How To Insulate Basement With Dirt Floor
Properly insulating and air sealing rim joists band joists takes patience so most builders simply stuff in some fiberglass and walk away.
How to insulate basement with dirt floor. The sill plate is the first piece of framing lumber and it runs on top of the crawl space wall. The result of that is an unending source of humidity as moisture in the ground evaporates into the air and can condense on cold walls and joists where mold can establish itself. We have a walk in basement with plenty of air gaps in the floor. We removed the carpet to refinish the original floors.
I have a 20 year old 2 story log home with a huge basement the basement has a back entry 2 levels and a what i call a shelf toward the front of the home the basement floor is dirt so i initially covered with 6 mil black plastic but have planned to cover the walls with either eps with foil backing or polyiso with foil backing minimum of 2 inches thick i live in 4 5 climate zone. So i spray foam to fill in the gaps. I have a older home 1955. My question do i still put the insulation with craft paper still up or down.
Should i do foam insulation. My house is 34yrs old and should have been done before house was built but that is hindsight. We close down the cottage for the winter and drain the water for the season we would love to insulate and try to make it a 4 season cottage. That is something i wanted to do with my house but i was given a quote of 14 000 plus.
Fixing a dirt floor crawlspace. If you have an unfinished basement you can properly insulate the rim joists in two or three hours. Use a box cutter to cut the insulation to length. Insulating a basement floor requires a simple framework for the insulation.
You will gain a more comfortable home environment a mold free basement and savings on your yearly energy bills. Only seal and insulate your basement in combination with concreting the basement floor to seal out moisture that rises from the dirt. Molly has given good advice. Your best and first heat keeping are spent in insulating the attic and in sealing all the cracks that allow cold drafts into your house.
All too often a crawlspace will have nothing but a dirt floor and probably some un insulated walls. We are not sure if i should insulate the ceiling of the crawl space or to simply try to get a floor. Cover the walls with insulation from the sill plate to the plastic covered dirt floor. When you re using fiberglass batting insulation material run it about 6 inches or so onto the crawl space floor.
On sep 29 2014. Next question should i block off the the air that brings in the fresh air. Remove all furniture and storage items that are located in the basement area.