Evil Spray Foam

After several weeks of ignoring the cosmetic disaster that is the backdoor, I finally got around to finishing what was left - wiring the doorbell, putting in the lock plates, nailing in new molding, etc.  But first is the matter of spray foam insulation.

I’ve never used spray foam insulation before, but it comes in a can like WD40, or string cheese.  Can’t be that hard. 

1. Shake can vigorously for no less than one minute. 

No problem;  I shake it for two in case I wasn’t vigorous enough. 

2. Wear protective gloves.  Psst... yeah, whatever. 

3. -- Can assembly instructions -- Standard stuff.

4. Fill the void to <50%. 

Not equal to.  Less than.  Not even half.  I look at the void surrounding the door.  There’s a healthy moat there.

Well, obviously the can is wrong.  Instead, I fill the gap to a minimum of 50% if not closer to 75%.  Better to have too much than not enough, right?  For the spots that the sheetrock obscured my view, I just jammed the can up there and let fire for a few seconds and called it good.  

The can says it takes 15 minutes to set.  By 3 minutes in there is no void.  By 5 it looks like the Stay Puft  Marshmallow Man got trapped inside my wall when we put the door in.  By 7 minutes fist-size globs of the gooey fellow are falling to the ground.

I make a run for paper bags, the trashcan, and paper towels.  When I get back the door looks like an inflatable life raft.

Wouldn’t this just be the funniest time for my wife to get home from work?  Well, speak of the devil!  “Hi hun.  How are you?  Huh?  That?  No, its fine…no worries.  It only has another 5 minutes before it sets.  Oh crap, its still falling off.”

It was like fighting off the deluge of foam coming out of a over-shook bottle of pop.  It kept comin’ and comin’ and comin’ 

At 35 minutes we had to get going.  But, by the looks of things when we got home, that was the magic timeframe - 35 minutes.  Not 15. 

See, I knew the can was wrong.