Curt Janzen tests DC-315, an intumescent coating that bubbles and swells when exposed to flame to protect foam insulation. Building codes require a 15-minute thermal barrier for exposed foam, and the test shows the coating expanding rapidly while the foam underneath stays intact.
Go ahead. So today we're doing a little experiment with polyurethane foam and our thermal barrier coating called DC-315. We're gonna be putting a flame against our thermal barrier product to see how it acts and reacts to the intense heat of a flame hitting it. In a residential home, you're not allowed to have any exposed polyurethane foam insulation. The reason for this is that the National Building Code Says that all plastics, whether it's a sheet good or a spray-applied product like ours, has to have a thermal barrier that'll give you 15 minutes to get out of the house or 15 minutes for the fire department to come and help out. DC-315 is not a paint. It is actually a coating that goes over the foam that protects the foam from the heat of the flame and will not allow it to burn. What we're seeing is the actual coating bubbling up. And swelling to protect the foam from the— from the intense heat of the flame. Some of the nice things about DC-315 is that if you don't like the color of it, you can actually coat it with different colors. to color match other parts of your building.
