Insulate cold room?

Hi All. I just moved in to a new house that has a fairly large cold room in the basement. I really don't need to have a room for cold storage so I am considering insulating the room and adding shelving to use it for normal heated storage space. I was thinking of getting the foam board insulation to glue to the concrete walls. Shelving I have is stand-alone units that don't need to attach to the walls.

The home is in Kitchener, Ontario, so the winters can get quite cold and currently there is some evidence of condensation on the inside of the door which is why I am thinking of this. Perhaps all I need to do is add an insulated door instead of bothering with the walls.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks,

Larry

Reply to
GoHabsGo
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Is the home currently heated with forced air or radiant heat?

If forced air you can mitigate some/all of the condensation by getting some air flow down there and DryLocking the walls. Install at least a cold air return duct, or both supply and return ducts. I wouldn't even bother with insulation frankly, basements are already below grade and temperature stable so insulation has no effect unless you first properly heat the space and seal any moisture penetration that will cause mold between insulation and wall. The DryLock (latex) on walls will help with condensation as well you should seal the slab with a penetrating water sealer (if its not already painted, etc), both will help. Dry and cold is good for storage areas. I wouldnt insulate unless you are serious about heating the space, that doesnt mean dont fill any air leaks though if they exist at the top of the foundation wall.

Reply to
RickH

RickH wrote in

About half of the cold room is above grade and there are a couple of vents to the outside which means it will get very cold in there in winter but the builder only put an interior door in place, with no insulating value. I would think some heat will be lost through there. I assume it would get rather warm in the hot days of summer as well.This causes the door to sweat on the cold room side. This is essentially what I am trying to prevent. I'm not too concerned with keeping any of the stored goods warm. Is it a good idea to block the vents and put up some insulation on the door?

Thanks,

Larry

Reply to
GoHabsGo

Code calls for R20 above ground level, R12 below ground level. Don't have to for storage area, but why not?

Why not frame the wall and use batt insulation and vapour barrier? Vapour barrier goes on the warm side of the insulation.

Ken

Reply to
bambam

"GoHabsGo" wrote

Not all that good then if I understand you and the 'interior door' faces the outside.

If that is the case, replace the door (might need to re-frame as interior ones may be as small as 22 inches (minimum I've ever seen) while exterior tend to be larger).

I don't know the Ontario code specs but it's likely you wont find an exterior door there that isn't within them.

I have something like that here in Virginia. Code allows an interior type door if leading to an enclosed porch. Problem is that 'enclosed porch' can be just screen enclosed. I replaced the problematic one that leads into the house proper but have not yet replaced the one that leads to the garage (garage to house proper has an exterior door).

Want really odd? I get grief over an exterior door *inside* the house proper that used to be the back of the house before the enclosed porch was added (leads to enclosed porch portion with another exterior door now applied). Codes can be pretty odd so I mention it only if you may have same issues and it's an interior door. That way you can check to see if you create an issue.

Reply to
cshenk

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