Insulating Floor Of An Old House With Dirt Floor Basement

I have a 20 year old 2 story log home with a huge basement the basement has a back entry 2 levels and a what i call a shelf toward the front of the home the basement floor is dirt so i initially covered with 6 mil black plastic but have planned to cover the walls with either eps with foil backing or polyiso with foil backing minimum of 2 inches thick i live in 4 5 climate zone.

Insulating floor of an old house with dirt floor basement.

Cover the walls with insulation from the sill plate to the plastic covered dirt floor. In this video home renovation brothers dave and rich demonstrate how to insulate a crawl space. Overlap the bottom of the walls with two inches of the sheet edges raised upward along the wall s surface. Let us assume there is a staircase from the main floor inside the house that leads into the basement.

Cover the dirt floor with a layer of 10 mil plastic sheeting to serve as a vapor barrier which will keep moisture from seeping through the dirt and onto your wood floor. Some people say we can get foam insulation sprayed in which will harden on the dirt floor. After the cement is set apply a foam board adhesive to the rear of a polystyrene insulation panel then press the panel to the wall. Also assume there are windows in the foundation below the floor plate so natural light enters the basement.

Make sure your adhesive is free of solvents which can eat away at the foam insulation. Molly has given good advice. Only seal and insulate your basement in combination with concreting the basement floor to seal out moisture that rises from the dirt. We will be tearing out carpeting in those rooms and want to know how we can insulate those floors before putting down linoleum and laminate flooring.

Part of the house sits on cement slab but the rooms over the dirt basement have very cold floors. Homes with dirt floors in the basement are more common than we realize. Step by step basement insulation installation. We are not sure if i should insulate the ceiling of the crawl space or to simply try to get a floor.

We have an old house with brick foundation and dirt basement. We close down the cottage for the winter and drain the water for the season we would love to insulate and try to make it a 4 season cottage. Lay the sheets in rows across the dirt floor. Adhere and apply the remaining panels.

Your best and first heat keeping are spent in insulating the attic and in sealing all the cracks that allow cold drafts into your house. Lastly let us assume there is headroom when standing on the dirt floor. When you re using fiberglass batting insulation material run it about 6 inches or so onto the crawl space floor.