Crawl space insulation

williamdarrell · 09-22-2012, 10:05 PM

Purchased a home two years ago on the west coast, upon checking the crawl space this past winter I found about 8 inches in depths of water under the house,
I had a perimeter ditch dug and placed big o drain pipe with a sock to carry water away from house, I have also installed sump in crawl space to insure no standing water.
Question?
The insulation is falling down in many places, should I replace it or just push it back up, I could use chicken wire to hold it in place?
I'm assuming the dampness has caused the insulation to fall ?
Ideas?

Windows on Wash · 09-22-2012, 10:10 PM

I would look into a rigid foam option that will keep the humidity off and out of the joist cavities and floors above.

joecaption · 09-22-2012, 11:19 PM

So is it dry under there now?
If it is you also need a 6 mil. vaper barrier on the ground.
Aslo take look up next time your down there and look at the floor joist and underside of the subfloor. What your looking for is mold or fungus growing on it. If it is you need to get it treated. It's eating the celloulose that holds the wood together.
And no just spraying it with bleach will not work.

williamdarrell · 09-23-2012, 10:22 AM

It looks as dry as a bone. I have also noticed mice droppings
It could be falling down from mice?

williamdarrell · 09-29-2012, 01:23 AM

I have a twenty + year old home.
I have been working in the crawl space and am noticing that a lot of the Fiberglas insulation is not looking so good in between the 2x10".
Would you recommend putting new pink insulation I with out pulling old out?

. insulation over top of existing older insulation?

Windows on Wash · 10-01-2012, 07:38 AM

The overall recommendation would likely be to turn the space into a conditioned craw. After that, the next recommendation would be to incorporate some rigid foam board into your insulation plans that would thermally uncouple and keep moisture/humidity off the framing.

Going the rigid foam route gives you much better overall performance and you should replace the insulation in the joist bays with something that is less compressive and will maintain its shape that that point.

**Gary in WA** · 10-02-2012, 12:08 AM

I merged your same question thread with this one, otherwise it is confusing.

Where on the west coast? Many heating Zones: http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/ic..._11_par002.htm

Find your floor R-=value requirements: http://publicecodes.citation.com/ico..._11_sec002.htm

How bad a shape is the existing, may want to junk it all if it was wet and has rodents. As WoW said with f.b., no vinyl floors above; http://www.buildingscience.com/docum...n-crawlspaces/

May also be in a termite zone or radon, be sure to check before going with a closed crawl; http://termites101.org/termite-basic...ites-by-region

http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/radon/rnus.html

Gary

09-22-2012, 10:05 PM	#1
williamdarrell Newbie Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 11	Crawl space insulation Purchased a home two years ago on the west coast, upon checking the crawl space this past winter I found about 8 inches in depths of water under the house, I had a perimeter ditch dug and placed big o drain pipe with a sock to carry water away from house, I have also installed sump in crawl space to insure no standing water. Question? The insulation is falling down in many places, should I replace it or just push it back up, I could use chicken wire to hold it in place? I'm assuming the dampness has caused the insulation to fall ? Ideas?

09-22-2012, 10:10 PM	#2
Windows on Wash Exterior Construction Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: VA, MD, DC Posts: 3,861	Crawl space insulation I would look into a rigid foam option that will keep the humidity off and out of the joist cavities and floors above. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

09-22-2012, 11:19 PM	#3
joecaption Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Hartfield VA Posts: 18,840	Crawl space insulation So is it dry under there now? If it is you also need a 6 mil. vaper barrier on the ground. Aslo take look up next time your down there and look at the floor joist and underside of the subfloor. What your looking for is mold or fungus growing on it. If it is you need to get it treated. It's eating the celloulose that holds the wood together. And no just spraying it with bleach will not work.

09-23-2012, 10:22 AM	#4
williamdarrell Newbie Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 11	Crawl space insulation It looks as dry as a bone. I have also noticed mice droppings It could be falling down from mice?

09-29-2012, 01:23 AM	#5
williamdarrell Newbie Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 11	Crawl space insulation I have a twenty + year old home. I have been working in the crawl space and am noticing that a lot of the Fiberglas insulation is not looking so good in between the 2x10". Would you recommend putting new pink insulation I with out pulling old out? . insulation over top of existing older insulation?

Crawl space insulation