Hi,
Was wondering if you could help me out …
I reside in northern Canada where the winters can be quite cold. My home is approximately 30 years old. My basement is partially underground and consists of a 4 foot tall concrete wall and a concrete slab for my floor. Inside my basement I have vapour barrier running down the course of the concrete wall towards the basement floor. Adjacent to the concrete wall I have a 4 foot tall framed wall attached to the floor consisting of 2X4 construction with 16 inch centers and fiberglass insulation between the studs. This is followed by drywall. Please keep in mind that there is an approximate 2 inch gap between the framed wall and the concrete wall, and as mentioned above there is a vapour barrier running down the concrete wall only. There is no vapour barrier between the insulation and drywall. The top of the framed wall (sill area) consisted of 2x 10’s running the length of it; this was used as a shelf area to store things like plants and miscellaneous basement junk. Having pulled the 2x 10’s off the top of the wall this past winter and exposing what I have described to you above, I also noticed that the much of the insulation was damp. Additionally, I found moisture near the bottom sill and inside corner of the basement, which had made the drywall damp. In some cases the insulation was also frozen to the concrete wall.
I have the following questions:
1. Is this moisture a result of the framed wall not being properly sealed from the air within house? As mentioned above, 2x10’s were used to cap the framed wall and used as a shelf however there were many spaces and gaps between 2x10 and wall sill that the warm air within my house could easily infiltrate and come in contact with the cold air of the concrete wall.
2. To mitigate my moisture problem and to boost the R-value of the basement, I would like to fill the 2 inch space between the framed wall and the concrete wall with more insulation. I am either looking to double up on the fiberglass insulation or glue rigid Styrofoam against the concrete wall behind the existing fiberglass insulation. I will be removing the vapour barrier that is currently against the concrete and replacing it with one between the fiberglass insulation and finished drywall. Does this sound like a practical solution to my moisture problem?
Thanks for your time.
Was wondering if you could help me out …
I reside in northern Canada where the winters can be quite cold. My home is approximately 30 years old. My basement is partially underground and consists of a 4 foot tall concrete wall and a concrete slab for my floor. Inside my basement I have vapour barrier running down the course of the concrete wall towards the basement floor. Adjacent to the concrete wall I have a 4 foot tall framed wall attached to the floor consisting of 2X4 construction with 16 inch centers and fiberglass insulation between the studs. This is followed by drywall. Please keep in mind that there is an approximate 2 inch gap between the framed wall and the concrete wall, and as mentioned above there is a vapour barrier running down the concrete wall only. There is no vapour barrier between the insulation and drywall. The top of the framed wall (sill area) consisted of 2x 10’s running the length of it; this was used as a shelf area to store things like plants and miscellaneous basement junk. Having pulled the 2x 10’s off the top of the wall this past winter and exposing what I have described to you above, I also noticed that the much of the insulation was damp. Additionally, I found moisture near the bottom sill and inside corner of the basement, which had made the drywall damp. In some cases the insulation was also frozen to the concrete wall.
I have the following questions:
1. Is this moisture a result of the framed wall not being properly sealed from the air within house? As mentioned above, 2x10’s were used to cap the framed wall and used as a shelf however there were many spaces and gaps between 2x10 and wall sill that the warm air within my house could easily infiltrate and come in contact with the cold air of the concrete wall.
2. To mitigate my moisture problem and to boost the R-value of the basement, I would like to fill the 2 inch space between the framed wall and the concrete wall with more insulation. I am either looking to double up on the fiberglass insulation or glue rigid Styrofoam against the concrete wall behind the existing fiberglass insulation. I will be removing the vapour barrier that is currently against the concrete and replacing it with one between the fiberglass insulation and finished drywall. Does this sound like a practical solution to my moisture problem?
Thanks for your time.
