Vapour Barrier instead of Insulation

giannit

My crawl space concrete wall surface temps are 60 degrees F in the winter. Adding insulation is going to be difficult in this space due to cupboards that the previous owner has installed. What I can due is tack vapour barrier to the joist that is against the wall and drop it down in the narrow 1 inch space between the cupboards and the wall. The idea is that the trapped air between the vapour barrier and the wall would act as an insulator.

Any thoughts??

(I am fully aware that the RIGHT way to do this is take out the cupboards etc etc. I would just rather not do that)

Scuba_Dave

You have cupboards in the crawlspace ?
Air will have an R Value of less then 1
60 isn't bad, my basement stays around 55-63

Gary in WA

What is your goal for this space? Vented or non-vented (conditioned)?

Be safe, Gary

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ididit

I assume that your talking about a basement. If this is just crawl space with dirt floor then go ahead and do the 6 mil plastic like you said and cover the ground while your at it. This will not add insulation value but will give you the very important vapor barrier most homes need anyway. If you have basement then the best you can do without removing the cupboards is to try and slide some 1" rigid foam board in there. Depending on the manufacture this will still only give you and R-value of 4 to 6. Do the cabinets have backs? If not then spay foam can be blown on the wall through the front of cupboards to the desired thickness. Even then removing the cupboards is still the best as you know.