Hello, all. First time poster. A first floor corner bedroom (location new york suburb) is very cold in the winter and I notice the crawl space below in the basement is a possible source, despite closed foundation vents in the winter. I would like to install fiberglass insulation between the exposed basement joists below as one approach to helping fight the winter cold. I am looking at R-19. I have two questions: whether to moisture barrier the mound, and which side the paper should face on the insulation. #1. In the summer the mound is rather damp due to seepage from the surrounding area. My concern is humidity build up in the insulation. I understand that covering the mound with 6mil plastic is recommended, but someone in a (brand) home improvement store recommended *against* that as it might be a collection point for mildew. Is that true? #2. Re Paper facing on the insulation. From all the postings I see, it says the paper faces the "living" space, but this is an unfinished, unheated crawl space. The manufacturer says that the paper side needed to face UP toward the floor above. I am now very confused. Another source I read said the Kraft can face down, if you "slash" it to allow it to breathe. If possible I think having the paper down makes sense so there is not exposed fibers in the area, and seems like installation would be easier since I can staple the paper to the sides of the joist rather than having to use the metal supporting spines. Thanks in advance for your help, robbie g.

I live in Massachusetts. I am going to use my attic space as storage, so there will be a floor. Most of the attic space is open (no floor, joists exposed). The floor joists are 2" x 6". There is loose-fill insulation in there now, but it looks like some more could be added to get it up to 5" -6" inches. As I understand it, this will give me a R-19 rating. I was hoping for a R-30, but that does not seem possible. My questions are: Is the R-19 rating sufficient for my attic given where I live? If not, is there any other way to get me a better rating? I could possibly sister some 2" x 10" joists to my existing 2" x 6" joists, which would give me an extra thickness to my loose-fill insulation and give me a R-30 rating, but I would rather avoid doing that. Help !!! :confused: Paul