"accessible" recessed lights if ceiling is spray - foamed??

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Stevenfyeager

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Location
United States, Indiana
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electrical contractor
A contractor is going to spray foam a ceiling in a house after he removes all the blown in insulation and I install 8 recessed lights for a customer. But will the elec inspector pass it? The can lights won't be able to drop down like usual to be able to access the j box connections. Nor will we be able to take off the cover plate from the attic with the spray foam on it. Thank you
 
Stevenfyeager said:
A contractor is going to spray foam a ceiling in a house after he removes all the blown in insulation and I install 8 recessed lights for a customer. But will the elec inspector pass it? The can lights won't be able to drop down like usual to be able to access the j box connections. Nor will we be able to take off the cover plate from the attic with the spray foam on it. Thank you
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Do you know where the foam will be placed? All of the spray foamed attics I have seen have the foam applied to the rafters and bottom of the roof deck not to the ceiling joists.
 
Stevenfyeager said:
A contractor is going to spray foam a ceiling in a house after he removes all the blown in insulation and I install 8 recessed lights for a customer. But will the elec inspector pass it? The can lights won't be able to drop down like usual to be able to access the j box connections. Nor will we be able to take off the cover plate from the attic with the spray foam on it. Thank you
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The splices must remain accessible in all cases. jFletchers suggestion of covers seems like a great solution.
 
ActionDave said:
Do you know where the foam will be placed? All of the spray foamed attics I have seen have the foam applied to the rafters and bottom of the roof deck not to the ceiling joists.
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Same here.

Otherwise use mentioned covers or box around them somehow.
 
ActionDave said:
Do you know where the foam will be placed? All of the spray foamed attics I have seen have the foam applied to the rafters and bottom of the roof deck not to the ceiling joists.
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kwired said:
Same here.

Otherwise use mentioned covers or box around them somehow.
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Not doubting what you guys have seen but what is the logic of that?:huh:

I am assuming an unoccupied attic space.
 
iwire said:
Not doubting what you guys have seen but what is the logic of that?:huh:

I am assuming an unoccupied attic space.
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Same reasons you generally don't put a vapor barrier on the ceiling(floor of the attic), I would guess.

Though it wasn't spray foamed I saw an assisted living center that had insulation under roof decking instead of on attic floor - but they did have water lines in that attic (poor design IMO but that is what was done).

Most other spaces I saw it done was occupied attic spaces, "knee walls" on a second floor or similar. Spaces where attic ventilation were impractical but loose fill type insulation can still allow for moisture problems. You still get condensation on underside of cold roof with loose fill insulation sometimes, and need ventilation to allow it to dry.
 
iwire said:
Not doubting what you guys have seen but what is the logic of that?:huh:

I am assuming an unoccupied attic space.
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The logic is you're putting the insulation at the perimeter of the building starting at the walls, continuing up to the roof and back down the other side and then under the floor; the exterior is one big shell and anything inside of it is conditioned space. Closed cell spray insulation is such a good insulator and vapour barrier there is no attic ventilation.
 
ActionDave said:
The logic is you're putting the insulation at the perimeter of the building starting at the walls, continuing up to the roof and back down the other side and then under the floor; the exterior is one big shell and anything inside of it is conditioned space. Closed cell spray insulation is such a good insulator and vapour barrier there is no attic ventilation.
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The same thing is accomplished by spaying the ceiling to the walls and now the big shell only includes occupied spaces.

Also as far as I know you don't want insulation tight agaist the roof sheathing.
 
iwire said:
The same thing is accomplished by spaying the ceiling to the walls and now the big shell only includes occupied spaces.

Also as far as I know you don't want insulation tight agaist the roof sheathing.
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Loose fill you don't want tight against the roof sheathing. You can have moisture problems if you do, it needs ventilation.

Spray foam doesn't matter, it is insulation and vapor barrier all in one, only time it would matter is if you somehow kept it from being in direct contact with the underside of the roof and had an air gap between the two.
 
iwire said:
That is not convincing me it's right. Those guys have the intelligence level of drywallers. :D




No doubt but still a waste of heat.
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I have seldom if ever seen this done in an attic with enough head room to actually stand up.

Mostly in top floor finished off spaces with sloped ceilings, knee walls, and adjacent crawl spaces that you often can't even sit up in.
 
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