I think pink/blue foam is extruded foam, but if not, then I’m talking about the pink stuff. I think white foam is expanded.
At any rate, is the pink foam a vapor barrier? It appears to be closed cell which would imply that it is, but hard to know for sure.
Reason I ask is that I would like to seal up my rim joist area in my basement by cutting chunks of pink foam and foaming it in place. I’m just curious if I am adding a vapor barrier or just r-value, in which case it seems easier to just stuff fg up in there. And of course the final choice is to just have the spray foam guys spray it, but that wouldn’t be until the second story goes on and who knows when that will happen.
Any thoughts appreciated.
MERC.
Replies
From one standpoint you don't care. The main reason for a vapor barrier is to keep moisture out of the insulation. If the insulation can't absorb moisture then you don't need the barrier (for that reason at least). Of course, a secondary reason for the barrier is to keep moisture from building up and causing rot, but that's an unlikely problem in this situation.
Extruded is a VB and dan is right that in this case, you probably don't care, bnut for diff reasons than he said.
Most of the insulation need in this location is as a thermal buffer. The air leakage here is mostly in-filtration, not out- filtration.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!