Ridged foam

[livefreeordie]

Ok, here's another question. The po's insulated the ceiling in the basement, if I insulate the walls do I need to remove the ceiling insulation or can I leave it there?

If you have a source of heat in the basement, I'd remove the insulation, if easy to do. If no source of heat, I'd leave the ceiling insulated. If you don't use the basement much in the winter, I wouldn't bother to insulate the walls, if the ceiling above it is well insulated.

BTW--what sort of insulation is on the basement ceiling?

We use the basement to wash/dry cloths plus we have an office there but it doesn't get used much in the winter. The ceiling has R15 fiberglass bats with a paper vapor barrier facing up. There is a source of heat but it doesn't come on since the pellet stove was installed.

 

[livefreeordie]

Ok, here's another question. The po's insulated the ceiling in the basement, if I insulate the walls do I need to remove the ceiling insulation or can I leave it there?

If you have a source of heat in the basement, I'd remove the insulation, if easy to do. If no source of heat, I'd leave the ceiling insulated. If you don't use the basement much in the winter, I wouldn't bother to insulate the walls, if the ceiling above it is well insulated.

BTW--what sort of insulation is on the basement ceiling?

+1 With the ceiling insulated (if well insulated) the only reason I'd look at insulatiing the walls is if I wanted to finish the basement. Still would probably pay to do the band joist/sill plate though.

Definitely going to do the ban joists, I hate to spend the money on foam if we don't use the basement much but the wife sure would be happy. A happy wife makes for a stress free life,lol At $10 a sheet i can buy lots of pellets with that money, will see what she wants to do this weekend.

 

[semipro]

Hey my house is on a slate foundation with a dirt floor. Previous owner put up 1x3 nailers and vapor barrier on the walls. The areas around the foundation has been stuffed with pink insulation.
I am not sure if it would help my situation to insulate the walls with still having a dirt floor. Comments/ thoughts ???

So you basically have a crawl space except its high enough to walk in?

If so, the same site I linked to earlier in this thread at construction science corp has some pretty good information on finishing out crawlspaces to control moisture and heat loss.

 

[esuitt]

Hey my house is on a slate foundation with a dirt floor. Previous owner put up 1x3 nailers and vapor barrier on the walls. The areas around the foundation has been stuffed with pink insulation.
I am not sure if it would help my situation to insulate the walls with still having a dirt floor. Comments/ thoughts ???

So you basically have a crawl space except its high enough to walk in?

If so, the same site I liked to earlier in this thread at construction science corp has some pretty good information on finishing out crawlspaces to control moisture and heat loss.

No, we have a full basement. I do not consider it a crawl space since we it is the full length of the house, has the h/w heater, oil tank, furnace and the electric service plus we can walk in it. We do have a small crawl space under the kitchen with pink insulation in between the floor joices. That floor/ room is the coldest of the 1st floor rooms.

 

[livefreeordie]

Well we picked up some 1" foam this week and will start the install this weekend, i will post some pictures and let you guys know how it went.

 

[semipro]

Well we picked up some 1" foam this week and will start the install this weekend, i will post some pictures and let you guys know how it went.

Great. I'm getting ready to do this soon. I'll be interested to see if you have any problems getting the foam panels to stick flush with the wall so that no air space exists.

 

[livefreeordie]

I did learn that there is a special adhesive for the rigid foam, just an fyi.

 

[semipro]

I did learn that there is a special adhesive for the rigid foam, just an fyi.

As did I. Locktite sells it under their "PL" label, about $3.53 per tube locally BTW. I have just read of others having some difficulty holding the foam in close contact with the wall while the glue dried.

 

[livefreeordie]

I thought about that, i guess i will have to use some 2x4's to prop the foam in place until the glue dries or see how long my wife will stand there and hold it

 

[velvetfoot]

Yeah, I never figured out a way to prop them in place, although they'll stick there after a little while of holding.
If the 2x4 was temporarily attached to the floor joist above, the lower end could be held in place by some kind of weight

 

[semipro]

Yeah, I never figured out a way to prop them in place, although they'll stick there after a little while of holding.
If the 2x4 was temporarily attached to the floor joist above, the lower end could be held in place by some kind of weight

I've even entertained the idea of using a vacuum pump that I have to do this. I was thinking that I could run a nice bead of the glue around the outer edge of the panel (between the wall and panel) to create a seal and then draw a vacuum through a hole in the center of the panel. Of course I'd also need glue spread elsewhere for adhesion. I'm guessing chances of success doing it this way are pretty low though. Ether the glue would block the air flow or I'd never get a good seal. I may try it anyway just to appease my curiosity. If it did work it would make things easy.

 

[livefreeordie]

Call me cheap but i won't spend the money on electricty while the glue dries. i have enough stuff in the basement to hold the foam in place until it dries.

 

[livefreeordie]

Update, i installed four 1x2x7 sheets of foam using loctite pl300 foamboard adhesive and titedond foamboard adh. to my suprise i did not have to prop anything against the foam to hold them in place.

 

[livefreeordie]

Well 26 sheets of 1x2x7 and eight tubes of glue later the basement is done. Now we will see if the temp stays warner.

 

[semipro]

Thanks for the update. I was wondering how much glue I would need.

 

[livefreeordie]

Because my walls are poured in four foot sections they are not perfectly flush so i had to use more glue than i wanted. I used eight evenly spaced large blobs of glue which seemed to work the best for me..Its been 24 hours and i can feel the difference in the temp, well worth the money i think.

 

[gpcollen1]

Nice work - did you do just the walls or the floor too?

 

[livefreeordie]

Nice work - did you do just the walls or the floor too?

Just the walls, its been cold the last couple of nights and the temp has held steady at 56 with no heat source so i would say its doing its job very well.

 

[EJL923]

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,20332381,00.html

 

[livefreeordie]

Saw that vid. very good info thanks

 

[gpcollen1]

Good article from Building Science Corp on this topic here:

http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-0309-renovating-your-basment/at_download/file

Thanks for the link, that's good stuff.

Of course insulation is going to help. Read the rest of the 'insulation' articles too.

http://www.buildingscience.com/search?SearchableText=insulation