jar: no vapor barrier of any kind in basements. you WANT your house airtight, but vapor open. air seal like a maniac. water proof and cement board around the tub/shower area. leave the fiberglass crap at the store, and see if you can find some rock (mineral) wool, cotton, or wool batts. spend some time reading on buildingscience.com if you care to, too. (btw: if you have poly against kraft paper it will not count as a "double vb" because they are against each other. one inside and one outside is the killer situation, but don't use any poly; air seal instead).
clearing up vapor barrier questions
on our master bath (its like 40 sq feet) we have 2 walls that are outside walls.. when I tore the old plaster off there was no vapor barrier.. around the shower had yellow insulation with a foil backing, everywhere else was blown in insulation..
now that we are down to the studs, i plan on using the typical pink stuff with the kraft paper that is tar backed.
I have read that the kraft paper w the tar back is a vapor barrier enough an not to add a plastic on top as this creates a double barrier causing air stoppage.
i have also read that if you live in an area where your A/C us used most to put the barrier on the outside (closest to the room center)...and where you use the heat the most to put the barrier on the inside wall. ..
well here in cleveland ohio we use the HVAC pretty equally (but we complain about the cold more :laughing
.....so what should i do?
THanks for the tips!
oh i forgot of course we will have a nice big exhaust fan in the room vented properly with a fatty 4 inch out the roof.
now that we are down to the studs, i plan on using the typical pink stuff with the kraft paper that is tar backed.
I have read that the kraft paper w the tar back is a vapor barrier enough an not to add a plastic on top as this creates a double barrier causing air stoppage.
i have also read that if you live in an area where your A/C us used most to put the barrier on the outside (closest to the room center)...and where you use the heat the most to put the barrier on the inside wall. ..
well here in cleveland ohio we use the HVAC pretty equally (but we complain about the cold more :laughing
.....so what should i do?THanks for the tips!
oh i forgot of course we will have a nice big exhaust fan in the room vented properly with a fatty 4 inch out the roof.
