camp house floor insulation

[joeu235]

Anyone know of an easy/inexpensive way to insulate the floor for a pier & beam camp house? It's new construction.

Fiberglass batts between the floor joists I think would just end up as rodent nests
I've thought about insulating skirting around the perimeter and skipping the floor insulation
Foam boards between the joists seems like a lot of labor

 

[gsganzer]

I'm having the floor of my pier and beam house sprayed with closed cell foam. It's not cheap, but it's less prone to insects and moisture. We're having all our carpets replaced with hardwood floors and they'd be crazy cold if I don't insulate the underside of the floor.

 

[RNeumann]

Roxul is an option. Unfortunately about anything you do isn’t rodent proof. If you aren’t too far along I’d add 1/4” plywood to the bottoms of the joists. If that isn’t an option a distant second would be to add metal screen material. Something fine enough that bugs can’t get through.
Note that any building insulation is relying on little to no air movement. So batts of any kind (fiberglass is by far the worst since any moisture also degrades performance) that are not protected both sides won’t help much.

Another option, again if you aren’t too far along, would be to add rigid above the subfloor and then sheet over that for flooring. This would require door height/header adjustment and the transition between inside and out will need to be worked out to get the heights worked out. Chances are you wouldn’t need to add blocking around the base- except, as usual, for the tile shower pan.

 

[joeu235]

Here's how far along I am

 

[EddieWalker]

I was watching one of those building in Alaska shows and they put plywood under their floor joists, then filled up the open areas with fiberglass, then put down their sub floor. I would imagine that the plywood under the insulation would keep out the mice.

 

[joeu235]

Do you think something like Tyvek would work instead of 1/4 plywood?

 

[EddieWalker]

No, that's what they do for mobile homes, and it always ends up tearing. Maybe the mice, rats, squirrels or racoons tear it? But I've seen all sorts of materials used under mobile homes, and they are always torn open.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Sheets of Foam under the joists, then fiberglass between.

 

[JB13502]

Here's how far along I am

View attachment 536073

Thanks for the belly laugh!:laughing:

 

[RNeumann]

Do you think something like Tyvek would work instead of 1/4 plywood?

Tyvek isn’t rated for continued exposure to weather. Plus it is noisy.