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   Guest_ | Aug 21, 1999 06:16pm | #1

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   Conventional wisdom says that you should insulate between a conditioned and unconditioned space. In any case you need to have a vapor barrier on the floor of your crawl space. If you have a large concentration of water of moisture, you should check to see if there are any steps you can take to reduce it. This would include insuring proper drainage away from the house, gutters that drain to point away from the house, clean any debris from the floor of the crawl (anything that soakes and holds water), and proper damproofing. Have your house checked and/or treated for termites on a regular basis.

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   Guest_ | Aug 21, 1999 07:59pm | #2

   *Roni. kcoyner gives good advice. I wouldf add that all flowers, shrubs must be at least 2 feet away from the foundation.The better way to insulate a crawl space is to insulate the foundation walls. Insulating between the floor joists disconnects the space from the coolth of the earth.GeneL.

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   Guest_ | Aug 21, 1999 08:59pm | #3

   *Roni - The one thing I didn't get from your post was whether your foundation is vented or not. If you have foundation vents, you should keep the insulation between your joists. Like kcoyner says, it provides a barrier between your house and the aie that moves through the vents. If you don't have vents, then what Gene Leger makes more sense, since insulating the walls will help take advantage of the fairly constant ground temperature, cooling your floor in summer and warming it in winter.I live in a similar climate (Puget Sound) and this is strictly my opinion. This issue abut venting (which is required by many building codes) is currently a "hot button" in our industry. There is an article about it in the most recent Journal of Light Construction and our own Fred Lugano had an article published in FHB (may have been cover article) a couple issues back. - jb

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   Guest_ | Aug 23, 1999 07:39am | #5

   *The insulation has some value and should be left in place if it is dry. True story. We purchased a rental house a few years ago. The seller (an aging in-law)was notoriously tight. At one point, he put insullation in the floor for a tax rebate. He had a couple of high school kids do the work. No staples. No chicken wire. No nothing, other than friction, to hold it up. It all fell down, but not before the first winter, when the pipes froze. He had the high school kids fix that with sections of garden hose and clamps. No lie, one length of hose ran up to the kitchen sink. The insulation soaked up water and begain to stink. The stink got into the wall-to-wall carpet. When we purchased the house I spent a day pulling out soggy, stinking fiberglass with rotten backing. No fun. The carpet is in my hunting cabin. It still stinks. So, if you have insulation in your floor, keep it up and keep it dry. If you smell something foul and it won't go away, check to make sure your under floor insulation is up and not down!

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   Roni_Dietsch | Aug 23, 1999 07:39am | #4

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   I'm in the Bay Area in California and my house has a crawl space. The previous owner had put in fiberglass batts under the flooring (Hard wood throughout the home) and I don't know if I should keep it or pull out and put down plastic sheeting (such as Tu-Tuf) over the dirt. The dirt stays damp, but not muddy all year round. I've had termite damage under the kitchen and pulled some insulation down to do repairs. I'm thinking the insulation isn't doing much except providing the bugs a place to hide. It doesn't get below 20 degrees very often, but it does get damp. I've asked several contractors out here for their opinion but no usable answers. Help. Please.