Insulate Existing Exterior Above Grade Concrete Basement Walls

The idea is to insulate with.

Insulate existing exterior above grade concrete basement walls.

Do not use fiberglass. The most important concern to address before insulating your basement is moisture. 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. And there is no effective way to fill the voids in an existing concrete block wall.

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. The gap will be filled later with spray foam. 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.

Between the back of the studs and the concrete wall. 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. Also avoid polyiso insulation and other water sensitive materials. All rigid foam insulation.

Tape a small piece of plastic sheeting to a bare concrete wall with an impermeable duct tape border and wait 48 hours. Install an aluminum coil stock or sheet metal protective cover for the rigid insulating sheathing. Because they are naturally located below ground level basements are mostly cool and damp. I understand that mineral wool should not be in direct contact with the wall.

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. 1 3 inches two layers 1 5 inch each of expanded polystyrene in contact with the concrete. We would like to add a foot of insulation on the interior. Heavily insulating basement wall our basement has concrete walls and is uninsulated.

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.