Vapor Barrior

woodlover

finishing basement !
Vapor barrior on walls,yes or no !
If yes,what side of stud wall do you put your vapor barrior?
Looking for some thoughts on this.Heard so many pros and cons thru out the years on this.
Want to hear from some of you guys and see what you think.

KB construction

what type of basement wood,concrete,block,ect. On concrete of block you put the barrier on the concrete and then finish it out inside. At least that is what they told us in continuing ed class.

DavidC

Try www.buildingscience.com. They talk about the whole system, including the vapor barrier or not.

Good Luck
Dave

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JenkinsHB

there isn't a good solution that will accommodate all situations.

are your walls insulated on the exterior?

are your walls water proofed on the exterior?

how much of your concrete wall is above grade? ie lookout basement.

Interior/exterior drain tile? is there a vapor barrier under the slab floor?

Most situations i use a vapor paint on the concrete and then put a vapor retarder on the warm side of your stud walls. Putting the plastic directly on the concrete will still create a condensing plane because of the temperature difference of the concrete. Especially if you have a lot of your concrete walls above grade. Biggest mistake people make is not sealing off the rim and the backside of the stud wall's top plate. There really isn't a perfect way of doing it no matter what you do, unless you have someone spray your walls with icynene or some other foam insulation.

Tom M

The building science website suggests strapping the masonry walls with extruded foam then furring strips for drywall. The thought is the cooliest surface will create the condensation point. So whether inside or out the extruded foam is a thermal buffer and doesnt tranfer the temperture while giving a continuous R-vALUE.

moldbuster

Typically we don't like vapor barriers on concrete. Problem is the condensation has to go somewhere and inevitably it ends up at the base of the wall where it collects. Instead, I usually use something on the concrete to cut the moisture intrusion from the concrete back to near zero (like Kryton T-1/T-2). Combine with an air gap and rigid foam.