Crawl Space Insulation
 

My house is on piers and a perimeter footing. The crawl space is completely exposed to the outside. I've read alot of stuff from buildingscience, but alot of the homes that are discussed are built on slabs. I am of the inexperienced opinion based on what I've read that sealing off the crawlspace with some sort of skirting would be the best option for insulating the floor. At first thought I figured I would just build a wood frame skirting upon which I could hang some rigid foam and fiber glass batt. However, the house sits on H-blocks that are spaced around the perimeter. Any skirting would have to either be built in front of these or there would have to be a space to accommodate them. I like the idea of sealing off the crawlspace from drafts, water/humidity, and temp. What are your thoughts?

Hi and welcome to the forum. do you have any photos?

DM

Did you read this one with bad, good, and best?: http://www.buildingscience.com/docum...n-crawlspaces/
Be safe, Gary

Thanks and no, I don't have any photos, Mouse. Gary, that website is full of articles, so no I didn't read that one. Looks good though, I'm gonna read through it. Thanks for pointing that one out :thumbup:. Jared.

Figure 7 in that article looks like the way to go, but I think I'll try to use foil faced batt insulation instead of rigid foam. Working around the piers with the rigid foam would be a major pain, not to mention the plumbing.

"Figure 7 in that article looks like the way to go, but I think I'll try to use foil faced batt insulation instead of rigid foam. Working around the piers with the rigid foam would be a major pain, not to mention the plumbing." --------- The rigid foam isolates the joist bottoms from the outside temperatures. This lets the moisture head to them and deposit water there. It would not be effective substituting batts, that would compress when installing soffit boards or house wrap.

My house has a vented crawl (which I close in Winter) with 5-1/2" joists and faced batts (facing heated) held up with wires. I'm buying 1" foil faced rigid to rip into 1-1/2" wide by 8' strips to install on the bottoms of the joists. To keep the joist bottoms from reaching the below air's temperature. Then I will install house wrap with sealed joints with insulated (rigid) rim joists underneath. I have 6mil plastic on dirt but unlike you my joists are 12" from the ground. The beams are on bricks, on concrete (circa 1910). Nothing but fun for a +60 old man. lol.
Be safe, Gary