Spray Foam Lindsay
Off the gas main, every leak costs more
A house or shop outside the gas network pays for every leak in propane, oil, electricity or wood. Closed-cell foam where the air actually gets out is where that money comes back.
Spray Foam Insulation
Polarfoam 7300-0 SOYA, what it does in an assembly and where we use it.
See the serviceAsk what you burn before you ask what to spray
Most people looking up spray foam Lindsay contractors start with the product. Around Lindsay it pays to start one step earlier, with the fuel. The Province of Ontario says plainly that natural gas “is more affordable than other sources such as electricity, oil or propane”, and its Natural Gas Expansion Program exists to bring gas to parts of Ontario that still do not have it. Bobcaygeon, in the same City of Kawartha Lakes as Lindsay, is on that program’s Phase 2 list. In other words, the gas network in the municipality around Lindsay is still being extended, and a property outside it buys heat from one of the dearer sources.
That changes the arithmetic of a leak. Air escaping through an unsealed rim joist carries away heat you paid for, and the bill for replacing it depends on what is in the tank or on the meter. Our own Kawartha Lakes page names the pattern: buildings that are expensive to keep warm on propane or electric baseboard. A Lindsay farmhouse on oil and a new subdivision house on gas can have exactly the same gap above the foundation. The farmhouse pays more for it every winter.
The useful question, then, is not “how much insulation” but “where is the air getting out”. Natural Resources Canada answers that in Keeping the Heat In: air leakage control is “the single most important retrofit activity, and it should be considered first.” Closed-cell foam is insulation and air seal in the same pass, which is why it earns its higher price in exactly the places Lindsay-area buildings leak most.
The leaks, by the numbers
Where an older Lindsay house gives its heat away
NRCan’s figures are national. What is local to Lindsay is the price of the heat each one wastes.
The bottom of the house is the expensive part
NRCan explains the mechanism as the stack effect: warm air rising out through the top of the house lowers the pressure near the bottom, which pulls outside air in “through cracks and openings (e.g. basement windows and rim joist space)”. Its basement chapter adds that a lot of air comes in at the top of the foundation wall, the sill area. On a house heated by gas that leak is irritating. On a Lindsay-area house heated by oil or propane, it is the line on the bill you can do the most about.
That sill and rim joist band is also where closed-cell foam is hardest to beat. It is a short, chopped-up cavity full of joist ends, wiring and plumbing, the kind of space a batt bridges over and leaves leaking. Foam goes on as a liquid, fills the gaps, and cures into one continuous layer.
When foam is not the first answer
Older rural houses do not all sit on poured concrete. NRCan notes that older rubble, brick or stone foundations “were rarely damp-proofed”, hold water in their mortar, and are best insulated from the outside, adding that you should “always obtain expert advice before proceeding on remediation”. If your Lindsay-area farmhouse stands on fieldstone, the honest first step is to look at the wall and the water, not to spray it. And where a job has large, plain wall areas, our Simcoe County page says the same thing we would say here: foam for the awkward, leaky spots, BIBS or batt for the big open areas, because they cover them for less.
The buildings
Spray foam insulation Lindsay buildings actually call for
The City of Kawartha Lakes describes its farm sector as over 1,100 crop and livestock farming operations. That is a lot of buildings around Lindsay that are not houses.
Farmhouse rim joists and sills
NRCan puts the sill and header on its checklist of air leakage areas, and names the rim joist space as an intake under stack effect.
Heated workshops
Our FAQ puts it simply: on shops and outbuildings, continuous foam over irregular framing is often what makes the space practical to heat.
Pole barns and steel buildings
Girts, purlins and irregular framing leave nowhere for a batt to sit. Foam bonds to wood or steel and follows the shape.
Quonset and arched shells
A curved shell is geometry no batt can follow. Foam is sprayed straight onto it in one continuous layer.
Crawl spaces
NRCan notes many houses were built on partial-depth foundation walls that leave a crawl space, with the floor above exposed to it.
Slabs before the pour
A shop floor can be foamed to a continuous, even layer before the concrete goes down, as one job on our Our Work page shows.
Before you tighten it
A house that burns something needs air to do it
Here is the part of the Lindsay picture that a gas-heated suburb rarely has to think about. NRCan lists combustion and ventilation as one of the three things that move air through a house, because appliances that burn “wood, oil, natural gas or propane, need air”. It goes further: furnaces, water heaters, fireplaces and woodstoves need air both to burn and to exhaust, and if there is not enough, “the chimney or flue could spill dangerous gases into the house.”
NRCan also treats a house as a system: cut the leakage and indoor humidity rises, and a tightened house may need more ventilation. That is a reason to seal knowingly, not a reason not to. For a Lindsay home with an oil furnace, a propane boiler or a woodstove, it means three things:
- 1
Say what you heat with
Tell us at the on-site assessment, so the quote is written around the appliance and not just the cavities.
- 2
Seal the top and the bottom
The attic floor and the rim joist drive most of the stack effect. Those are the places our foam goes first.
- 3
Have the appliance checked
Once the envelope is tighter, ask whoever services your furnace, boiler or stove to confirm it still has the air it needs.
