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Crawl space insulation questions?

2K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Gary in WA 
#1 ·
Purchased a home with a vented crawl. The vents are required due to living so close to the coast in Maryland. The home was built in the mid 80's. The vents were replaced with the smartvent which open and close on their own as the temps rise and fall during the seasons. The crawl has a drain tile and sump pit that do work since all the rain and snow we had this year. There is a vapor barrier over the dirt that extends up the walls. All seams are sealed and the vapor barrier looks great. The floor joist are insulated with fiberglass with the paper to the floor side of the house. All of this was done by the previous owner a bout a year before I purchased the house. However, the floor joist are 2 x 8 and it appears that the insulation is R13 rather that R19. The floors seamed rather cold this season. I would love to beef up the insulation but really do not want to remove the existing insulation. What I was thinking about was using the foil radiant rolls that I can purchase at a local store and attaching it to the bottom of the floor joist leaving the other insulation in place. The store had several types of the foil rolls (perferated, solid, and one that has a layer of bubbles sandwiched inbetween the foil). I do not know what type I should install and is this a good idea or not. My concerns are would this create a condesation issue and cause all sorts of problems with the joist rotting out or growing mold inside the joist area as well as the fiberglass insulation if the solid foil were to be used? Would this be a concern if the perferated were to be used? I really like the double bubble foil for the extra R value but again this has a solid foil on it. Also would I need to pull off the paper layer to the existing fiberglass insulation if this could be done. All I am looking for is a way to keep the floors a little warmer without breaking the bank. I wish I could have a completely enclosed crawl but living so close to the coast, it doesn't seem possible due to hurricane insurance. Also since I have the smartvents in, it greatly reduced my insurance premiums. Any guidance would be appreciated on how about to go this project. Thanks in advance.
 
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#3 ·
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