How To Install Floor Insulation Batts

As I've covered extensively in my waterproofing department, basements are cool, damp places. You can't merely throw whatsoever ole insulation up. You need to exist aware of your options, and have a game plan going into your finishing project.

Is Rigid Foam Insulation the Right Insulation for your Basement?

Your choice really comes downward to blanket insulation (aka fiberglass) or XPS. About homes apply fiberglass, but rigid foam insulation, although more than plush offers a few extra features. Let'due south take a wait.

Blanket Insulation: This is very common mainly considering it is very toll constructive. Usually made of fiberglass and information technology typically has some type of facing fastened: newspaper, foil, or vinyl. This was the option of choice in Jason's basement and I wouldn't discourage anyone from going this route.

[NOTE from Jason: The builder for my house had pre-installed my fiberglass insulation and so the pick was pretty easy for me. Living in the moderately warm climate of Virginia and non having any obvious moisture concerns and a express budget I opted to just utilise what was at that place. Had they not pre-installed it, I probably still would accept gone with fiberglass batts. ]

XPS - a.k.a Extruded Polystyrene - a.g.a Rigid Foam Board: This is what I installed, and the topic of this commodity. Boards come up of varying thickness up to 2in. Y'all get a thermal capability of R5 per inch of thickness. I recommend going with the 2in thick for an R10 rating.

The lath is more expensive than blanket insulation. Boilerplate toll for a 4'x8'x2'' sail was $30/sheet. My typically sized basement took near 35 sheets. That adds up to a absurd Gee! Evidently a skilful chunk of alter. By comparison, drywall for that same basement was $400.

Other: There are other forms of insulation like loose-fill which is usually blown in or the sprayed in foam type. The flim-flam there is to make sure you take the proper density to ensure acceptable thermal capacity. These options are also typically non DIYer friendly because they crave special equipment and therefore are also even more costly than XPS to install.

XPS Benefits:

So if y'all are going to pay near double the cost for XPS, what benefits do you get? I argue peace of mind. I've contended that at some signal, every basement is susceptible to water. Whether its actively accumulating on your flooring (worst example) or the about modest of seepage through your foundation walls (best case), its simply a affair of time. Once water gets in your basement, it can sit in your fiberglass insulation (amongst other places) and may create mold.

XPS is extremely h2o resistant and subsequently mold resistant. Dissimilar the fiberglass insulation, it volition non hold the water needed for mold to develop and spread. That's non to say your drywall won't hold it, but you can see drywall and nip that in the bud before it spreads.

Also, in the case of an "aquatic consequence" in your basement, you can cutting out and supercede smaller sections of effected drywall instead of having to tear out larger areas in order to gut your insulation. How easily can you encounter your insulation? Typically by the fourth dimension you realize mold has adult on your insulation, its already spread quite essentially.

Now that I have thoroughly convinced you to install XPS in your basement, how do yous do it? It'due south quite easy actually...

Installing rigid foam insulation

Allow me to break down the major components.

Prep Work - I've talked about basement waterproofing pigment before. I recommend yous do this before XPS installation for added peace of heed. I had no issues applying the XPS to my painted walls. Aside from any other wall treatments you desire to practice (I highly recommend reviewing my interior waterproofing article) the prep work basically involves making sure you accept a clean dry surface. Accept a shop vac and wet towel to your walls to get rid of all those cob webs!

Tools/Materials Needed:

Box Cutter - Used to score the XPS

Drywall Saw - Not 100% required but I plant that with 2'' thick XPS, the box cutter did non sufficiently score the XPS to exist able to snap pieces off. It did OK when scoring forth the 4' lengths, but not to well along the 8'. If you lot don't have ane, this Stanley is under $10 and gets great reviews. You'll need information technology when installing or repairing drywall anyway

Caulk Gun - Another frequently used tool on non-basement finishing projects. You'll need this to employ the adhesive

Foam Lath Adhesive - You can get this at your local HD, southhelves and shelves of information technology! I'yard sure at that place are other adhesives that COULD work, but they make i specifically for applying cream board. Make sure you use it! It is specifically designed not to fire the foam. Other more aggressive adhesives may burn your foam lath instead of adhering information technology to the wall. I used almost 1 tube per sheet of XPS.

XPS - Duh! I had to make multiple trips to HD to get the 30+ sheets home. Not because of the weight, merely the size is awkward to ship. I had to strap them to the roof of our Pilot. Driving with 10 sheets at a time looked silly enough - couldn't imagine doing it with 30. Plus I spread the purchase over two credit card billing cycles to help ease the financial burden.

Application Tips -

1. Don't exist stingy with the adhesive. Use liberally - specifically in the corners and along edges of a piece.

2. Utilize something to hold the boards in place while the agglutinative cures. I had all my framing lumber already in the basement and then I just used that. Yous don't need a tremendous amount of pressure - simply something to go on the board in place and firmly up confronting the wall.

Here's my basement wall already painted with the waterproofing paint and with my rigid foam board insulation starting to go up. Note: the pinkish panther guy is in that location, so you know information technology'south expert.

3. Similar drywall, install full pieces covering windows and later once the agglutinative is fully cured, come back and cut out your openings with the drywall saw.

4. Endeavour to proceed the seams tight. Any large gaps are locations air tin can enter (or escape depending on the season).

5. Cease the chore with some tyvek tape beyond the joints. Larger gaps (where unavoidable) can be filled with expandable foam.

Simple right? This job is certainly low on the DIYer difficulty calibration. Pretty low on time delivery as well. Certainly a fleck higher on cost, merely if your budget allows it, its provides an excellent insulating option and peace of mind. If you have whatsoever questions, delight leave them in the comments below!

- Adam