How Spray Foam Insulation Saved a Music Room

Spray Foam Insulation and Roofing Magazine currently posted an article about a domestic in Charleston, South Carolina in which a Firefighting Foam Lawyer completely leveled the house - besides for one room. The article is going on to give an explanation for how the homeowner constructed his non-public music room for maximum sound insulation, the usage of open-mobile polyurethane spray foam insulation (SPF). When lightning struck the residence it brought on a large fire. Even after firefighters pumped 6 million gallons of water on the hearth, it nevertheless smoldered. The single room not touched by means of hearth turned into a tune room with over $1 million in rare musical contraptions and paintings. Everything became left undamaged; all store for one guitar left on the ground and turned into ruined by way of water. How did this room continue to be status amid flames and tens of millions of gallons of water? Why did the fireplace now not melt and burn via the SPF?

Let's begin with the information. Open-mobile polyurethane foam insulation, in maximum bureaucracy, is an E84 elegance 1 fire retardant cloth. What meaning is the open-mobile SPF had to skip a specific flammability test to accumulate a fireplace rating. Fire retardant does not suggest that it will not burn if flame is applied directly to the product. Having a fireplace retardant rating plus using the right ignition barrier method the product resists burning as a result of flashover. A flashover happens when the encircling hearth and warmth motive uncovered surfaces to reach their auto ignition temperature and ignite. If the fire directly touches the SPF, that may be a one-of-a-kind story.

The subsequent logical query is, while does flashover generally occur? According to the National Fire Sprinkler Association, flashover occurs at about the 8th minute of a residential fire in which the hearth growth has now not been limited. In different words, no fire branch on website online and no sprinklers are running. The average time for a fire branch to respond to a residential fireplace is four mins, less than 1/2 that of the time it takes for flashover to arise. Therefore, a home encased in open-cell fire-rated polyurethane spray foam insulation with a proper ignition barrier might also have greater than just the ones eight minutes due to the fact the SPF can have a notably reduced function in assisting combustion.

In the case of the tune room, the situation is slightly distinctive. Instead of the everyday one, two or three inch layer of open-cell SPF, the music room become absolutely encased in an 8 to 10 inch layer. Apparently the house owner enjoyed playing his guitars, and gambling them loud. Thus one in all his requests was for a soundproof room. Knowing the thermal advantages of open-mobile SPF, its renewable based totally manufacture, sound attenuation blessings and fire score, the house owner commissioned its use for the tune room.

When the devastating fireplace destroyed the rest of the constructing, firefighters have been surprised by means of the still-standing structure that changed into the music room. It regarded to defy all flames, the heat and six million gallons of water. Upon similarly investigation (and when matters cooled down), the house owner discovered the heat of the fireplace had eaten thru four inches of the SPF, however by no means in reality ignited. Having the ground, ceiling and partitions all encased in open-cellular SPF with an ignition barrier like drywall or thermal barrier paint had stored $1 million greenbacks in uncommon artwork and musical contraptions.

The case of the track room stored by way of SPF is uncommon, there is absolute confidence. However there are a few very vital factors to do not forget. First of all, the ones 4 inches that melted away from the heat of the fireplace. They did no longer burn, they melted. Could it's there was no flashover on any outdoor surface of the tune room, no matter the rest of the home burning down around it? Also, the factor of ignition was the end result of a lightning strike and for this reason from an out of doors pressure. Would the result have been the same if the ignition factor came from inside the song room? All the valuable devices would were misplaced, but could the open-cellular SPF have maintained this sort of strong degree of integrity?

The article from which this tale is drawn additionally describes how the house owner went directly to rebuild the house and encased the complete constructing this time within the equal open-cellular SPF. Obviously this house owner wholly believes inside the integrity of polyurethane insulation, for greater than just its hearth rating. Given his enjoy, who can blame him?