We’ve received many questions from spray foam contractors inquiring about the difference between ignition barriers and thermal barriers.  Spray Foam Nation supplies Lapolla and Premium foams – both of which have passed testing that other manufacturers have not.  Here is some helpful information on the application of ignition and thermal barriers.

When to put on Ignition barrier?
Anytime you are spraying open cell in an attic or crawl space and it’s going to be left exposed.

When to put on Thermal barrier?
When spraying closed cell foam or open cell foam AND the attic or crawl space is going to be used for storage or liveable space and the foam will be left exposed (meaning no sheetrock covering the foam).

Another instance would be any area that is going to be used for living space – foam (open or closed) needs to be covered with a Thermal barrier. In most cases, sheetrock/gypsum board is the answer. Certain commercial applications, like when a warehouse or barn gets converted to working area/residential living, and they don’t want to put up sheetock to frame it out, you would need to spray a thermal barrier over it.

When spraying Thermal barrier, you are using same product as Ignition barrier just adding more material thickness.

If you have additional questions regarding thermal or ignition barriers, please contact us.  We are always happy to help.