Insulate Existing Exterior Above Grade Concrete Basement Walls

Ideally you want to have rigid foam insulation in a basement against all the outside walls and the floor a minimum of two inches on the walls and one inch on the floor.

Insulate existing exterior above grade concrete basement walls.

Insulation is vital for concrete basement walls the basement hold the house s furnace water heaters laundry machines and essential utilities. Materials procedures if your basement walls are flat concrete you may use rigid polystyrene foam extruded polystyrene xls or expanded polystyrene eps close cell spray polyurethane or mineral wool to insulate the exterior of the walls. Basement walls made out of concrete stone concrete bloc and other masonry foundation materials have very minimal insulating properties and cause approximately 20 of heat loss in a home. Do not use fiberglass.

Heavily insulating basement wall our basement has concrete walls and is uninsulated. Between the back of the studs and the concrete wall. To ensure there s no dampness seeping through the walls conduct a simple test using plastic sheeting and duct tape. If you plan to insulate your basement walls with spray foam the best approach is to frame your 2 4 walls before the foam is sprayed leaving a gap of 1 1 2 in.

It may look easy to go buy some packs of rigid insulation panels down at the local hardware store and screw them to your walls but unless you understand how your existing walls are built and how they work in terms of keeping. All rigid foam insulation. We would like to add a foot of insulation on the interior. Tape a small piece of plastic sheeting to a bare concrete wall with an impermeable duct tape border and wait 48 hours.

I understand that mineral wool should not be in direct contact with the wall. Install an aluminum coil stock or sheet metal protective cover for the rigid insulating sheathing. Your only option is to cover the inside of the exterior walls with a continuous layer of insulation as though you were insulating a basement wall. Also avoid polyiso insulation and other water sensitive materials.

The most important concern to address before insulating your basement is moisture. The idea is to insulate with. Adding extra insulation to the exterior walls of an older home when renovating or remodeling is a great way of improving a home s walls thermal performance and reducing energy use while reducing heating bills carbon footprint and improving a building s comfort level. Install rigid board insulation xps or rigid mineral fiber on the exterior wall from the top of the footing to the bottom of the cladding to at least the minimum r value specified in the local building code.

The gap will be filled later with spray foam.