Spray Foam Insulation in Hendersonville, TN

The oldest layer predates the lake. Until the Old Hickory Dam was completed in 1954 and the water came up behind it, this was farmland, and Hendersonville itself was not incorporated until 1969. The surviving farmhouses sit on stone or block foundations over vented crawl spaces, with plank subfloors and little original insulation. After decades of ground moisture, whatever fibreglass was pushed under those floors is usually hanging between the joists or lying on the dirt.

The second layer is the suburb. Once the lake existed, the buyers followed, and through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s Hendersonville grew into a full Nashville suburb. Those houses were built to the standards of their day: fibreglass batts in the walls, a vented crawl space or unconditioned basement, and a few inches of attic fill that has settled and been walked on ever since. The framing is generally sound. The air sealing was never done, and the ductwork often runs through a hot vented attic or a damp crawl space.

The third layer is the recent growth, including the development along Indian Lake Boulevard around the Streets of Indian Lake. Larger newer houses have a different weakness: the comfort complaints come from bonus rooms over garages, vaulted ceiling lines and long duct runs, not from the walls.

Old Hickory Lake adds a condition on top of all three. Houses near the water, including second homes that sit empty for stretches of the year, breathe humid air off the lake all summer. A crawl space within sight of the shoreline has a harder job than one on a ridge inland, and an unoccupied house hides moisture problems for longer.

Open-cell foam is softer, lighter and expands further for the same volume. It deadens sound well, and it is the right product at attic rooflines and in interior walls where vapour control is not the question being asked. On a 1980s two-storey with a hot upstairs, open-cell at the roofline, combined with proper air sealing, changes how the whole house behaves.

One Hendersonville property often ends up with both products in different assemblies. We decide per assembly rather than per house, and where the less expensive product is the right one, that is what we specify.

• The farmhouse crawl space. If the house predates the lake, this is the job. Cold floors, musty air and fallen batts all start down there.
• The suburban attic. On a 1970s to 1990s house, sealing the attic plane beats adding another layer of loose fill on top of what has already settled.
• The rim joist. Quick to reach, small in area, large in effect, and almost never sealed on any era of house in this city.
• Bonus rooms over garages. Standard on the newer larger homes, and nearly always an air leakage problem rather than a shortage of insulation.
• Lakeside second homes. Seal the crawl space and rim first, because nobody is living there to notice the damp while it develops.

Foam that has failed is not topped up. It is cut out, which is slow, filthy work that costs more than the original job. That is the whole case for using a crew that sprays every working day rather than a builder who hires the equipment occasionally.

See our full spray foam insulation work, our crawl space encapsulation service, or the complete service area.