Hello. After 25 plus years in the trades, tons of reading on the trades, and a fair amount of mistakes, I thought a floor system I put together was done properly. That is until some fancy pants union carpenter told me I was a hack. Could it be? Tell me it ain’t so!
Here’s the situation. A deck converted to a sunroom. The bottom of the joists are 30″ above the ground or more and they are 2″ x 10″. The deck was enclosed with a wood structure that had lots of windows. In fact about 30% of all surfaces exposed to outside air are windows with an R value of about 3.2.
The rest has batt insulation ranging from R-13 in the walls to R-23 in the floor and ceiling. The batts in the floor are held in with wires so the kraft facing is toward the heated space. The bottom of the joists are covered with 1/2 CDX OSB with tightly butted joints. Additionally, an underlayment of 1/2″ CDX OSB was affixed to the 2x decking for carpeting.
The union guy says I need another vapor barrier on the bottom of this sunroom – over the plywood. Keep in mind, there is no exposure to the elements underneath. There is a vented apron surrounding the deck and site drainage is good.
So, I can’t find anything in my code books here in North Carolina that tells me this is required. The construction official crawled under there to inspect my wire stays and passed the entire job. Additionally, with the amount of R3.2 in this room, a wind barrier on the bottom might boost the efficiency of the floor, but why bother with all that thermal convection through the glass.
Am I missing something? I’ve built 10 of these over the years the same way and this is how we did it.
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as long as the kraft paper insulation is facing up towards the heated area, as you stated.....sounds like you did everything the correct way to me.
Where's that other thread you started with the same words in the text?
You had an answer there, take a look.
A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
And I thought I was sensitive!
"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking." — Sherlock Holmes, 1896
Sensitive? I thought you showed a remarkable restraint in your dealings with the GC in the tile job thread.
You can find it HERE
A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
just slap a coat of paint on the plywood, that keep the moisture from the ground from rotting the plywood also keep the termite out, they love moist wood.
Sky.. I already replied once. You think all this virtual typing ink is free?
Double posting won't get you better answers. (Although I respect your diligence)
~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.net
Meet me at House & Builder!
Edited 4/15/2009 10:57 am by Ted W.
Thanks Ted. I thought I put it in the wrong area.j