City of Kawartha Lakes
The permit question, answered by the City in Lindsay
In this municipality, insulation is not an afterthought on the permit list. It is named on it.
The City’s Building Permits and Guides page lists what needs a permit, and two lines on it matter for foam. One is “alteration to a building system, such as insulation changes/additions”. The other is “carports, garages or boathouses, including new, renovations and additions”. Add basement rooms and detached structures over 10 m², and most foam work in and around Lindsay sits inside the permit system.
Permits are handled by the Building and Septic Division at 180 Kent Street West, Lindsay, reachable at 705-324-9411 ext. 1288. If you are unsure, the City says to ask; NRCan’s retrofit guide opens with the same advice.
What the City asks for on an outbuilding
For a shop, garage or other accessory building, the City’s application guide sets out the mandatory uploads, and on a rural Lindsay property two of them catch people out:
- The application and an Applicable Law Checklist, with any outside approvals obtained before you apply.
- Approval or a written exemption from the regional conservation authority, if the property is regulated.
- A site plan, and construction plans that can include a wall section.
- A septic system review or permit, depending on scope, if the property is on private septic.
The wall section is where the insulation shows up on paper. Ours is the part we can help with: the Ontario Building Code requires foam in occupied spaces to be covered by a thermal barrier, and our quote states what your space needs, so the drawing and the inspector are looking at the same assembly.
Barrie to the Kawarthas
The rig drives to Lindsay, not the other way round
We work out of Barrie, and our spray rig is the shop: proportioner, heated hose and drums travel with the crew. Lindsay sits on our Kawartha Lakes list with Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls, Omemee, Little Britain, Dunsford, Kirkfield and Coboconk.
- A free visit to the building before any price is written
- An itemized quote by area and product, with the reasoning for each
- Spray foam, BIBS, batt and removal from one crew
Money and straight answers
What a Lindsay homeowner can count on from us
Rebates that include propane and oil
The Home Renovation Savings Program, announced in February 2025, covers homes heated with electricity, Enbridge gas customers, and homes that heat primarily with oil, wood or propane. For a Lindsay home we tell you what is current when you call, rather than print a figure that may expire.
No savings figure before we look
Your saving depends on how leaky the building is, what you burn and how you run it. An open rim joist on a Lindsay farmhouse and a top-up on a newer Lindsay house on gas are different answers.
Certified, and accountable to a standard
Our applicators are certified to CAN/ULC-S705.2, and we are a certified SPFI contractor and a CUFCA member.
The cheaper product, when it will do
We install four systems, so a quote can put foam where the air leaks and something less expensive across the plain wall and attic areas.
Inspection-ready work
Documented lift thicknesses, trimmed flush, left ready for the inspector from Lindsay.
Spray foam in Lindsay: questions people ask
Do I need a building permit to spray foam a house in Lindsay?
Usually, yes. The City of Kawartha Lakes lists “alteration to a building system, such as insulation changes/additions” among the projects that need a building permit, alongside basement rooms and garage renovations. Applications go to the Building and Septic Division at 180 Kent Street West in Lindsay, which also answers the question for a specific project at 705-324-9411 ext. 1288.
Is spray foam worth it if my Lindsay-area home heats with propane or oil?
That is the situation where sealing pays back hardest. The Province of Ontario describes natural gas as more affordable than electricity, oil or propane, so a leak that would be a nuisance on a gas bill is a bigger line on a propane or oil one. How much you save still depends on how leaky the house is now and how you run it, which is why we look at the building before we put a number on anything.
Can you insulate a pole barn, workshop or Quonset outside Lindsay?
Yes. We insulate shops, barns, pole buildings and outbuildings, and our Our Work page shows a Quonset garage and a shop floor done in closed-cell foam. Check the City rules first: a detached structure over 10 m² needs a permit, and garages, carports and boathouses need one for renovations as well as new construction.
Will sealing my house affect my wood stove or oil furnace?
It can, and it is worth raising before the work rather than after. Natural Resources Canada points out that wood, oil, gas and propane appliances all need air to burn and to vent, and that tightening a house changes the balance of the whole system, including indoor humidity. Tell us at the assessment what you heat with, and have the appliance checked by whoever services it once the envelope is tighter.
Do you come out to Lindsay from Barrie?
Lindsay is one of the eight Kawartha Lakes communities on our service-area page, and we serve that area from our base in Barrie. The quote visit is free and on site. If your property is somewhere we cannot reach, call anyway: if we cannot get to you, we will usually know someone who can. We work Monday to Friday, 7:30 am to 5:30 pm.
Are there rebates for insulation in a home that is not on natural gas?
Ontario’s Home Renovation Savings Program, announced by the IESO in February 2025, is open to homes heated with electricity, Enbridge gas customers, and homes that heat primarily with oil, wood or propane. Program terms change, so we do not publish amounts as a promise. Ask when you call and we will tell you what is current.
Where to go from here
Lindsay and the Kawartha Lakes
Tell us what the building burns, and where it is cold
We will book a visit, get into the attic, basement or crawl space, and give you a written answer.
- No charge for the assessment
- Itemized by area and product
- CAN/ULC-S705.2 certified applicators