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Signs, Sealed, Delivered!
SprayFoam Magazine contributor Steve Lister visits a spray foam job site
By Steve Lister
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VENDOR TEAM
Atomik Spray Systems
Spray foam contractor
2957 101 Street
NW Edmonton, AB
T6N 1A7
(780) 989-3500
www.NaturalFoam.ca
CertainTeed
Spray foam manufacturer
P.O. Box 860
Valley Forge, PA 19482
(800) 233-8990
www.certainteed.com
Graco
Spray equipment
88-11th Avenue NE
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55413
800-690-2894
www.graco.com
Sperian
Respirator
900 Douglas Pike
Smithfield, RI 02917
(800) 343-3411
www.sperian.com
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Like a dance perfectly choreographed with their companion tradesmen, as the last electrician and plumber completed their parts of the construction, so arrives the trade that is making significant contributions to energy efficiency in home retrofits and new construction.
 Atomik Spray Systems, a spray polyurethane foam insulation company, pulls onsite with two rigs. The sides of the rigs are plastered with images of spray foam applicators. Two crews, dressed in what appears to be nuclear fall-out suits, descend from the rig, looking like they are coming to collect E.T.
This was my first experience watching a spray foam company arrive and ready the area for a residential spray foam installation. Honestly, I’ve never seen a more organized trade swing into action with different guys peeling off in different directions.
Two of the applicators headed for the house with signs, caution tape, and paperwork. One crew member began walking around and filling out the paperwork like some kind of city inspector. At the same time, another two started up the engines on huge generators that shook the rigs into life. Half of me was expecting a drill sergeant to suddenly appear, blowing furiously on a whistle to the rhythm of “The Grand of Duke of York”!
These guys have a whole house to insulate. I learn from the site supervisor that it is a five-day installation at best. I can’t help thinking that if the crewmen keep working at this pace, I should call the Guinness Book of World Records or Weight Watchers or maybe the Flying Squad!
Things did, of course, begin to settle in to what appeared to be a structured sequence with two guys cracking a hammer and taping poly across exposed windows, doors, and everything and anything that could be considered un-insulateable.
From the back of the nearest insulation rig, a worker yelled loudly to the poly guys, “Roll out!” before he disappeared back inside. Evidently from the new activity, it was time to bring out the hoses. This heavy-looking stream of blue hose was unwound maybe 200 feet, but it’s not like your garden hose that can be pulled and yanked off the roll. These guys were battling the weight of this thing and working to avoid curl ups and kinks.
Four hoses later and a hive of activity rigging up, and after checking and attaching air hoses to large full-face Sperian masks, the crewmen approached the house. Spray time.
The crew sprayed three to six inches of CertainTeed spray foam insulation to the home’s walls, rims, cantilevers, attic, and vaulted roofs. As much as I wanted to stay longer and watch the expanding foam take shape, it was time for me to go. But I intended to return in a few days to see this building envelope closed in from the elements.
Three days later on a warmer Thursday, I returned late in the evening, curious to see the progression. Just as before, I was greeted with the spray foam rigs humming a mechanical tune, hose lines entering the property in different locations, and signs warning “Keep Back.” Now, I know the Atomik boys don’t advertise clairvoyance on their website, but almost as soon as I stepped past the warning signs, I was eyeballed by one of the team members appearing from a doorway. “Hello, it’s me again!” I called, wondering if he was someone I had spoken to previously, but it was hard to tell when he came out in all that protective clothing and Jedi face mask.
I was relieved that he remembered me. After some precautionary prepping, we entered the house through the garage, where I was treated to a tour of the areas already installed with foam. The cream walls resembled freshly sliced bread with stud lines showing ready for the drywallers. The walls radiated a feeling of warm padding that was ready to provide comfort for the home’s inhabitants during our ever-harsher Canadian winters.
A few camera snaps later and a look around this nice, evolving home in Edmonton, it looked like we were all about ready to leave for the day.
De-masked and unzipped, the Atomik boys wound the hoses and refilled the trucks. With a wink and a smile, one of them picked up a lone hazard sign and said to me in a cheerful end-of-day kind of tone, “Signs, sealed, delivered!”
From the warmth of my car, I watched the entourage finish packing up, walk out of the house, and weave out of the driveway. After my first job site experience, I can now see why this product is working its way to the front of the public eye. As more consumers become environmentally conscious and proactive about retrofitting their homes to improve their utility costs, spray foam insulation—and service providers like the Atomik crew—will surely earn more spotlight!
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