was the tightest house they had ever built.

[93 Krawler]

I don't know about full foam. I was always told there should be an air space because something solid transmits hot/cold. They tell you not to cram too much insulation in the walls for the same reason. I don't know if the foam transmits like that or not. If it doesn't, then you would have one quite, draft free house.

[yellowjacket]

So the icing is actually called icenene i just found out.and itslike a hard foam when done. So i assume if u have 1 inchs worth put in then the batts that go over it have to be squished a bit..im not sure. If a 2x6 wall is 5.5, and the foam is 1, then you have 4.5 available..
So is the second type i mentioned worth the coin? It looks like regular insulation.blown in wet. And they kind of scrape it flush with the studs.

[tbshakie]

this stuff? http://www.icynene.com/videos-testimonials-demonstrations-more

I still think spray in foam is worth the money.