Basement Finishing Question (insulation)

JFParker

I have just purchased a new home and it has an unfinished basement. The thing is that they have a combination insulation/vapor barrier arount the entier outer walls of the basement. I have never delt with this stuff before. I would assume you simply bring the wall framing in a bit from the insulation and frame as normal and then insulate the walls as normal too. Is there anything special I need to know about this stuff?

Thank you for the help and advice.

Jason

yummy mummy

I had a similar situation with my basement where there was wrap around insulation, with vapor barrier over it.

What I did was remove that insulation and frame around the entire basement and then add the batt insulation between the studs and then vapor barrier.

I also at the time was thinking of just putting up furring strips and then drywall, but it was suggested that I would be better off removing it and doing it the right way.

I also moved 3-4 inches away from the block wall. (Sometimes even more due to pipes being there.

Good luck.

Gary0090

I have the same type of insulation in my new home. The builder told me to leave the original insulation in place and frame the walls so they barely touch the insultion. He said to put up drywall without additional insulation and vapor barrier. It cuts down the rooom by about 8" to a side. Does that sound right?

Termite

You shouldn't remove the insulation in your basement's walls unless you plan to replace it. Even if you're furring out the existing walls with new full-height walls for the finished basement, it is critical that the outer "downwall" gets insulated.

I think I'd go for one vapor barrier only, and I'd want it as close to the conditioned space as possible. The paper vapor barrier face comes off most batt insulation fairly easily.

It won't be the end of the world if you add another vapor barrier. There are pros and cons to doing that, but I don't think it will be a big deal either way.