Video of Spray Foam Doing its Job

I always enjoy watching this. I thought you might too.

Spray Foam Video from Miranda Homes.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

Spraying Foam Insulation.

We're spraying foam insulation into the exterior walls and the underside of the roof today.

We use spray foam insulation because it seals all of the possible air passages better than traditional insulation. Since expanding spray foam is so good at finding and filling all of the possible air leaks it works much better than batting, which can leave air leaks in every cavity.

20-40% of a typical new home's heat loss is due to infiltration. Infiltration is simply the air that finds its way through holes in the house. Infiltration is measured by performing a Blower Door Test. As we've mentioned in a previous post, spray foam insulation is one of the big ways that we stop "The Stack Effect" and achieve amazing results.

We own our spray foam truck rather than using a subcontractor so that we can control scheduling, cost and quality. As you may know, we use a five person crew to build the entire house. Two from that crew spray the insulation.

We spray Demilec's open cell SealEction Agribalance.

From the Demilec website:

SEALECTION Agribalance® is a two-component, polyurethane foam system that contains more than 20% renewable agricultural-based materials (refined vegetable oils).

During the 1990s, the EPA rated indoor air pollution as one of the five most urgent environmental issues, accounting for over $1 billion in direct health care costs annually. The culprit is improper ventilation and poor building practices.

With the focus on improving building standards, each step in the process is being scrutinized and improved, especially the insulation process. Demilec (USA) is well ahead on the technology curve when it comes to improving indoor air quality.

According to the American Lung Association, in excess of 40% of American households have at least one person suffering from asthma or allergies making the quality of indoor air crucial to their good health. Properly insulating a home can have a positive impact on the quality of the indoor air.

By sealing out dust, allergens, odors and pollutants SEALECTION Agribalance® allows the air management system to be designed so that the indoor air quality is healthier than the outside air.

Because the foam adheres to whatever it's sprayed on, all of the floors, windows, doors, and vents are covered for protection. The insulation is sprayed into the wall cavities where it expands instantly to fill all of the voids.

Later, the foam that has expanded beyond the steel studs is trimmed off with an electric reciprocating saw. The waste will be used for sound control inside the house.

When we're done with the spray foam we'll be ready to sheet rock.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

A Fifteen Year Finish Warranty ?!?!

The James Hardie Siding is going up today. The product we use is engineered specifically for our climate and comes with a ColorPlus factory-applied finish. The boards are painted in the Hardie plant and baked before ever being exposed to the elements. All of the temperature and moisture conditions and airborne paint are completely controlled, unlike site painted homes. It's this method and their attention to quality that allows Hardie to provide a 15 year finish warranty on the ColorPlus product.

ColorPlus comes in a variety of different forms so we are able to use it for the lap siding, trim, fascia, shingles and soffits. It keeps our homes looking good longer and provides a low maintenance exterior for our home owners.

Click HERE to read a past posting on siding.

Inside the house we're getting the rough-in plumbing, electrical and the HVAC installed. We'll be talking more about those systems in an upcoming post.

Our next step will be to apply the Spray Foam Insulation.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

Dirt to This in 20 Days

In 20 working days our crew of five has:

• Excavated
• Built Walls and Trusses in the Shop
• Installed the Windows in the Wall Panels
• Set Form-A-Drain
• Set ICF Forms
• Set First Floor Joists
• Poured the Foundation and Earth Slab
• Parge Coated the Foundation Walls
• Decked the First Floor
• Stood First Floor Walls
• Set Second Floor Joists
• Decked the Second Floor
• Stood Second Floor Walls
• Set the Roof Trusses
• Sheathed the Roof

The exterior doors are going in today and we'll start siding tomorrow.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

Open House This Weekend

We'll have the house at 13981 SE Sierra Drive in Clackamas, Oregon open this weekend.

Hours will be Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Come by to see the finished home and you'll be able to see the unfinished one next door. It will be a great opportunity to see what the framing looks like before insulation and drywall.

Drop by and learn more about what else makes Miranda Homes different.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

Find It. Fill It. Forget It.

Next week we'll be doing the spray foam insulation. One of the best traits of spray foam insulation is its ability to find and fill gaps where conditioned air can leak out. It's impossible to find all of the air leaks and fill them with traditional batting insulation. That's why we use spray foam.

Below is a picture of a house we built a couple of years ago. True to its nature the spray foam expanded to seal some infiltration points that would have been impossible to find and fill with batting.

This is simple to clean up but it illustrates how superior spray foam is to other methods of insulating. Spray Foam is one of the most important ways that we get to 0.6 Air changes per hour.

It's choices like this, our insulated and mechanically vented crawl space, our sealed HVAC ductwork and others and that make our homes more energy efficient and more comfortable to live in.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

Trusses Installed

The trusses have been installed.
As with the walls, the trusses are built in our plant prior to the on site construction.
They are delivered on a truck and set in place using our crane.

Next week we'll be installing the plywood sheathing, fascia and keystones and getting ready for roofing.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

Video - Second Floor Walls Set

We set second floor walls yesterday on one of our homes. The walls are delivered to the job site with the windows installed and the exterior foam insulation in place. We lift each one into place with our crane.

Click below to watch a time lapse video.



The entire process took 3 hours and 15 minutes.

Check back tomorrow for pictures of today's truss setting.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

First Floor Walls Set - Installing Second Floor Joists

We have set the first floor walls and are installing the floor joists for the second floor.

Click the "Play" button below to watch the video.



Joists are going in for the second floor.



We will be setting second floor walls tomorrow.

Check back for more pictures.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes