Insulation in a block wall

Is there any way to insulate a cement block wall from the inside of the block? Any kind of runny foam that you could pour or pump in from the top and it would work it's way down to the bottom and fill in the blocks? Years ago, there was a foam type insulation used in house walls, drill a hole at the top and pump until it was full. Not sure it it's even sold anymore. Any ideas?? Chris

Chris,
That was blown in cellulose.They still use it.
Hope this helps.

Vito

There are commercial applicators around doing foamed in place insulation. Pretty good material, not dramatically expensive. The problem is the blocks transmit quantities of heat out, cold in. (or in the summer, Reverse that) The very best is 2" of thermax, or tuff-R insulation board glued to the inside (or outside) the material will provide a dramatic improvement and only waste 2" plus paneling or what ever in put on the interior for finish. Jim

When we built on are barn 20 years ago. They poured styrofoam beads down in the blocks.The new part never sweat'ed like the old part and was a lot warmer.

I think you can use vermiculite it's almost as good as fiberglass on the r value and it pours.

I wondered about that myself, and tried foam once unsuccessfully. Sounds like a good deal, except possibly the cement portions that touch the outside and then transfer cold in, or heat out. Years ago I finished a cinder block basement for my mother, and insulated the walls with the blue styrofoam sheets, and then studded my walls inside of them so no wood wood make contact with the cinder blocks, then finsihed the walls with ventilation at the top and bottom. Also put in a ventless gas heater down there. It didn't take much to get toasty in the winter, and the summer retained coolness that settled from upstairs. Just a thought.

Here's something not to try, trying to foam the walls like I tried. That 3M foam great stuff? I did try to insulate the inside of cinder blocks with that. Bad idea, at least the way I did it. If you put the nozzle on the can, and have several cans to empty, takes a long time, and wears the fingers out. Then I broke one of those nozzles off but had a whole can and found that I could empty the whole can in about 3 seconds without a nozzle. Great idea, so I thought. Went through about 6 or 8 cans or so, emptying in seconds until the last can. There was a huge flash, I was engulfed in a blue flame along with the wall. It went out in seconds, singed the hair off of my arms and face, and kept smelling like it was burning, but thankfully went out. I did NOT get hurt, luckily. The cans say that they can "flash fire" and they are not joking. I told a fireman friend of mine about it afterwards, and posted here about it, and a tractor owner fireman here expained it as well, although I don't recall the exacts about the chemicals mixing with air too fast, BUT DO NOT MAKE MY SAME MISTAKE. You could get killed or burn the place down doing that, or both. I figure I got lucky.

Good luck.

Mark

In 2007 when we built our house. Our contractor had a local company come out and they filled all the cinder blocks in the foundation with a spray in foam insulation. Don't recall the name of the stuff but if you are talking about new construction there should be somebody in your area that does this process.

Around here block buildings are required to have bond beams poured in them, so every 4' vertically and every 4' horizontally there are blockages. To insulate it you would have to drill and blow it in sections. I don't know what is required in our area, just a thought.

Steven

I got some of that stuff on my hands and was using it too close to my face, while on a ladder. I had a toxic reaction to it, thought I was dying. Literally couldn't stand up. I guess reading the label is a good idea sometimes.

super99, After you have all you electrical conduit run, air piping and the like have the inside of your shop/barn or what ever building shot with the Closed Cell Insulation (hard beer cooler foam) that should do the trick for keeping your area cool or warm depending on the season.
My F-I-L had a small 20 wide by 60 long steel calf shed built 10 yrs ago, the first 15 ft is a saddle/feed room. That room is heated with one of those 110 volt, 8in x 8x Ceramic heaters and does one heck of a job doing it. OBTW his place is at Stratford, Tx. 80 mi N of Amarillo Tx. The High Tx Panhandle. Hope this helps.
Later,
John A.

Think you would have a hard time getting all the holes filled. For the time and headache, you'd be better off and get more insulation out of it by just insulating the outside and covering it. Way they do old houses here is either stud it and use nineral wool or fiberglass then a covering of wood, tin, or whatever floats your boat, or just spread a layer of blackmammy on and stick 2-4" styrofoam to it and stucco over it. If you are building new, they sell foam fillers that fit into the holes in the blocks before you lay them, maybe something like that is available there?

Have fun.

Dave

Waterproof it carefully. Strap it. Rigid foam insulation. 4x8" sheets. Finish inside.

House or shop?
I remodel/finish a lot of basements. I usually just frame up a stud wall next to the block, run all my electrical, insulate with fibreglass and then sheetrock it. Sometimes in basement bathrooms where inches count I use the pink or blue styrofoam - 1" or 1 1/2". I use a technique where I glue the styro onto the block then nail through the sheetrock and styro directly into the block. It is cheaper though - labor wise to just frame. In a shop I guess I would do the same thing but use corrogated metal or OSB to cover.
A trick i've been using for years to attach to concrete is this:
Buy some masonry bits for those blue screws (I hate blue screws but like the bits). Hammer drill through the material and into the concrete. Then cut a piece of 14 ga copper wire
the same length as your nail and stick it onto the hole. Now use whatever nail you need and nail it along side the wire into the concrete.
Cheaper, better, faster than blue screws.

The main masonry contractor we use has a spray in system. I've checked, there still isn't anything available for the do-it-yourselfer to rent that I could find.

It's the best method for block, it gets everywhere. Like the guys are saying below, a block is over 50% mass so there's only so much R value you can achieve.

I am assuming you have existing block wall. Before building my 3 year od house studied it all and settled on a wall called superior wall.
Concrete pannels poured over styrefoam and set in place. I think the end product is 2 inches of styefoam with 4 in concrete on outside. We have really been satisfied. Fift by fifty basement cost me a little over 18 thousand right in line with what the poured concrete people wanted and a little more than block wals but the end product is far superior. Stays around 58 deg year around in the basement.

Don't know if you have new or old construction, beams or not but it appears everybody is talking about the spray foam. There is a spray slow curing foam insulation that is used for that type of application, it settles/runs into all the cavities then expands and cures.
The link I posted it just to show it's available. I bought the containers and I think for how much it cost and how little it did I could have had a contractor do more for the same cost.
How to Use

tiger foam

super99. When we built our house. we poured PERLITE down in the core ,Easy pour and does take care of some of the cold problem. Rest is best doing Hi density darafoam, strip fastened or masked to outside, and then finished over that.Keep warm in winter, cool in summer.HTH.
LOU.

I wouldn't mess with filling the cavities. One of the principles of insulation is to make efficient use of air cavities with the insulation. Best way I've seen to insulate is build a stud wall about an inch in from the wall. This also allows you to get a straight wall. Use fiberglass or whatever. The air space behind helps with any condensation issues. Your location and climate will tell you which side of the cement to put a vapor barrier. Concrete is very porous.

Icynene (not sure on spelling) is the way to insulate an existing wall. It is sprayed on the wall, not inside the block. Its R value isn't as high as like putting fiberglass insulation, but it seals all the little cracks and drafts which more than makes up for the lower R value.