Vapor Barrier Thickness Basement Walls

Whether or not you need a vapor retarder hinges on three main factors.

Vapor barrier thickness basement walls.

In exterior walls that are below grade like basement walls. Finishing basement walls using a vapor barrier is easy and the article below will show you how. Not every wall does. 1 on the interior wall between the heated and unheated portion of the basement i would not use with a vapor barrier.

Water vapor can pass through building materials in several ways including direct transmission and by heat transfer but studies suggest that fully 98 percent of the moisture transfer through walls occurs through air gaps including cracks around electrical fixtures and outlets and gaps along baseboards. The main concerns are condensation and drying potential. Basement vapor barrier and insulation. The other option is to set the 2 4 wall framing in 4 from the masonry or concrete basement walls and use just the vapor barrier on the insulation facing toward the living space.

Also be sure to use treated lumber for the bottom plate on the wall framing. The science of moisture movement. It s important to choose a company that is experienced in doing this type of work and has a track record of happy customers. Not to be confused with a vapor barrier which is placed on the warm side of the wall just in front of the insulation and behind the drywall a moisture barrier goes against the basement wall.

We ve written several articles about basement insulation and a cost effective approach to basement insulation using foam board and fiberglass insulation since writing those articles we ve received quite a few questions about when to use a basement vapor barrier and when not to. Thus installing vapor barriers on wall surfaces must. In winter the dew point of the interior air is typically about 50 f assuming an air temperature of 70 f and a relative humidity of 50. A vapor retarder is a material used to prevent water vapor from diffusing into the wall ceiling or floor during the cold winter.

If your basement wall is brand new then you can skip this step. The thickness of your vapor barrier is just one of the many considerations you need to take into account when installing a crawl space encapsulation system. After the insulation is in place you will want to add a vapor retarder sometimes called a vapor barrier if you need one. Step 1 remove the damage.