Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Adhesives Product: Adhesive for foam insulation
Temperature Limitations: Check the package: one manufacturer says above -30 C (-22 F) while another says above +15 C (+60 F).
Rain Limitations: Apply to a dry surface
Wind Limitations: n/a
Humidity Limitations: n/a
Continuous Conditions: Keep dry for 30 minutes and above minimum temperature for 24 hours.
Comments: Adhesives for foam insulations vary greatly. Most are water based to avoid solvent melting of the foam and hence must be used above freezing. Because foam insulation is often installed in cold weather, manufacturers are making products that work at lower and lower temperatures. One manufacturer says not to use it below -30C (-22F) while another say not to use it below +15C (+60F). Check the labels carefully.
Weather limitations on most renovation products can be located on the WEATHER tab above.
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APPLICATION / INSTALLATION DETAILS
Adhesives for foam insulation are generally made with no solvents because solvents can dissolve or melt the insulation -- hence traditionally they were water based adhesives. That required keeping the adhesive from freezing.
Since Canadian construction goes on in quite cold weather, manufacturers have slowly developed various adhesives that are compatible with the delicate nature of foam insulation while still functioning below freezing.
Choose your product carefully if you need one that can be used in cold weather or on a cold surface.
If you are gluing insulation to itself, or to just about any building material, the manufacturer's instructions to apply blobs of adhesive and push it into place will work fine. However if you are insulating a basement from the inside, the rules all change. Click here to see why you should create no air space behind indoor basement insulation, and just how to apply adhesive in this particular half-underground situation.