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I’m doing an earthquake retrofit in the Seattle (high moisture) and the last part of the project is to cover all the basement 32″ high cripple/pony walls with 1/2″ CDX. Half of the basement is a concrete slab and the other half is a 5′ height dirt unfinished space with vapor barrier.
Before I nail up the CDX, I was thinking of insulating the walls with blue-beadboard insulation between each stud. I am concerned that doing this my cause long-term problems due to no ventalation which could rot the interior side of the clapboard or interior side of the CDX.
Does it make sense to leave a 1″ gap at the top and bottom of each beadboard and drill the recommended 3″ hole into the CDX between each joist space so that “some” air circulation is possible? Or would doing this negate the effects of installing any beadboard.
The outside clapbord looks pretty water tight except for maybe the south side of the house, but the basement is very “dry” but cool in the winter and I have concerns about pipes freezing during periodic times of the temp dropping under 30 degrees for multiple days as happened last winter.
My concern with this issue was raised when I used a Borate based anti-rot and pest spray to perserve the studs/sill plate and noticed that it took 2-3 weeks for the water based spray to dry.
Thanks for any help….
Replies
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Greg
Why not use f/g batts, or blown in cellulose if your concern is bug infestation. If the dirt floor has a well installed and sealed (up onto the wall) moisture barrier tight to the soil you shouldn't have any moisture worries.No ventilation is necessary. . . consult the archives here for debate on this topic.
Blue Styro is not 'beadboard' in my part of the continent. Blue or pink are high R value Extruded Polystyrene (XPS)- Beadboard is white, low R value Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), big difference in performance, moisture proofing and R value, not to mention $$.
-pm
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I'm doing an earthquake retrofit in the Seattle (high moisture) and the last part of the project is to cover all the basement 32" high cripple/pony walls with 1/2" CDX. Half of the basement is a concrete slab and the other half is a 5' height dirt unfinished space with vapor barrier.
Before I nail up the CDX, I was thinking of insulating the walls with blue-beadboard insulation between each stud. I am concerned that doing this my cause long-term problems due to no ventalation which could rot the interior side of the clapboard or interior side of the CDX.
Does it make sense to leave a 1" gap at the top and bottom of each beadboard and drill the recommended 3" hole into the CDX between each joist space so that "some" air circulation is possible? Or would doing this negate the effects of installing any beadboard.
The outside clapbord looks pretty water tight except for maybe the south side of the house, but the basement is very "dry" but cool in the winter and I have concerns about pipes freezing during periodic times of the temp dropping under 30 degrees for multiple days as happened last winter.
My concern with this issue was raised when I used a Borate based anti-rot and pest spray to perserve the studs/sill plate and noticed that it took 2-3 weeks for the water based spray to dry.
Thanks for any help....