Basement / Discussions

...basement:  Preventing mold when you insulate your basement The difference between Polyiso, EPS & XPS rigid insulation boards I have a few questions that will help us pin down the best way forward for you - How old is the home? Is there an exterior membrane on the basement wall? And have you ever had any flooding ...

...basements properly is more expensive than the way most basements are built (ie: doomed to fail) so the problem off the bat is that most basement advocates are building wrong, and therefore comparing apples to oranges. But we have a page on that very dilemma, have a look here first:  Slab on Grade or Foundation and Base...

...Basement; Which is Best? Reading that page will give you a better idea of what to look for in a slab. And the first question in my mind would be if it was heated. If it isn't then I personally wouldn’t even consider it because it will be very uncomfortable, and if it is heated but the bills are sky high then  I wouldn’...

I watched your videos with much interest but wasn't sure about the "trench" type perimeter "grade beam" in terms of supporting the house structure, and the fact that I have bedrock (Lake Huron / limestone) 18" below the surface. Wouldn't a poured perimeter wall down to bedrock be a better approach - before pouring the ...

...Basements Moldy? Preventing moisture when you insulate your basement Building better basements: how to insulate your basement properly  Waterproofing an d heating solutions for basement floors New blowing agents for spray foam insulation don't cause climate change

...basements properly to avoid mold, heat loss and water infiltration, see this page here - Best practices for basement construction - new home or renovations  Thar should provide all the answers you need, and feel free to ask a follow up question once you've read it over. And specifically to your questions - If the basem...

...basement if you do decide to do some more work on it. Why are Basements Moldy? How to Fix & Prevent Mold in Homes Preventing mold when you insulate your basement Marmoleum : A healthy and non-toxic green flooring product The Difference Between an HRV and an ERV    

...basement Building better basements: how to insulate your basement properly   How to Control Radon Gas in Homes  

...Basements Moldy? How to Fix & Prevent Mold in Homes Preventing Mold when you Insulate your Basement Building Better Basements: How to Insulate your Basement Properly  

I live in a cold climate - Winnipeg Manitoba, and intend to install radiant heat in the concrete slab. As my basement is below the frost line, I’m not sure if insulation is necessary, but want to know what the experts think. If insulation is required, how much and what type is recommended? You absolutely need to instal...

...basement between the floor and wall. It was a finished basement with carpeting. We don't plan to put carpeting back in but would like something nice looking that would not have to be removed if this ever happened again. It previously was a completly dry basement since 1993. Thanks for any help. There are a few things y...

...basement (walls and floor) surfaces are formed of poured concrete. One side of the basement has full-size regular casement windows, but the bottom of those windows is nearly at-grade. That wall is still full-height poured concrete. The rest of the basement is below-grade.   We aren't going to be drywalling our basement...

Can tubing for a ground source heat pump be put under a slab on grade prefab form foundation kit to extract winter heat? We generally recommend people check with an engineer for any such matters, but that shouldn't be a problem at all. Installing tubing for a ground source heat pump (GSHP) under slab on grade foundatio...

...basement has been removed and replaced with spray foam insulation; the foundation around my house on the outside surface has been waterproofed  (4 cracks were found inside the basement walls) and the grading reversed. I’ve had many contractors come to my house and most of their suggestions have been implemented. Unfort...

We're soon building a slab on grade foundation for our new cabin in Montana and I've decided to sit it on a 4" EPS foam insulation so the slab will retain some passive solar heat from the south facing windows in winter, avoiding having to put too much heat in to keep stuff from freezing. There's a bed of compacted grav...

I'm not concerned with the compression issue, but rather how the lateral (shear) loads get transferred from the concrete footing into the soil, via the insulation layer.  DJB It would be a structural engineer you're looking for, and while we have a team here that deal with everything LEED & Passive House related, s...

...basement wall. Moisture issue in spring ( and I suspect fall). We get a lot of people asking about the best way to insulate a cinder block (CMU) foundation wall, I would say the first place to go is this discussion here which I think already answers all your questions -   How to insulate a cinder block foundation wall ...

...basement. Moisture is building up in the insulation because the wall is trying to dry to the inside but it is being prevented from doing so by the poly vapor barrier. This page explains what a mistake a basement vapor barrier is -  Why are Basements Moldy? How to Fix & Prevent Mold in Homes A dehumidifier is a good...