Hi All,
I was eager to start basement finishing project. After reading through this forum and doing some research, I'm considering NOT to even attempt it now. But, here goes anyway...
Planned to finish add basement by adding walls to a cinder/brick foundation in a house in Wisconsin originally built in 1918, we bought and moved in 2 years ago. The previous owners before they sold had steel braces put in to straighten the walls, drain tile and sump pump installed, and had exterior grading done. We haven't had water or other foundation problems so that's a reasonable start it seems.
I planned to use rigid foam insulation as a vapor retardant and first layer of insulation glued to the exterior wall with a couple of concrete anchors for good measure (irregular walls). Insulating around the beams will prevent thermal transfer and surface from condensing. I test fit a few pieces to see how it performs and it goes in relatively smoothly and quickly. Just need to throw in some spray foam insulation to fill the gaps and will tape them up as well.
I'm now thinking about out how to frame the walls and have considered steel studs just off of the foam layer (with a sill foam gasket), eventually filling in with stone mineral fiber batt (Rockwool) insulation for another layer, but no vapor barrier on the interior.
I see some comments about fire blocking that I haven't previously considered and need to investigate further and how to cover the foam that would stick up between the joists.
I plan to leave the joists exposed given the low ceiling height and sprayed the ceiling with paint.
I'd appreciate any thoughts or comments on the plan thus far. The other issue I'm grappling with are some old windows (4) that are drafty and just plain ancient. I would consider taking them all out and closing that space up. Would any of these renovations require that I install a new egress window? This room is a rec room/laundry and not a bedroom if that matters at all.
Thanks for the help!
I was eager to start basement finishing project. After reading through this forum and doing some research, I'm considering NOT to even attempt it now. But, here goes anyway...
Planned to finish add basement by adding walls to a cinder/brick foundation in a house in Wisconsin originally built in 1918, we bought and moved in 2 years ago. The previous owners before they sold had steel braces put in to straighten the walls, drain tile and sump pump installed, and had exterior grading done. We haven't had water or other foundation problems so that's a reasonable start it seems.
I planned to use rigid foam insulation as a vapor retardant and first layer of insulation glued to the exterior wall with a couple of concrete anchors for good measure (irregular walls). Insulating around the beams will prevent thermal transfer and surface from condensing. I test fit a few pieces to see how it performs and it goes in relatively smoothly and quickly. Just need to throw in some spray foam insulation to fill the gaps and will tape them up as well.
I'm now thinking about out how to frame the walls and have considered steel studs just off of the foam layer (with a sill foam gasket), eventually filling in with stone mineral fiber batt (Rockwool) insulation for another layer, but no vapor barrier on the interior.
I see some comments about fire blocking that I haven't previously considered and need to investigate further and how to cover the foam that would stick up between the joists.
I plan to leave the joists exposed given the low ceiling height and sprayed the ceiling with paint.
I'd appreciate any thoughts or comments on the plan thus far. The other issue I'm grappling with are some old windows (4) that are drafty and just plain ancient. I would consider taking them all out and closing that space up. Would any of these renovations require that I install a new egress window? This room is a rec room/laundry and not a bedroom if that matters at all.
Thanks for the help!
