LESLIE: Phillip in Arizona has a question about insulation when building new house. What are you working on?
PHILLIP: I’m looking – be building a house here in about a month.
TOM: Congratulations. That’s exciting.
PHILLIP: And I’ve got a question on – thank you – on the house wraps.
TOM: OK.
PHILLIP: I know there’s aluminum and there is – I’m understanding there’s also copper out there.
TOM: Are you talking about a house wrap or are you talking about a radiant barrier?
PHILLIP: It’s more like a radiant barrier is what it is.
TOM: So it goes up into the attic space?
PHILLIP: Yeah. It’s my understanding that – does it not go in the walls, as well?
TOM: Well, house wrap goes around the walls.
PHILLIP: OK.
TOM: But let me give you a tip and now is exactly the right time for you to hear this, because you’re in the rare circumstance where you can take advantage of it. And that is if you want to do the single best thing you can for insulation when building new house, I would highly recommend spray-foam insulation, not fiberglass.
PHILLIP: OK.
TOM: Spray foam. Spray foam can be applied to the walls during the construction process. It goes on very thin and expands to fill the entire cavity. And it can also be applied to the – well, depending on the style of house. But if you have a traditional Colonial, for example, it can go to the underside of the roof rafters, which is where you would not put the fiberglass, by the way.
But it’s a different type of assembly so your attic will now be a conditioned space, which means it’s going to be more comfortable year-round if you have to go up there for storage. And the fact that you have spray foam covering the entire exterior wall and the underside of the roof surface means that your home becomes very draft-proof. You’re not going to get warm drafts in Arizona – this is particularly important – from pushing through those walls and pushing through that roof and driving up your cooling costs.
So, I think aside from worrying about barriers, if you use spray-foam insulation when building new house you are going to be very happy with the result. And now is the time to do it. I would look at – Icynene is the brand that I have in my house. Very happy with it. I-c-y-n-e-n-e. Icynene Spray Foam.
You can go to Icynene.com, OK? Check it out.
PHILLIP: Will do.
TOM: Good luck with that project.
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