[meford4u]

ZTWsquared,Jan 19 2010, 04:03 PM Wrote:

meford4u,Jan 19 2010, 02:47 PM Wrote:  A cold floor in a basement is the result of the slab cooling from poor insulation in the walls and your vapour barrier not being sealed(accoustical sealant) floor and ceiling.  I have personally had spray foam thoughout the basement in my home and I keep only 2 vents open during the winter(out of the 8 installed) as it actually gets too warm in the basement.  Just my opinion.
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Builders are famous for not doing a good job with basement vapour barrier and sealing the rim joist ... Bryan ... a couple of questions if I may ...

Is your spray foam rim to slab or just half way like the builders do the bats

Did you frame first

Did you do it yourself?
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The builder did the spray foam for 80% of the basement as per the writtne contract I included and had them insulate floor to ceiling and all rim joists.

You frame the walls first leaving a minimum of 1/2" spacing from the wall for a continuous vapour barrier.

I did not spray the walls myself. I have a local contractor fot that. There is a government rebate program in effect that allows rebates for all types of insulation. It cost me out of pocket $1300 for the 20% of the basement that I had to finish with spray foam and I get back $1800 from the government. Crazy but true. I also installed a tankless water heater and that cost me $200 and an extra $10/month for the rental but I have had it in for 9 months now and I save more than the extra cost of the water heater rental. Oh, and I get $800 from the government for that too. There are other incentives beyond insulation(like windows/doors/furnace/A/C units). If you guys want more information, I'll post the link.

If you do anything in a basement, spray foam it. It makes it so comfortable and livable in a space that is often cold and damp.