Basement renovation advice - opinion on my insulation technique

M

MontrealM3

Legacy Member
I have been investigating the various ways and finally decided on this method:

Floor:

1" XPS Dow Styrofoam, glued and taped
5/8" advantech tapcon'd to the styrofoam

Wall:

2" XPS Dow Styrofoam, glued and taped
2x4 framing built on new floor

All joints sealed with great stuff type foam

More info: look at Figure 1
http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-0309-renovating-your-basment

I also saw Mike Holmes approve this method...

That being said, the architect wants 2" sleepers on the floor and a 6mm vapor barrier... I don't want to lose another 2"...

Advice??

thanks
 
Interesting.

So the foam goes directly on the floor with no subfloor or dricore under it?
 
The house is 30 years old but they never finished the basement.. so it's bare concrete now. 46x45 ft

No water inflitration as far as I can see (we have been there about a year and a half). everything is very dry

Foam goes directly on the floor and this with the advantech wood is the subfloor.. so it's kind of like a dricore but in 2 pieces
 
A vapor barrier everywhere in the basement is a really good idea. Not only does it control vapor migration but it also protects against underground naturally occurring gas leakage such as radon.

I also don't think that building your floor on top of insulation without "sleepers" is a good idea. Unless I'm missing a components, I don't think any hardwood supplier or even ceramic supplier will want to warranty a job on such feeble backing material. I'm not a fan of aluminum clad insulation product, the metal scraps off really easily.

P.S. I don't know about the advantech wood product... I'm checking it out now.
 
Is there a top-crete or something on your slab because basements slabs are often far from nice and even. Your insulation panels could be airport grade compression, they can still snap really easily at the smallest bump and this kind of panel DOES NOT take to well to irregularities in finish.

Can't you install the insulation in between the sleepers?

You might have read this already but there:

How do I put AdvanTech flooring on the poured concrete floor in my basement?

There are two methods used to attach AdvanTech panels to concrete slabs. Both methods require the preparation of the slab. Slab Preparation Cover the slab with minimum 4 mil (6 mil preferred) polyethylene sheeting. The polyethylene sheet should be glued to the slab with an adhesive that will bond to both concrete and plastic. All joints in the polyethylene sheeting should be lapped a minimum 4". These laps should also be glued to ensure an adequate moisture seal. The plastic should extend up sides of the walls a few inches. Once the AdvanTech sheathing is installed, the excess plastic can be trimmed flush.

The insulation panels are also NOT a vapor barrier in the eye of Code, like a poly is

Method 1 - Application direct to slab
• It is recommended that a square edge panel be used for this method.
• After preparing the slab as described above, place panels directly on polyethylene sheeting.
• Space panels 1/8" at edges and ends.
• Fasten panels with masonry nails, concrete fasteners or powder-actuated fasteners.
• Place fasteners 3/8" from panel edges.
• Space fasteners 6" o.c. at panel edges and 8" o.c. in the field.

Method 2 - Application to a joist system
• It is recommended that a T and G panel be used for this method.
• After preparing the slab as described above, install a joist system with 2x4's put on edge. Include rim joists to tie the framing together. The recommended joist spacing is 16" o.c.
• Lay panels on joist system with long dimension across joists. All panels should cover at least 3 joists.
• Space panels 1/8" at 4-foot ends. The T and G edge is self spacing.
• Use a minimum 8d ring-shank or spiral shank nail.
• Place fasteners 3/8" from panel edges.
• Space fasteners 6" o.c. at panel edges and 12" o.c. at intermediate supports.
Click to expand...
 
Moi j'irais avec Mike Holme.. EN passant y'a un forum Make it Right si tu veux poser ta question la bas....
 
Hey Ronin

Yes remember the advantech is going on the SM Styroform insulation, not directly on the concrete!

It will be tapcon'ed straight through.. excuse the ascii art!

~~~~~~ 5/8 advantec __
________ 1" xps foam | |
====== concrete | | <-tapcon that holds it all down
\/
 
Is your basement concrete floor perfectly flat (or close to flat)?

If it isnt, doesnt matter what you put on top, the only proper way of doing it would be via a leveled subfloor or sleepers.

As Ronin said, I dont recommend the styrofoam-only either way. Install sleepers and put the styro in between. Styros not built or made to support something. its made to insulate.
 
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I'll add this, the resulting R-value for both your wall and floor with receptively only 2" and 1" XPS is limit with basic code requirements and won't reach target values of let's say "Novoclimat" standards.
 
Best Way, Is to built a sub-floor from 2x3 and shim the structure to be completely flat. Then put some 5/8 "Panneaux OSB" on top of the frame. Just be sure to put some PVC (Black) film to protect your wood from the humidity of the concrete slab
 
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