Finishing Basement- Do You Agree With The Guidelines Shown?

Dustball

We're closing on a house in a couple weeks and this house has a basement that we'll finish in order to get a good resale value.

Foundation is 24x44 with a full 8 foot floor to ceiling height. Built in 1997with CMU's and no signs of water infiltration anywhere. Walls have been framed along the exterior walls w/ FG batts and vapor barrier on the warm side.

Inspector for the city did a required truth-in-housing inspection for the seller- one of his requirements was that all insulation be removed and vapor barrier put up against the concrete.

I pulled up their hand-out sheet and it shows the requirements. The diagram shows a moisture barrier on the concrete side, insulation, then vapor barrier on the warm side.

Basement finishing hand-out sheet

I'm not sure if I agree with this. Wouldn't this method result in moisture (if any gets through) being trapped in between and resulting in mold? If I'm required to follow this, I'm thinking of using Platon on the walls and floor to satisfy the moisture barrier requirement.

maj

I've dealt with too many basement remodels where the VB was on the inside of the studs (between insul & wallcovering). The insulation was stuck to the foundation and wet. The studs & plate were all rotted & moldy.

The way I finish basements.......
I staple & tape (tyvek tape) 4 mil. plastic to the inside of the foundation sill plate, let it hang down to the floor.

Frame the wall using treated bottom plates. Tip the wall up onto the plastic that is on the floor. Fasten the wall to the floor leaving a 1" space between the foundation & stud wall.

By hanging the plastic from the sill plate and pulling it out 1" at the bottom, this allows for some air to circulate through the space to help dry the foundation of any water vapor.

I do not use VB on the inside of the stud wall. Only VB is between the foundation & wall frame.

Insulate with UNFACED friction fit fiberglass between studs. Then install your wallcovering.


Of course the BEST way to do this is with 1" - 2" rigid foam between the stud wall & foundation, but you prolly already know this.

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Dustball

Maj,

I understand and agree with your method. I don't agree with the city of St. Paul's diagram with having barrier on both sides of the insulation. I'm going to have to get ahold of an inspector and find out if the vapor barrier on the warm side is required or not.

Frankawitz

Anytime we have done a basement we like to use drylock paint on the walls or troseal, then we use 2" foam board, we don't like FG it seems to get mold in it easier then the foam board we also fill any cracks with spray foam in the cans, then frame like maj, we just don't use the plastic. we also leave dead air between sheetrock and foam.

maj

Dustball.......

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The views expressed in this post are merely opinions of named poster and in no way shall be deemed meaningful by members of the herd. By no means does anything posted by named poster mean a damn thing for anyone else partaking in this thread.

Dustball

Thanks Maj, that's what I figured.

I'll talk to the inspector and see if I can avoid having to do the double barrier. The last thing I want is to have someone have issues with work that we put in, especially mold.

karma_carpentry

Now that the main issue in this thread is resolved, can I hijack it for a minute to ask about floor treatments? I have a basement refinish coming up, in a dry basement but of course there's still moisture.

I've used Dri_Core tiles before, after a heavy coat of DryLok. Recently I found a product called Delta-FL which is like the cupped plastic material that's glued to the bottom of the Dri-Core panels, but it comes in wide rolls so it's faster and cheaper to put in.

But talking with another carpenter, he said he'd put a plywood subfloor on PT sleepers, or else lay it on rigid foam.

What's your standard treatment for basement floors? For, say, bamboo laminate, and for carpet finish floors?

karma_carpentry

Okay, let me hijack the thread again. I'm in a hijacking mood. (shhh... don't tell homeland security)...

Anyway, has anyone used RadonSeal ? (see website)

If you believe the advertising, it penetrates into the concrete and creates an impenetrable barrier out of the concrete itself a couple inches deep. Even if it's only 1/2 inch, I imagine it's better than 5 or 6 mils of Drylok paint for stopping any hydrostatic pressure.

But again, it's a product claim. I don't have real-world experience with it - do any of you?

Dustball

I will be using Platon + 3/4 T&G OSB on the slab for this upcoming basement. Platon is similar to the Delta-FL you mentioned. Menards has a sale right now for rolls of Platon for $130, 7'3"'x65'6"' (28 cents/SF).

karma_carpentry

Thanks for the info, Dustball. I'll keep that in mind.