I have been considering for quite a while on what to use to go under my floor joists to support the insulation and seal it off from rodents and insects, yet not be a vapor barrier or retain water if there are any water leaks from plumbing.
The house rests on (36) 6"x6"x32" red heart cedar posts which in turn rest on 10" dia. x 3" high concrete piers. The posts are crossed braced both ways and the crawl space will remain open, hence the need to insulate between the floor joists. The joists are 2"x8" and the insulation will be batts of Roxul.
Well, I was able to get a good buy on 7/16" osb for less than $5/sheet. (The cheapest price I could find for 1/4" hardware cloth was twice the price of the osb per square foot, and that was just for 24 ga.)
So, not wanting to install the osb sheets tightly together so as to create a vapor barrier, my current plan is to:
Install the osb leaving about a 1/2" gap between the rows of sheets and then staple 3" wide strips of screen and hardware cloth over the gaps.
By doing this, I hope to not only prevent insect and rodent intrusion, but also to prevent a vapor barrier, yet minimize air movement through the insulation from the wind blowing under the house.
Any comments or suggestions on this method or on perhaps a better way to utilize the osb for this purpose will be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Arky
The house rests on (36) 6"x6"x32" red heart cedar posts which in turn rest on 10" dia. x 3" high concrete piers. The posts are crossed braced both ways and the crawl space will remain open, hence the need to insulate between the floor joists. The joists are 2"x8" and the insulation will be batts of Roxul.
Well, I was able to get a good buy on 7/16" osb for less than $5/sheet. (The cheapest price I could find for 1/4" hardware cloth was twice the price of the osb per square foot, and that was just for 24 ga.)
So, not wanting to install the osb sheets tightly together so as to create a vapor barrier, my current plan is to:
Install the osb leaving about a 1/2" gap between the rows of sheets and then staple 3" wide strips of screen and hardware cloth over the gaps.
By doing this, I hope to not only prevent insect and rodent intrusion, but also to prevent a vapor barrier, yet minimize air movement through the insulation from the wind blowing under the house.
Any comments or suggestions on this method or on perhaps a better way to utilize the osb for this purpose will be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Arky
