insulating exterior of concrete slab home..
Disclaimer: I am not an authority on this subject matter. I returned yesterday from a five week stay in Fairbanks, Alaska. I had the fortune to observe, and go "ask how to do" some weatherization projects in my daughters neighborhood. There is a very large "weatherization" project going on in Alaks now. Insulating the exterior of basement walls which have some wall surface above grade, is a popular project, and was one project I watched. The contractors were not hesitant to answer my questions after I told them I was from S. GA., had a business doing home repair, and wanted to learn why and how they were doing-what they were doing. Some of these homes were built in the early '70s and the basement walls were just covered with a sealant and then dirt. Not energy efficient in today's world. Ditches were dug around the basement walls, the full wall depth, wide enough for workmen to get into easily. All foreign materials which could be removed, were. A new coating of a hot tar like material was sprayed on to walls to full wall depth. 2 x 4's were nailed (shot) onto the walls for furring strips, four inch (4") thick white ridgid styrofoam insulation was placed onto the walls with a glue material from a warm five gallon bucket, and the area over the 2 x 4's was sprayed with an expanding foam material (like GreatFoam) which was trimmed to match the styrofoam depth. A rubber-like membrane was placed on top of all this, then sheets of aluminum were placed as the exterior siding, up to 12" above grade. Some of these homes are being stripped down to the framing, with new exterior insulation (styrofoam of various thickness according to the home) placed on, then a regular siding membrane (local building supply brand name), and vinyl as the last exterior layer. This is exactly how my daughters home was done two years ago. Her basement/den is always the same, constant temp without using heat in this area. A comfortable 66-68º. Now, granted that the Alaskan environment does not have "bugs" as most of us know them, I don't think there is a problem with bugs damaging the below grade insulation. "revegab00"- I doubt that you live in Alaska, it doesn't sound like you have a basement, but you could modify this approach if you think it may help. One thing I regret is that I did not take pictures of this process. Maybe this will help, David
|
Linear Mode
