Application of Spray Foam Insulation Under Plywood and Oriented Strand Board Roof Sheathing
- Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States)
Unvented roof strategies with open cell and closed cell spray polyurethane foam insulation sprayed to the underside of roof sheathing have been used since the mid-1990's to provide durable and efficient building enclosures. However, there have been isolated moisture related incidents reported anecdotally that raise potential concerns about the overall hygrothermal performance of these systems. This project involved hygrothermal modeling of a range of rainwater leakage and field evaluations of in-service residential roofs using spray foam insulation. All of the roof assemblies modeled exhibited drying capacity to handle minor rainwater leakage. All field evaluation locations of in-service residential roofs had moisture contents well within the safe range for wood-based sheathing. Explorations of eleven in-service roof systems were completed. The exploration involved taking a sample of spray foam from the underside of the roof sheathing, exposing the sheathing, then taking a moisture content reading. All locations had moisture contents well within the safe range for wood-based sheathing. One full-roof failure was reviewed, as an industry partner was involved with replacing structurally failed roof sheathing. In this case the manufacturer's investigation report concluded that the spray foam was installed on wet OSB based on the observation that the spray foam did not adhere well to the substrate and the pore structure of the closed cell spray foam at the ccSPF/OSB interface was indicative of a wet substrate.
- Research Organization:
- Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1220917
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/GO-102013-4257; 6624
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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