Basement wall insulation gunk

[KarynAnne]

Have any of you heard of/know what it's called when a contractor comes in and sprays gunk on your concrete basement walls that dries to a kind of hard foam? I don't know what I'm really trying to say, but I'll bet some of you know what it is. Most of my walls in the basement are finished. Gonna have my very cute and talented husband make a floor to go over the existing floor. He said something about blue-board and 2/4s. Anyway, the laundry room and the cave (under the garage where the wood is stored) is just raw concrete. I've been reading all of you saying that it's the kiss of death for a basement stove to have that much exposed concrete. That makes sense. So how about that blown on gunk? Any advice?

 

[Corey]

I guess you are talking about the two part urethane foam like:

(broken link removed to http://www.5starperinsul.com/products/biobase.php)

There are many other companies, but I guess the key words are "urethane foam insulation"

As for making a floor out of blueboard and 2x4's that seems a little sketchy to me. The blueboard I am familiar with is like drywall/sheetrock, but is specifically made as an underlayment for plaster. Not really the kind of thing you would make a floor out of. Maybe oriented strand board or "OSB" with 2x4's and foam insulation between?

Corey

 

[KarynAnne]

Well, from what I understand a grid of 2/4s are laid w/ the blue-board in between as part insulation part moisture barrier and then plywood or something on top of that and then whatever else on top of the plywood. Thanks for the gunk lead.

 

[KarynAnne]

I could be calling the blue-board the wrong thing for sure. Obviously.

 

[kevinmoelk]

What's your basement ceiling height? There are other options beyond all the flooring work you are speaking of, but ultimately it depends on what floor you want.

-Kevin

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Polystyrene foam boards are blue. If I remember right, they also have an R value of 6 for every inch. They are extremely flammable too.

 

[elkimmeg]

Before any work is done in your basement ,one should coat the walls with vapor water resistang coatings.

UGL makes such a product, applid by either a heavy nap rollor or a wall paper type brush

I usually apply 2 coats to the walls and use Thompson water seal on the floor

Also all framing material has to have concrete contact protection like pressure treated bottom 2/4 plates

From there Various forms of insulation can be applied between the wall 2/4 cavities

Poly filled is one option however it is a nightmare if future remodeling is done all wires are cemented in place and electrical boxex
It will turn an easy job into a major remodeling project if one has to deal with electrical issues. Makes fishing future wires impossible

 

[wg_bent]

Before any work is done in your basement one should coat the walls w with vapor watr resistang coatings.

UGL makes such a product applid by either a heavy nap rollor od a wall paper type brush

I usually apply 2 coats to the walls and use Thompson water seal on the floor

Also all framing material has to have concrete contact protection like pressure treated bottom 2/4 plates

From there Various forms of insulation can be applied between the wall 2/4 cavities

Elk is dead on here. The best insulation for walls is the spray stuff you mention, but a rigid board insulation like the Insulpink is a good second way to go followed by non-faced bats. The reason the rigid boards are good is they are semi-permeable, so will breath a little. I believe this is what your contractor is putting onthe floor. If you put a laminate or other snap together floor down you don't need the 2x4s on the floor and will eliminate a source of possible mold. Just lay the laminate floating floor on top of the insulation. It's expensive, but will make the floor more comfortable.

 

[Jay H]

I guess you are talking about the two part urethane foam like:

(broken link removed to http://www.5starperinsul.com/products/biobase.php)

There are many other companies, but I guess the key words are "urethane foam insulation"

[snip]

Corey

They seem to exist as 'Great Stuff' and also Dap sells their own brand of expanding foam insulation. They are not meant to be waterproof and are not rated for fireplaces but they expand and insulate cracks and gaps and can be painted when cured. Highly flammible before curing.

I've used it a lot to seal off gaps in the sill plate of my foundation and in and around pipes and cracks, but it's not a waterproofer as far as I know. They make something like DryLok (name brand) which is a masonry sealerto seal cracks and stuff in concrete and they make a paint that is made to seal off water seepage.

