Foam with a View

Spray Foam Magazine – Fall 2026 – Residential spray foam jobs are often straightforward: encapsulate a basement in a three-bedroom ranch, seal up an attic in a split-level, and move on to the next one. But every so often, a job comes along that’s sprinkled in some novelty. This time, it’s installing Genyk 2.0 Elite closed-cell spray foam to a client’s bespoke dream home perched on a lakeshore hillside with a view most people only get on vacation. That’s exactly the kind of project Mackenzie Lloyd and his team have been chipping away at for the past several months, four hours from home, on the shores of Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada.

Mackenzie Lloyd, known to just about everyone as Mack, runs The Spray Foam Guy out of Hampton, Ontario. He’s been in the building trade for more than 20 years, and construction and renovation were always his first love. That labor of love is realized through his non-foam venture, Core Building Group, which handles insulated concrete form (ICF) foundations, full builds, additions, and excavation. Spray foam came into the picture almost by accident. Lloyd used to subcontract out the foam portion of his renovation jobs, but he kept running into crews who had the right equipment but didn’t understand construction or building science well enough to do it right. He decided to learn the trade himself. It didn’t take long for the side hustle to take on a life of its own.

“It took off really fast with social media,” Lloyd said, “and I had to basically step back from doing the renovations to focus on spray foam for a good four or five years, until I could hire some good guys and grow from there.”

These days, Lloyd relies on a lean, capable crew of three to keep the foam part of things moving. A smaller crew hasn’t stopped the team from taking on big gigs. They’re currently installing Genyk 2.0 Elite closed-cell spray foam to a unique lake house. It’s been stop-and-go, yet progressing smoothly, nonetheless.

The still under-construction house in question sits at the top of a steep hillside overlooking Lake Huron, close to a sloped beach area and tucked well away from neighbors. Lloyd was brought onto the project by Brett Vukets of BCMR Group, a Toronto-based general contractor and longtime friend. The two have a long working relationship, as Lloyd’s crew regularly handles spray foam for BCMR’s projects back in Toronto. So, when Vuket’s client needed insulation for this build, Lloyd was already on speed dial. It’s a large undertaking: the clients already own a sizable home in Toronto along with a cottage next door on this same lakefront lot. This new build is intended as their primary residence going forward, and once it’s complete, the plan is to tear down the existing cottage and build another new home for their kids on the same property.

Lloyd’s team makes the trek to the job site from Toronto, about four hours away. Given the distance and the piecemeal nature of the job, Lloyd’s team has settled into a rhythm of showing up for a few days at a time, spraying whatever section is ready, then heading home to wait for the next phase of trade work to catch up. The remote area means accommodations are sparse, but that’s no matter. The crew hauls up a second truck with an attached camper for them to stay in for the duration of each visit. With the camper parked overlooking the lake, it’s safe to say this is one of the more scenic job sites they’ve been on. That view really takes the edge off the long drives.

Travel aside, just getting situated at the site after arriving is a feat in itself. The driveway down to the house is so steep, and unfinished to boot. To back the spray rig and camper trailer safely down the hill without losing control, the crew had to hook a massive excavator to the front of the truck and use it as an anchor while they reversed down the slope.

“That was the first time we have had to do something like that,” Lloyd said with a chuckle.

Because the driveway is still unfinished gravel, any real rain sends water pouring down the hillside and washes the surface out. A gravel-lanche, if you will. At one point during this visit, the crew had the trailer rig tied off to a nearby tree just to keep it from sliding down the hill while they slept. Eventually, the homeowners plan to install a permanent switchback driveway with retaining walls to solve the problem for good.

With much still to do, the current push has been to get the entire roofline sprayed before the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical trades move in. That’s no small task, given the scale of the ceilings involved. The home’s open-concept living room vaults roughly 30 feet overhead, capped with a set of barrel dormers. These stunning windows let in natural light and add plenty of curb appeal from the outside. But for the foamers, reaching that height required building a temporary work platform for the first phase of spraying; since then, that platform has come down and been replaced with a few sections of scaffolding the crew can reposition as needed. Once the roofline work is finished, the plan is to return in a couple of months to spray the walls before the drywall goes up.

Lloyd’s crew is applying Genyk 2.0 Elite closed-cell spray foam with an H-30 Reactor and a Fusion CS gun, giving them precise control over how much product goes down in each pass. The ceilings are getting a full five inches of foam, while the walls receive three and a half inches, sprayed directly onto ZIP System sheathing over a wood-framed substrate throughout the house.

Working at height and on tight timelines brings its own safety considerations, but on this job, the bigger concern has been the heat. The crew relies on a supplied-air system paired with either an Allegro or 3M mask, depending on the day.

“We’d probably pass out without it,” Lloyd said of the supplied air, which keeps the team breathing clean, cool air even in the middle of summer. Regular swim breaks help, too. With the lake just steps away, the crew makes a habit of shedding their coveralls every couple of hours to cool off in the water before suiting back up.

The house is still very much a work in progress, and Lloyd expects his team to make at least one more trip north before they’re completely done. In the meantime, he’s setting his sights on a different kind of expansion. Southward, to Alabama. He’s currently in the process of securing an E2 visa to bring Core Building Group into the U.S. The stateside expansion was inspired last winter after he’d spent a stretch working in Alabama and Tennessee, and now he’s hoping to establish a steady presence down south for new custom builds and renovations.

“It’s so brutal up here with snow and cold that it makes it tough for building,” said Lloyd, reflecting on Ontario’s winters. Long term, he’d like to see The Spray Foam Guy make the trip south as well. “The goal down the road is to have The Spray Foam Guy franchised, and we’ll start doing some stuff down in the states.”

For now, though, the focus stays on the house above Lake Huron; one long drive at a time, and section at a time, until the whole thing is buttoned up tight.