Installing laminate flooring over rigid foam insulation in basement?
housebuilding126
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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roof35
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agohousebuilding126
8 years agoRelated Discussions
insulating under basement floor-styrofoam insulation?
Comments (10)Hi illinigirl, The standard insulation used under basement floors is rigid insulation (XPS -- extruded polystrene). It comes in 2 inch thick often blue pieces of styrofoam. Dow manufacturers it among others. It is not spray foam. We used it in our build -- we are in southern Canada. The labour to lay the rigid insulation sheets was not high. The guys had to dig away a bit more gravel so the basement ceiling level was not compromised. They used the red tuck tape to attach the sheets to each other. This allowed the concrete flat workers to pour the floor with wheel barrow loads. I am not sure yet what a difference it will make as we are partway through our build. We have hydronic in-floor heat that was just turned on for the basement level. The floor is wonderfully warm (mostly due to the in-floor coils). We were required by code to place the rigid insulation because of our planned in-floor heat. Otherwise, I understand, the heat from the coils would not just heat upwards and instead would have been wasted heating underground? We did place the rigid insulation around the perimeter of our our unheated garage. I will go and step on the parts of the garage floor that have the insulation vs the parts that don't to see if I can detect a big difference and report back. Our architect spec'd for this rigid insulation under the basement slab. At the time, we had not planned for the in-floor heat. In other words, he felt it was a good practice even without in floor. The rigid insulation sheets are not cheap. We paid $25.00 a sheet (each one is 2 feet by 8 feet). We are in Canada where everything seems pricier. You can calculate the area needing coverage and see how much your builder is charging for labour vs material to help you decide if the price is reasonable. Don't forget the tack tape is also not cheap. Best of luck. Carol...See MoreRigid foam vs. spray foam under crawlspace
Comments (12)love this forum that you can do a little diy advising! ok the mold in the supply boxes and on the grills probably isn't from the duct takeoffs @ the plenum. it takes a long time for mold to travel that far..and if there isn't moisture & food source it won't spread to that area. it isn't always mold..sometimes it is just dust. so mold/dust buildup at the ducts @ plenum is lack of proper air seal. mold in supply boxes & on grills is lack of proper air seal at the cut in the sheetrock ceiling where supply grill is attached to the box. nine times out of ten..you can solve the issue by sealing supply boxes to sheetrock. see attached picture. hardcast brand #1402 mastic tape is used to seal supply box to sheetrock. this tape is 3" wide. I split the 3" into 1 1/2" lengths. stick to sheetrock and fold into supply box. as the tape adheres to many surfaces you need to be careful to keep it within the area covered by the supply grill. once it sticks to the sheetrock..you'll lose paper if you try to move it. surfaces have to be clean & dry for tape to adhere. and once in place you'll want to press it in place as it is somewhat pressure sensitive. the tape is strong enough to keep the box tight to attic floor on the attic side when installing the supply grill. wash the dust off the grills, wipe inside the supply box & into the duct. reinstall the supply grill. oh and when you remove the supply grills..take a sharpie and mark what direction they faced (throw to window..dirveway side whatever note you need to put them back in same position) this way you'll put them back as they were. I've tried several other brands of mastic tape. hardcast 1402 is the best. the others are 2" width and mastic is thinner, resulting in less strength and useful life. why would I chose spray foam for my floors? I've sealed floors several ways, foam is the easiest albeit more costly, once prep work is done. there isn't enough room to physically install foam sheathing to the bottom of the floor joists. I'll seal any big holes..like under tub then do 3" foam. I've looked at froth packs like tiger foam..but having worked with so many foam companies locally, will just have them do my floor when they are in my area. the software is pricy. we lease it yearly. once upon a time we bought the cd..but too many people abused it. so now it is a download & upgrades to original install. a lot of mastic isn't always an indication of a good seal. it doesn't take a lot if you put it in the actual leaks. you can feel around the duct take offs on the plenum while unit is running and feel some of the leakage. also checking plenum connections to the equipment at the same time. I use mastic tape to connect plenums (after screwing them in place) much easier to seal under the plenum to equipment with tape than painting mastic upside down....See MoreRigid foam or spray foam for vented crawl space?
Comments (4)I'm not getting into the vented vs sealed crawlspace pro & cons. but to answer OP's question, 3.5 to 4' is sufficient working room for spray foam install. closed cell has a stronger smell than open cell IMO. but the smell fades after a couple of days with either. if you are anyone in the family are sensitive then install should be done when ample time is allowed for any smells to dissipate. I'd start by investigating the recommended install (joists covered or exposed). I'd think that 4" would be ample at R-28, but I don't know your requirements in your area. just remember that you have to meet the code minimums. R-value of foam into inches of foam. not "performs like R-xx" or "average fill" same depth or MORE...not less everywhere. No Q or K values, R-values only. it is the installer that is the key figure in the install, not the salesman. make sure you are on page with the installer & be willing to go into the crawlspace & measure low spots before they leave for the day. it is worth your time. and yes dehumidifier in vented crawl is trying to dehumidify a portion of the great outdoors. best of luck....See MoreBatts insulation over closed cell spray foam
Comments (18)I appreciate it and got a laugh out of a couple of the jokes here! we have been running a small window AC which has done great removing any moisture and controlling the temp. I know this isn't ideal to everyone but it works for us. windows open at night, closed during the day. air is never stale and it's dry. I think the highest humidity that we've seen inside w a tester is 42%. I completely understand some of the comments in here for applications that are more than what this building is suppose to be and I'm not discounting them, but I'm also realistic about what this building is and the utility it's meant to provide. I had a friend come over with w thermal imager this weekend and we were able to measure temps on the walls and roof with the sun hitting it. most of the building showed no or negligible heat increases, but we found that the absolute ridge/peak had issues. it was a difficult area to spray and it appears the installer did a poor job and we will need to circle back with them. the vast majority of the roof was consistent with temps, but the ridge had so spots reading 20-30 degrees warmer than the inside air while we found a couple other spots that were 10-15 degrees warmer. we will figure out how to proceed soon with them. the walls probably don't need additional Batts with the readings we got, but we may still just install them for additional sound deading and just in case we pursue use during late fall. I want to make clear I'm not ignoring advice to speak to local resources, but the simple fact is this is a very small town and the local "experts" give advice such as what this code officer gave me, or the complete other extreme where someone told me we needed! to entirely fill a ceiling cavity 4' thick with insulation to prevent us from hearing rain. contractors in this area see/hear lake property and their eyes go $$$$$ and it turns into how can we make out best on these people. for instance, installation of 8 steel fence posts (with and air hammer), just the fence posts and no fencing was 1200 from the lowest quote. it's been a constant battle bc everyone assumes owners are very well off financially which just isn't always the case. so to my original point, finding reasonable and consistent advice and insight locally has been almost impossible. also regarding the rodents, I know foam is not a miracle cure, but we have battled rodent issues for 6 years prior to this building, as have ALL our neighbors, but since this building went up and was sprayed 16 months ago we haven't had a single issue. I found one pinhole in the foam that a couple ants came through and took care of it. I know things can change but we really tried to have this building animal tight and so far not a single issue. again, thanks for the conversation and feedback guys...See Moreroof35
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