Insulation mystery under covered porch

[blueman]

We have a covered entrance porch that sits about 10 inches off the ground. It is wide open to the outside on two sides and surrounded by the house on the other two sides.

I was replacing the decking and found (waterlogged) bags of pink insulation stuffed in black garbage bags between the underside of the decking and the dirt floor below.

I can't for the life of me figure out why they would put insulation there. There is nothing underneath the porch other than dirt. The porch itself is wide open to the outside on two sides so I can't imagine how insulating under the deck would help anything. The house (and basement) surround the porch on the other two sides but the insulation can't be doing anything to insulate the house. The only effect of the insulation was that water (inevitably) got into the bags leading to moisture which presumably accelerated the rotting of the deck boards.

So, any ideas (other than stupidity) on why someone would go to the trouble of stuffing bags of insulation under the porch floor?

[Pat]

They were probably storing it. Then it got ruined and they abandoned it.

[aemeijers]

Previous Owner was planning to close the porch in, and ran out of cash or ambition or time, after doing the first step? I've seen similar things done under summer lake cabins people wanted to insulate enough for occasional cold-weather use, heated by a potbelly stove. Wrong material for the job, of course, but most people don't know much.

Well, it plausible.

aem sends...

[Norminn]

Likely trying to use it as a wind block so the exposed walls would not be as cold. Like the old "bale of hay" trick, which works.

[HeyBub]

Two obvious possibilities:

1. Everything's got to be somewhere.
2. The previous owner was training it to like wherever it was put.

[Paul]

Do you live in snow country? It is possible the porch footing is not deep enough. Insulating the ground may lessen the depth that will freeze preventing the porch from rising. Snow acts like an insulator there would be no snow under the porch.