Insulating basement walls: Last year in this group I ask about insulating basement walls. Learned a lot about vapor barriers and types of insulation. Last post:
formatting link
One suggestion made in a reply was to not fill the stud bays all the way to the floor with fiberglass. Stop about 24" from the floor. This would prevent the fiberglass from filling/soaking up water if I ever did have water flood the basement.
Has anyone ever done this ? And if not fiberglass, why not fill the last 18"-24" with Styrofoam or polystyrene. If so, which to use ?
on 1/18/2009 10:36 AM (ET) sid wrote the following:
formatting link
That would depend upon where your house is located. There are many types of flooding. Flooding from a rising water table, floods from rising rivers or streams, water leaks from broken foundation walls, internal floods from broken pipes, or water heaters, among others. Where I am located (on a hilltop) only the last two applied. I have had water leaks from the water heater, and a foundation crack which leaked during a heavy and sustained rain, none of which did any more damage than soaking the carpet in those areas. Neither were visually noticeable, but my feet and ears discovered the water. I replaced the water heater and sealed the crack. My fiberglass insulation extends to the floor plate and only the wall leak wet the insulation, and that was minimal.
Use rockwool in basements - with no vapour barrier. RockWool will not cmopact when wet, will not support mold, and will not lose R value after being wet.
I know of several people who have been flooded in the South and the Midwest this last year.
Any fiberbased insulation had to be replaced...it retains water and then the mold starts.
If I had a basement (they are uncommon in CA) I would use only a board type insulation.
I would also take the time to make the basement installation totally removable so one can disassemble it to get to the actual basement wall.
Yes I know most people do not do this.
And I can tell you that when I lived elsewhere in the country (I move alot) I have seen countless people have to rip their finished basements out because of water damage.
There is a reason why insurance companies offer only limited flood insurance and it is expensive...is is not if but when a basement floods.
Chuckle. Good example of why when I hit the lotto, and build my dream house, the basement will be naked concrete. I unfinished basements. Much more useful, IMHO.
I have a row house and there are some other possible causes. My worst, though as the sump pump promptly pumped out the water it wasn't too bad, was when my neighbor's cellar flooded with two feet of water and it came though the brick wall all along that side. I had to phone them to let them know their cellar was flooded. And being the nice guy that he is he refused to accept culpability. He claimed that everybody's cellar flooded that day.
Then my most recent "flood" was after I had the cellar walls repointed. To get water they turned on the water to my outside spigots and used the drain to get water. (There is a regular spigot in the cellar, but it requires using a hose, which were down there.) Of course they did not tell me. So after they left the outside pipes froze and burst. Water poured down the back of the house and found its way in the cellar door that goes to the backyard.
And again I have someone refusing to accept culpability. Though when I get him over here it will be obvious to him what his worker's did. And as I leave the outside spigots open in the winter, his men had to have gone outside to close them.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.