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Climate Panel over semi-conditioned basement.

woobagooba
woobagooba Member Posts: 186
edited August 2021 in Radiant Heating
I've got a Climate Panel install going into first floor whose subfloor is a patch work of old gapped boards and Advantech (air leak city). The basement below is rubble foundation with rat slab and single pane hopper windows ... semi-conditioned space, often humid in summer, dehumidifier often running, etc.

I am not ready to cross the bridge to address the basement slab and rubble walls, so I am considering treating the first floor / basement ceiling as the air/vapor/thermal "bottom" of my building envelope.

Back to the Climate Panel. I am considering placing Membrain between the subfloor and climate panel as an air/vapor barrier, then the town will require R19 batts in the floor joists below.

Does this sound like a reasonable approach?

Thanks



Comments

  • It seems as though the subfloor would pick up the moisture, but I don't have enough experience in humid climates to say for sure.
    8.33 lbs./gal. x 60 min./hr. x 20°ΔT = 10,000 BTU's/hour

    Two btu per sq ft for degree difference for a slab
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,170
    Do NOT use any type of fibre or batt insulation below your vapour barrier in that leaky damp "basement". It will become saturated with moisture -- and critters... and bugs... and rot.

    Don't ask me how I know.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • woobagooba
    woobagooba Member Posts: 186
    Must ... resist ... urge ... to bust out / replace the rat slab and spray foam the basement walls!
  • psb75
    psb75 Member Posts: 828
    Consider: no rat slab, and a migration towards a new "pink heaven."
    Jamie Hall speaks The Truth.
    Unconditioned spaces below a living space are always problematic and require careful consideration before treatment.
    Just my opinon: 'They' should stop manufacturing and selling fiberglass insulation.
  • jumper
    jumper Member Posts: 2,230
    A complicated situation. Can styrofoam alleviate cold floors?