Insulation / Discussions

The builder on this 15 year old home ran the heat runs in the exterior joist space, he then insulated against the rim joist and under the heat runs, then wrapped from the mud sill to the underside of the plywood on the interior of the first joist and sealed the poly to the plywood with acoustical caulk, we will now spr...

...insulation is always the best option if you can do it, but those downtown Montreal homes don't always have room for it. One comprimize you could consider for the interior is mineral wool insulation, it is extremely permeable to moisture so it would still be able to dry. If your rim joist cavities are visible and easily...

Building a house and have zip plywood on the exterior (not zip-r which is insulated) & want to add 1" rigid foam to the exterior with open cell on the interior. Or 2" closed cell with r13 bath insulation.  Which combination above would be best? Also would there be an issue with installing one inch foam directly to ...

...insulation aspect of finishing our basement correct, but I'm still not sure. The two different kinds of foam boards I've been looking at are, Kingspan Insulation R-10 2in*4ft*8ft unfaced polystyrene foam board from Lowes and the Foamular 150 2in*4ft*8ft R-10 unfaced squared edge insulation sheathing from Home Depot. Ar...

I framed my basement, however I wasn't going to insulate my basement because I have a wood stove, and it stays pretty warm. But I feel for summer I want to have some insulation to keep it cool. Can I put foam board in between my studs and tac nail it? You could put foam between the studs, but why not batts? Were you ch...

...insulation to the outside and not infringe on setbacks from neighbours. The thing about adding insulation to the outside, is that you are going to incur costs for labour no matter how thick you go so more is usually better in this case. Especially if, as you say, there isn’t much insulation in the walls already. One of...

...insulation because moisture moves through it easily, or I would go thicker with something like the Thermal Wall foam insulation panels. Take a look at those pages and come back with any questions you have.

...insulation the majority of the block would not be frozen, it would only be the very exterior, if that, that would be below zero degrees. So for a block wall that has been kept warm for its entire life to suddenly have insulation on the interior, it loses that supply of heat, so the entire block (with enough insulation)...

there is no access to the floor from the basement. the floor joist is running on the actual diry it is freezing in the winter. 

...insulation is inadequate. We have been told that blown-in insulation only works for empty walls - our walls have insulation but it does not seem to be enough. Is insulating from the outside by building out something we should consider exploring with a contractor? We have one brick wall and the rest is siding. It seems ...

...insulation along the sides and underneath. We would recommend high density EPS Rigid foam panels, but confirm with builders ahead of time. One of the easiests ways to build a well-insulated swimming pool is with ICF Blocks (Insulated Concrete Forms), which not only creates the structure, it keeps the heat where you wan...

...insulation can i use on walls .  and to point out the walls are sitting on contrete blocks no footing my plan is to add a 6mil barrier to floor,  i eventually want to use in winter thx  denis I’m going to read this back to you and please tell me if I’m reading you right – you have a continuous 2x6 and plywood foundatio...

...insulation of my all metal home kit I recently purchased, steel super structure and studs, roof and siding. The metal siding acts as the sheer wall and so I can't insulate between the siding and the exterior studs, besides a very thin foam vapor barrier that was included. I read all the articles here that say cavity in...

...insulation, and maybe a wood interior to avoid cracked drywall.  There was one Tiny House built for a cold climate that we quite liked, this one has rockwool batts as insulation, that one may offer you some ideas and inspiration. 

...insulation for the times when we return in winter, for Christmas and birthdays etc. We'd like to strengthen the structure internally but we want to keep the wood exposed. We are thinking to insulated the house with external insulation and then add new wooden siding. We would like to use a non oil based insulation. Can ...

...insulation and 3 inches of concrete, which seems too little base on what I have read. What do you recommend the thickness to be for the insulation and the concrete for the slab and radiant floor system? Thank you. If you install only 2 inches of insulation under a slab with radiant heat in a cold climate, you will be d...

...insulation external to the foundation and vapour barrier. It is insulated and airtight from the remainder of the basement. My question is regarding ventilation to the room. Most how-to guides describe dual 4 inch vents to the exterior for air circulation, but my builder assures me condensation will not be an issue and ...

Hello,  In all my research, I have yet to find any advice on maintaining a wine cellar that is approximately 55 F and 70% humidity. Most discussions of home insulation assume an interior condition of 72 F and 50% humity. Climate-wise, I am in the San Francisco Bay Area. My house foundation is slab on grade. The existin...