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I’ve framed up a half dozen or so basements with stud walls using a poly vapor barrier against the masonry walls topped with polystyrene sheets. The studs were tight up against the polystyrene. The stud walls in the basement I’m working on now, need to be set away from the concrete walls about 6 inches, due to plumbing. I’m worried about condensation forming between the insulated concrete wall and the stud wall. Any suggestions?
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More news from the ivory tower. Interior basement finishes should be designed to handle occasional leaks through the basement wall and occasional basement flooding. Don Fugler of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation just finished a study of the ability for basement walls to dry quickly. He studied wood stud, metal stud and proprietary systems. The proprietary systems performed best because they were designed to. Metal worked better than wood because of lower water storage. The standard wood wall with poly toward the concrete worked well against a leak, but poorly in a flood. The URL is http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/Research.
Regarding moving the wall out to accommodate plumbing, you might want to ask yourself what will be the quality of the air behind the wall and what will be its rate of exchange with the rest of the house. The "killer" conditions found in Cleveland included: 1) interior basement finish pulled out from the wall by about 10", 2) rainwater leaking through the basement wall at the downspouts, 3) a floor drain in the captured space which apparently backed up a time or two, and 4) the "Cleveland drop"-- a vertical length of metal duct open near the floor of the basement or crawl space and open at the first floor grille, acting as part of the basement or crawl space return plenum. This nutty piece of ductwork was buried behind the basement finish, and, of course, the infant's crib was placed right at the grille.
In my opinion, any basement finish has to pass the smell test: imagine that two months after completion, the owner calls to say there is a bad smell. The course of corrective action should be quick, simple, effective and inexpensive. Some of the proprietary systems, including the Owens-Corning system, pass the test in my opinion.
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I've framed up a half dozen or so basements with stud walls using a poly vapor barrier against the masonry walls topped with polystyrene sheets. The studs were tight up against the polystyrene. The stud walls in the basement I'm working on now, need to be set away from the concrete walls about 6 inches, due to plumbing. I'm worried about condensation forming between the insulated concrete wall and the stud wall. Any suggestions?