RetroFoam™ for Timber Frame Walls

In the United Kingdom, the timber frame house construction sector has now matured to the point where it is regarded as ‘conventional’ and is now one of the most widely used methods of building construction. It meets with the prerequisites of economy, speed of construction and use of sustainable and readily available raw materials in softwood timer, it is a process that will continue to grow in the future.

The thermal insulation performance levels achievable with timber frame constructions are greater than those with masonry walls of similar thickness. Timber frame construction is also recognised as being extremely environmentally friendly as the energy input levels from start to finish are less than those in buildings constructed from masonry. It also offers greater design flexibility, which represents an advantage to designers, constructors and owners.

However, insulating the walls in existing timber framed homes has until now been regarded as difficult, costly, time consuming and messy.

The next-generation insulation product RetroFoam™ changes all that by utilising expanding foam technology specifically designed to provide cavity wall insulation in buildings of timber frame construction where it is injected into the stud cavity rather than the cavity between the internal timber frame and the external wall. The unique formulation allows its application even when other insulation products such as mineral wool exist.

This ability to cost effectively retrofit housing stock which already has some form of insulation in situ is a major issue for home owners & a major problem to Local Authorities and Housing Associations where the thermal performance of the product in situ is not the issue but the fact that it has been poorly installed or of a poor quality.

This is where RetroFoam™ comes into its own as the product can easily be installed into stud voids with existing, underperforming, insulation in place. This major benefit negates the need to carry out expensive refurbishment projects on the back of insulation upgrades, projects which very often involve relocation of the occupants.