Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Adhesives Product: Adhesive for foam insulation
Temperature Limitations: Check the package: one manufacturer says above -30 C (-22 F) while another says above +15 C (+60 F).
Rain Limitations: A...
Certain parts of Canada, particularly in the Winnipeg region, have a traditional construction technique that presents serious challenges when you want to insulate a basement -- the ends of the joists are actually embedded in the concrete foundation wall. Chris, from Winnipeg, asked for some f...
The national building code requires a minimum level of insulation in a basement that reaches about two feet below the outside grade level. The objective is to make this storage space a heatable space. Hence some materials and techniques have developed that satisfy this minimum code requirement th...
One of our viewers is about to insulate his basement and he has been told that he should not run the vapour barrier all the way to the floor. Fact or fiction?
You should run the vapour barrier wherever there is insulation to keep the moisture on the warm side of the wall. And in a basement insta...
It is always better to insulate on the outside of basements and crawl spaces, but usually more expensive and more trouble.
Brick or field stone foundations must not be insulated on the inside for much more than one foot below ground level. The poor quality of the mortar in these foundations dete...
An animation on a CD that I produced with the Reader's Digest several years ago showed clearly why you should insulate the entire wall all the way down to the floor. No, you won't freeze anything outside, as the important footings are below the frost depth anyway and there is always some heat los...
Ron from Penticton, B.C. has a "stepped" foundation with a pony wall from the concrete to the ceiling above. This upper portion is insulated but not the concrete. He wants to insulate it all. He asks: "Does he have to remove the existing drywall, and does the vapour barrier need to extend over th...
As you can see in the first graphic, the soil helps to insulate a basement so there is more heat lost on the top of the basement than on the bottom. That is why the National Building Code requires a minimum level of insulation in a basement that reaches from the floor boards above your head, down...
Often promoted in southern Ontario, this theory has never, to my knowledge, been proven by any government agency or independent researcher in the insulation field. On the contrary, the unanimous opinion seems to be that it will cause, not prevent, condensation. Even efforts to drain condensation...
If there is no water leakage problem, but the basement walls are a bit damp, you must cover the walls before insulating. Waterproofing coatings are not really necessary for moisture proofing. Polyethylene plastic sheets or horizontal strips of building paper are sufficient. These should be hung o...
