At Home In The Woods

[scoutcub]

Nice looking brick!

As for the basement, this sums it up nicely:
Info-511: Basement Insulation — Building Science Information

Basically: 2" of XPS on the inside of the masonry, seams sealed, spray foam to seal the rim joist (impossible to seal otherwise) plus spray over the top of the XPS sheets to seal it all up. Hard to beat this.

The framed walls should be insulated like the rest of the house's framed walls.

-Dave

How is the foamboard attached to the basement wall? Glued? I have the "ribbed" or "bricked" interior basement walls, little less surface to attach to....

 

[dstig1]

Usually glued. Then you frame up an interior wall in front of it. You could use firring strips to tack it to the wall through the foam and firring.

 

[dstig1]

Our basement walls are the Superior brand walls- precast concrete with R12.5 blue-board foam insulation on the inside. Like your house, ours in sort of built into a hill, so only about half the wall surface area is exposed to the outside. We have 5 windows and a double door exposed to the outside. When the slab was poured, we had to put insulation under the slab along the areas where the perimeter was exposed to outside air (about 1/4 of the perimeter).

So all this makes our basement "conditioned space". One of our heat pumps has a 10" duct that runs to a the opposite corner of the basement from a return duct. So whenever that heat pump runs, the is a little air circulating in the basement. This is more than enough to keep the basement at an OK temperature and keep humidity down in the summer. Typically there is no people traffic or door traffic. Heating is not a problem because you have a huge concrete slab on the 55 degree ground pumping heat into the basement.

This was the commercially applied open cell foam. This is also what we used at the bands (where the floor joist come into the outside walls) since that is a very hard area to insulate with fiberglass.

Your basement is interior space, and you have to put insulation somewhere (either the ceiling or walls). I'd go for the walls and move a little air when your HVAC system is running. No need for a fully conditioned space with it's own thermostat until there is people activity there. Cheapest route is put up the blue-board sheets yourself and do the bands with fiberglass for now. You could use some spray foam from some cans if there are impossible areas. Middle route (cost wise) is put up blue-board and then have spray foam over that to seal it and get the bands done right. You should get a quote, i'm guessing it would be 2-3K. Also price all spray foam (no blue board) as the delta cost may be the cost of the board, but you've saved a lot of time.

Anyway, that's what we did. Key concept here is you already have interior space, you can't just bottle it up, and it doesn't take much air movement to keep it under control.

Pete

^^ What Pete said. That was what I was getting at. The only thing I would change is using closed cell foam for the rim joist area as it is a far better air seal than open cell. Stuffing fiberglass in there would no longer meet the energy code up here, though it might in Tenn. You wouldn't be able to do that and "come back to it later" here.

There are foam systems that you can buy and apply yourself that are bigger scale than the cans. Tigerfoam is one. You get 2 canisters that are like propane tanks but a bit smaller, hoses and a few nozzles. Then you spray it yourself. Best to wear a full bunny suit and a mask and goggles when doing this. It isn't toxic once mixed but you don't want an expanding foam particle in your lungs... and it is messy to clean up. I wouldn't do a whole house this way as it is not large enough scale for that, but if all you are doing is misc sealing and rim joists, it should be cost effective.

http://www.tigerfoam.com
http://www.fomo.com/handi-foam-two-component.aspx

 

[bdeboer]

I would worry about condensation in basement in the summer if the area is not conditioned. I think if access to utilities is important, I would not want to tear out fiberglass from between the joists. I would also think that you would get some airflow between the fiberglass and the floor if you do not use some sort of foam on the rim.

Did the HVAC design include this space, or was it seperate? If it was included I would experiment with closing vents etc., just enough to keep the air moving. Discuss this with your HVAC contractor, they should be some help.

Are your concrete walls backfilled? I insulated a basement by setting sheets of EPS foam on the outside footer. Then backfilling and cutting off the exposed part of the inuslation. I did insulate with overlap on the inside. The advantage to this approach was that this also gave the slab a thermal break.

 

[bdeboer]

How is the foamboard attached to the basement wall? Glued? I have the "ribbed" or "bricked" interior basement walls, little less surface to attach to....

PL makes an adhesive for this.

http://stickwithpl.com/pdf/PL 300r Foam Board Adhesive Tech.pdf

 

[boxygen]

The only reason to insulate the joist cavity of the first floor is if you are installing radiant heat in the floor. Otherwise your efforts are best spent insulating and air sealing the basement walls and rim joist with spray foam.

 

[Obed]

More brickwork.

 

[dcyrilc]

More brickwork.

Lookin' pretty dog-gone good. It won't be long now before the outside is done.:thumbsup:

How are things going with the zoning dept? Any headway?

 

[Obed]

Security Wiring Questions

I would like to give you a pitch for considering home automation (and thus wiring for it). ...
Carl

Give a shout when you're coming up on electrical and low voltage wiring if you want some ideas there. ... Pete

Obed - Take a look around this site...I have ordered from them and used their products for many years. X10.com - Security Cameras, X10 Home Security, Wireless Camera, Home Automation, Electronics and More! Bob

Carl, EEPete, Bob, and anybody else,
We have started talking to security companies to get some security wiring in place before we insulate and hang drywall. I'm mostly interested in getting some wiring done for the security essentials. I'm thinking that I will be purchasing a home automation system after we get in the house. I would like to get some motion detectors, glass break detectors, sensors on doors, maybe some sensors on some critical windows, and associated wiring run to a closet in the dining room/office. I'm not interested in a proprietary system that requires proprietary sensors and supporting equipment. I'd like to be able to get the sensors installed and pick out a home automation system later that I can hook up to the sensors that have already been installed. I'm not interested in purchasing a security monitoring service and definitely not interested in paying a monthly fee to a security monitoring system. I figure I should be able to get a home automation system that will dial my cell phone and send me a text message if a security sensor or smoke detector triggers an alarm.

Questions
1. Is there a standard for security sensors (doors, windows, motion detectors, glass detectors) so that sensors can be purchased that will work for a wide array of home automation equipment?
2. Where would you put sensors? I'm thinking all exterior doors, the door between the garage and kitchen, and the door going down to the basement. Possibly motion detectors in the great room, foyer and hall way, and basement. Glass break detectors in the front of the house (dining room?), great room, and basement.
3. Are there motion detectors that don't get triggered by cats?
One security company said that motion detectors don't work if there are cats in the house because cats don't stay on the floor; they climb on top of tables, chairs, countertops, etc.
4. Do you guys have any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Obed

 

[Obed]

Lookin' pretty dog-gone good. It won't be long now before the outside is done.:thumbsup:

How are things going with the zoning dept? Any headway?

Thanks Cyril. One week from today we will appear in front of the Zoning Board.

Obed