Jay

 

[kd460]

Ever consider a product for the floor called "Comfort Base"?

(broken link removed to http://www.homasote.com/comfort.html)

I have heard good things about it, but have no personal experience with it. KD

 

[tutu_sue]

Hi KarenAnne,

My hubby (Tool Man) and I insulated the back wall of our garage in Sept. using the Insulpink foam (http://secure.owenscorning.net/Portal/uploads/document/20040720/58103.pdf). It was very easy and not too expensive. We have a daylight basement, half below grade and the wall we insulated was below. First we put two coats of the UGL latex Drylok paint - that took one weekend. The following weekend we applied the 1 1/2 inch Insulfoam. The boards are 24" wide and 8 ft. high. They are attached to the wall using 1" x 2" furring strip boards every 24" and concrete screws. Finally, you can install electrical wiring very easily by running the Romex along the furring strips and using shallow electrical boxes. Being that the foam is very flammable, you must cover it with sheetrock. We had the wall complete in 3 days, well not quite - we tend to sleep in on weekends.

I can't tell you what a difference this has made in the garage. It's much drier, no more mustiness and stays much warmer than before. Plus we get to take the tax credit on the insulation for this year.

Now in NJ the minimum insulation value is R-8, but in NH and please double check this, it looks like if you use this continuous insulation system, you need to use the 2" insulation boards which are R-10. If you decide to use studs with cavity insulation, like fiberglass, you need R-11.

How much did it cost us to do the 20 foot by 8 foot wall? Here's what we got from the Depot:
2 gallons Drylok paint: $44.00 (actually used 1.25 gallsons)
10 1" x 2" furring strips: $ 9.00
10 1.5" Insulpink boards $117.00 (2" boards would cost about $32 more)
1 box 75 Tapcon screws $14.00
5/8" firerated sheetrock $59.00 (1/2 inch blue board would cost about $65 more)
Total $243

Good luck with your project, it will be well worth doing!!

 

[ecfinn]

I raised my basement floor with this product, Delta-FL. http://www.deltafl.com/ I personally like this product a bit better because it allowed me to put down full 4x8 sheets of Tongue and Groove 3/4" OSB.

Another more readily available product is called Dricore and is available at Home Depot. Its 2'x2' tiles with plastic dimpled bottom and OSB attached to the top. (broken link removed)

If you'd like more information, feel free to PM me and I'll go into more detail if you'd like.

BTW, this is not a solution to basement water issues. I had to take care of those first before I could install this flooring. But it makes a big difference in terms of the temperature of the basement floor and general comfort of the basement rooms. And the best part is you only lose 1-1/4" in height at the most.

Eric

 

[KarynAnne]

Hey, thanks guys. Sue - great description. We thankfully do not have a water problem in the basement. Moisture - yes. We have a couple of bags of "Thoro-seal" or something to mix up and slap on the exposed stuff/floor as a barrier. And we have a great dehumidifier for the right time of year. You should have seen all of the mold that we've washed off of the walls down there when we moved in. Now with the dehumidifier on when needed - no more of that problem. The ceiling is just standard. Um - 8ft? The good part about the ceiling is that when we took a very funky false ceiling off, we decided to leave it as we found it. The underside doesn't look bad at all, and more warmth can reach the upstairs. My fiber studio is down there too, so a comfortable floor would be great but $$ are an issue. Although a great pair of wool slippers would be a lot cheaper than a whole floor. Leave the floor concrete - I'll get some 1" thick woolie slippers! It's meant to be a work area down there, so we don't need to pour a lot into ambiance. The finished walls are this great novelty pine stuff from the 40s though. The upstairs has a lot of that too..looks like a hunting lodge with all of the deer heads. So thanks for all of the leads and advice, I'll have Mark take a look at this thread so that anything he wasn't already aware of he can get a head's up on.