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Finishing basement, insulation question Section 31 08-20-2006
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Posted by Section 31 on August 20, 2006, 10:29 am
I live in Ottawa Ontario, I just moved into a new house and was looking
at finishing the basement in the future.

I noticed that all around the basement the current isulation stops
about 1 foot from the floor. It has vapour barrier installed.

1-Why does the insulation not continue to the ground in the first
place?
2-If I finish the basement, do I have to insulate the rest or leave the
insulation the way it is, that is 1 foot shy from the floor?

Thank you.


Posted by RicodJour on August 20, 2006, 7:56 pm
Section 31 wrote:
> I live in Ottawa Ontario, I just moved into a new house and was looking
> at finishing the basement in the future.
> I noticed that all around the basement the current isulation stops
> about 1 foot from the floor. It has vapour barrier installed.
> 1-Why does the insulation not continue to the ground in the first
> place?

You didn't provide enough information to make anything other than a
guess. What type of insulation, etc. But that really doesn't matter.
If you try to figure out why some people did something strange you'll
drive yourself crazy. I could come up with a whole bunch of
half-reasonable excuses, but who really knows what the guy was
thinking?

> 2-If I finish the basement, do I have to insulate the rest or leave the
> insulation the way it is, that is 1 foot shy from the floor?

Depends. Once you get down a certain depth, below the frost line -
which is probably four or five feet in your neck of the woods, the
earth temperature isn't that cold. You should decide whether a cooler
basement in summer is worth more to you than having to spend a few more
dollars to heat. If you're heating plant is in the basement (safe bet)
then there is usually enough residual heat to keep a partially
insulated basement at a reasonable temperature.

R


Posted by Rudy on August 21, 2006, 2:14 am

>I live in Ottawa Ontario, I just moved into a new house and was looking
> at finishing the basement in the future.
> I noticed that all around the basement the current isulation stops
> about 1 foot from the floor. It has vapour barrier installed.
> 1-Why does the insulation not continue to the ground in the first
> place?

Its that way so you can drill thru the framing and install your electrical
runs along the walls.
First pull the staples on your vapor barrier and you can "tack" it up out of
the way using duct tape while you do your drilling.
When yer done, DO place the other ~1' of insulation in the walls before you
reattach the Vap barrier.



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