Thermal Barriers · Intumescent & Protective Coatings
Fireproofing and protective coatings in Winnipeg
Direct answer
Spray foam is combustible, and the building code generally requires foam in living and occupied spaces to be protected by a thermal barrier: most commonly 12.7 mm drywall, or an approved spray-applied coating where drywall is impractical. That second option is this service. Ecologic applies thermal-barrier and intumescent coatings over spray foam (on quonset curves, warehouse ceilings, mechanical rooms and anywhere board materials don't fit) and protective coatings over foam roofing. Because we install both the foam and its protection, the price on our quote is the code-compliant price, confirmed with the local authority. It will not grow after your inspector visits. Local interpretation of the requirement varies; confirming it is part of our job.
Sources: NBC foamed-plastic protection provisions · CUFCA · coating manufacturer listings
01 The requirement
Foam in occupied space must be covered. Plan for it.
Polyurethane foam is an excellent insulation and a combustible material. The building code deals with that plainly: foamed plastics in occupied buildings generally must be protected from interior spaces by a thermal barrier, a layer that slows heat from reaching the foam long enough for occupants to get out. The everyday thermal barrier is 12.7 mm drywall, which is why foam behind a finished wall is a non-issue.
The requirement matters when there is no wall coming. Shops and garages the owner planned to leave unfinished. Warehouse and arena ceilings. Mechanical rooms. Crawl spaces, depending on how your authority reads them. A foam quote that ignores the thermal barrier in those spaces is incomplete rather than cheap, and the difference surfaces at inspection, on your schedule and your dime.
How the requirement applies to a given space (occupancy, attachment, access) involves local interpretation. We confirm with the authority having jurisdiction before scoping, and we put the answer in the quote.
Ways to meet it
Drywall (12.7 mm). The default where framing takes board, and cheapest per square foot on flat walls that were getting finished anyway.
Approved spray-applied coatings. Products tested as protective coverings for foamed plastic, applied directly over the cured foam. The answer where board is impractical.
Other listed board materials. Specific sheathing products carry listings for the same role; occasionally the right call in commercial work.
Which one your building needs is a code question first and a cost question second. We answer them in that order.
02 The coatings
Where drywall can't go, coatings answer
An intumescent coating reacts to heat by swelling into a thick insulating char that shields the foam beneath. Sprayed on like heavy paint, it follows every contour the foam does.
Curved steel
Quonsets, shops & barns
Nobody drywalls a quonset arch. Foam is the right insulation for curved steel, and a spray-applied coating is the practical way to protect it where the space's use requires protection. Both materials go on with a gun, so the geometry that rules out board costs nothing extra.
High and busy ceilings
Commercial & industrial
Warehouse roofs, arenas, mechanical rooms, ceilings crowded with pipe, duct and conduit. Hanging board around services is slow and leaves gaps; a coating is applied over foam and obstructions alike, at height, without furring. This is where most of our coating work happens.
Retrofit compliance
Existing exposed foam
Foam installed years ago and left bare (common in shops and crawl spaces) can usually be brought up to requirement with a coating, if the foam is sound. We inspect adhesion and condition first; coating over failed foam wastes the coating. Sound substrate, straightforward job.
03 Roof coatings
The other half of every foam roof
Protective coatings are not only a fire story. On a spray foam roof, the elastomeric coating is what stands between the foam and the sun. Polyurethane is not UV-stable, and the coating takes the ultraviolet, the hail and the foot traffic so the foam underneath can do the waterproofing and insulating for decades.
The same crew and equipment that coat interior foam handle roof recoats: inspection, cleaning, spot repair and a fresh coating that restarts the weathering clock without touching the foam. If your foam roof is due (ours or anyone else's), a recoat is a service call. The roof itself stays.
Coating work we do
Thermal-barrier / intumescent coatings over interior foam, where code requires protection and board is impractical.
Protective topcoats over new foam roofing, part of every roofing installation we do.
Recoats and repairs on existing foam roofs, after inspection.
Condition assessments of exposed foam, interior or roof, with a written scope for bringing it to spec.
04 Why it's one job
Foam and its protection, one contract, one responsibility
The common failure in this corner of the trade is a split scope: the foam contractor sprays and leaves, the code requirement surfaces at inspection, and the owner goes shopping for a second trade to fix a compliance problem nobody priced. The two quotes never add up to what one honest quote would have said.
We quote the assembly, not the foam. If the space needs a thermal barrier, the coating (or the note that your planned drywall already satisfies it) is on the same page as the foam price, with the authority's interpretation confirmed in advance. One crew, one schedule, one company answerable for the whole assembly passing inspection. Most of what we're selling is what won't happen: no surprise at final inspection, no second mobilization, no gap between trades where responsibility goes to die.
Where the honest answer is that you don't need us (foam going behind drywall in a house, say), the quote says that too, and the coating line is zero.
05 Questions
Coatings and code, answered
Does spray foam need to be covered?
In living and occupied spaces, yes. Foam is combustible, and the code generally requires foamed plastics in occupied buildings to be protected by a thermal barrier: most commonly 12.7 mm drywall, or an approved spray-applied coating where drywall is impractical. How it applies to a specific space involves local interpretation, so we confirm with the authority having jurisdiction as part of the job rather than leaving it for your inspector to catch later.
Source: NBC foamed-plastic protection provisions
What is an intumescent coating?
A coating that reacts to heat by swelling into a thick, insulating char, slowing the fire's access to the material underneath and buying escape and response time. Applied over foam, tested and approved intumescent products can serve as the code's required protection where board is impractical: quonset curves, dense pipe runs, high warehouse ceilings. It sprays on like a heavy paint and follows every contour the foam does.
Can foam stay exposed in my shop or crawl space?
It depends on the building's occupancy and your local authority's interpretation; anyone giving a blanket yes over the phone is guessing. A detached shop, an attached garage and a crawl space under a bedroom can each land differently. We confirm with the authority having jurisdiction before scoping, and price the coating into the quote whenever protection is required, so the price you compare is the code-compliant one.
Can you coat foam installed years ago?
Usually, yes, if the foam is sound. We inspect first: clean, dry, well adhered, undamaged. Deteriorated or crumbling foam needs repair or replacement before any coating goes on, because coating over failed foam wastes the coating. If the substrate passes, coating existing foam is far cheaper than sheeting over it.
Get the foam and its protection priced together.
Code requirement confirmed with the local authority. One written quote, one responsibility.