Insulation basement cold room
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Toronto
Posts: 11
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
Insulating basement cold room
Hi, we recently purchased a home and under the front porch it has a cold room (and it is very cold). We are going to insulate this area and use it for storage of clothes and such. Its a decent size area around 18'x6' or so. I'm wondering what is the best way to insulate this area. Currently there is something on the wall that looks like tar paper (see pics) and the general station of the area. I want to remove the wood on the wall and fix everything nicely. The ceiling seems to be fine to me.
http://www.jorgechaves.com/coldroom/IMG_0279.JPG
http://www.jorgechaves.com/coldroom/IMG_0277.JPG (top is ceiling at corner)
http://www.jorgechaves.com/coldroom/IMG_0275.JPG (tar like paper coming off)
http://www.jorgechaves.com/coldroom/IMG_0280.JPG (more tar paper and evidence of water from window being open)
http://www.jorgechaves.com/coldroom/IMG_0278.JPG (ceiling insulation)
A concern I have is that I have seem that the wall around waist level sometimes has slight water moisture, just moist but no dripping. Should I Drylock the wall or something else?
And once that is that should I apply a vapour barrier on top of the Drylock or what is the best course of action? And for actual insulation, do you think that styrofoam type stuff or fiberglass based?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Jorge
http://www.jorgechaves.com/coldroom/IMG_0279.JPG
http://www.jorgechaves.com/coldroom/IMG_0277.JPG (top is ceiling at corner)
http://www.jorgechaves.com/coldroom/IMG_0275.JPG (tar like paper coming off)
http://www.jorgechaves.com/coldroom/IMG_0280.JPG (more tar paper and evidence of water from window being open)
http://www.jorgechaves.com/coldroom/IMG_0278.JPG (ceiling insulation)
A concern I have is that I have seem that the wall around waist level sometimes has slight water moisture, just moist but no dripping. Should I Drylock the wall or something else?
And once that is that should I apply a vapour barrier on top of the Drylock or what is the best course of action? And for actual insulation, do you think that styrofoam type stuff or fiberglass based?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Jorge
Last edited by Jorge Chaves; 12-13-05 at 05:50 AM.
#3
Insulation basement cold room
I would go one step at a time. There is no sense worrying about the kind of insulation and vapor barriers until you are sure you have solved the moisture problem. You can't store anything of value in a small room with moisture and no ventilation. I assume you have lived there long enough to be aware of any baement water leakage.
It looks like someone knew there was a moisture problem and made an unsucessful try at creating a storage area.
1. Go outside and make sure tou have taken all the inexpensive and logic steps of stopping water from getting to the basement walls - Gutters, downspouts(8') and drainage away from the house.
2. Remove all the junk from the walls to see what you have to work with. Hopefuly, the previous pwners did not apply something to the walls that would prevent you from solving the problem.
3. If the walls are bare, coat with Drylok or Thoroseal or another quality "waterproofer".
4. Wait a while to determine if you have any moisture coming through the walls.
Once you have satisfied that you have solved the wall problem you can invest in some insulation and vapor barriers that will depend on your storage system.
I did not address the ceiling of the room, not knowing what kind of exposure your porch floor is subjected to. If you have some protection, a good quality floor coating should stop water from penetrating before it has a chance to run off.
If the room has no ventilation, you may want to use a dehumifier to keep the humidity down. You may have some from the rest of the basement area. Clothing can pick up odors easily.
Dick
It looks like someone knew there was a moisture problem and made an unsucessful try at creating a storage area.
1. Go outside and make sure tou have taken all the inexpensive and logic steps of stopping water from getting to the basement walls - Gutters, downspouts(8') and drainage away from the house.
2. Remove all the junk from the walls to see what you have to work with. Hopefuly, the previous pwners did not apply something to the walls that would prevent you from solving the problem.
3. If the walls are bare, coat with Drylok or Thoroseal or another quality "waterproofer".
4. Wait a while to determine if you have any moisture coming through the walls.
Once you have satisfied that you have solved the wall problem you can invest in some insulation and vapor barriers that will depend on your storage system.
I did not address the ceiling of the room, not knowing what kind of exposure your porch floor is subjected to. If you have some protection, a good quality floor coating should stop water from penetrating before it has a chance to run off.
If the room has no ventilation, you may want to use a dehumifier to keep the humidity down. You may have some from the rest of the basement area. Clothing can pick up odors easily.
Dick
#4
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Toronto
Posts: 11
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for the advice on this. We are still busy doing some other repairs around the house and took your advice and waited until we knew if the walls leaked.
It was good we waited because I found out that indeed some areas do leak. I'm going to proceed with using Drylok on the walls but I need something for the floor (where the floor meets the walls) because there was some water coming in there too. Any suggestions for that?
We are not going to use the floor for walking directly on, going to get some 1/2 inch foam rubber matts.
Thanks again.
Jorge
It was good we waited because I found out that indeed some areas do leak. I'm going to proceed with using Drylok on the walls but I need something for the floor (where the floor meets the walls) because there was some water coming in there too. Any suggestions for that?
We are not going to use the floor for walking directly on, going to get some 1/2 inch foam rubber matts.
Thanks again.
Jorge
#5
Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 112
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
I've got the same situation: cold room under the front porch, miserably damp, and difficult to spend much time in, even in summer.
I'm leaving as is! I am storing things in those sealed plastic bins, putting stacked wood in one corner, glass jars on a shelf in the other corner, and installing a wine rack, because its a classic wine cellar situation.
Nothing like pulling out a bottle chilled in a room where you can see your breath! In the winter, the place has become a second fridge. In the summer, well, we try to avoid going in there.
J
I'm leaving as is! I am storing things in those sealed plastic bins, putting stacked wood in one corner, glass jars on a shelf in the other corner, and installing a wine rack, because its a classic wine cellar situation.
Nothing like pulling out a bottle chilled in a room where you can see your breath! In the winter, the place has become a second fridge. In the summer, well, we try to avoid going in there.
J
#6
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Toronto
Posts: 11
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
I have finally gotten around to removing all the crap off the walls and have 2 coats of Drylok oil on there. Smells nice.
I'm about to install some foamboard this weekend (glueing and taping it up everywhere and all that) and then framing to support drywall since foamboard is not allowed to be exposed due to fire regulations.
The research I have been doing tells me to drill into the concrete to support the frame but wouldn't drilling into the concrete defeat the purpose of using the Drylok in the first place? I just made this water tight and now I'm supposed to make holes into it?
Any ideas? Screws at an angle to attach the wood frame?
Jorge
I'm about to install some foamboard this weekend (glueing and taping it up everywhere and all that) and then framing to support drywall since foamboard is not allowed to be exposed due to fire regulations.
The research I have been doing tells me to drill into the concrete to support the frame but wouldn't drilling into the concrete defeat the purpose of using the Drylok in the first place? I just made this water tight and now I'm supposed to make holes into it?
Any ideas? Screws at an angle to attach the wood frame?
Jorge
#7
Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Posts: 814
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Jorge Chaves
The research I have been doing tells me to drill into the concrete to support the frame but wouldn't drilling into the concrete defeat the purpose of using the Drylok in the first place? I just made this water tight and now I'm supposed to make holes into it?
Any ideas? Screws at an angle to attach the wood frame?
Jorge
Any ideas? Screws at an angle to attach the wood frame?
Jorge
#8
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Toronto
Posts: 11
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by em69
Wall studs are attached to the concrete floor and ceiling joists. I'm not sure where you researched, but you should never create holes in a concrete foundation.
Jorge