Changed my stance on spray foam after a disaster in our crawlspace

I used to swear by fiberglass batts for insulation, thought they were easier and cheaper. But last winter a pipe burst in our crawlspace near the furnace and the fiberglass just soaked up everything like a sponge. Had to rip it all out and spend $1,200 on spray foam remediation instead. Has anyone else been burned by a specific insulation choice?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_holly15d ago

Honestly I think you might be mixing up two different things here. Spray foam isn't really a remediation material, it's an insulation product just like fiberglass. If a pipe burst, the spray foam would have soaked up water too, maybe even worse since closed cell foam can trap moisture against wood and cause rot over time. The real issue isn't the insulation type, it's that you had a leak that needed fixing first before any insulation goes in. Tbh fiberglass is actually better in some ways because it lets wet areas dry out faster if they do get damp. So blaming the fiberglass for the pipe burst kinda misses the point.

the_thomas15d agoMost Upvoted

People get real focused on blaming one thing or another when really they're just ignoring the root problem. It's like a guy I knew who'd keep patching his roof shingles one at a time instead of fixing the big hole letting all the water in. At the end of the day, picking sides between fiberglass and spray foam is just arguing about which bucket works better when the boat already has a hole in it.

simonh7415d ago

Fair enough, but I see it a bit differently. Spray foam is actually a pretty common tool for sealing up and insulating after water damage, it's not just for new builds. When you have a chronic leak that's been going on for months, the stuff that's trapping all that moisture and letting mold grow is the problem, not just the pipe itself. Fiberglass might dry out faster, sure, but that's just because it's basically a wet sponge holding water against your wood framing until it decides to drip somewhere. At the end of the day, no insulation is a band-aid for a leaky pipe - both materials have their downsides - but acting like fiberglass is somehow better at handling moisture is a tough sell when you've pulled out the wet, smelly batts from someone's crawlspace.