JLC · AUGUST 1989
Filling
Cavities:
Retrofit
Foam
Update
New retrofit foams raise hopes... and
questions
The foaming frenzy of the late 1970s,
created by energy tax credits and high
fuel costs, came to a crashing halt in
December 1985. A highly publicized
court case, a nine-month ban on ureaformaldehyde
foam, and the public's
suspicion that all inject-in-place foams
contained urea-formaldehyde (UF) put
the brakes on what had been a promising
young industry.
Most foam contractors hung up their
hoses, but others went back to the
drawing boards and quietly developed a
new generation of foams to retrofit
sidewalls. The new foam contractors
report improvements in technology
and product reliability. Critics, on the
other hand, question the products,
pointing to alleged installation
problems and inconclusive test