Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - crawl space insulation question

I have a about a 8 x 14 ft crawl space in our 1600 sq ft 50 year old house. Also we live in the upper MidWest where we have cold winters.

I had three vents in it and sealed off from the rest of the house. In reading comments last year I put down plactic on the ground and ran it up the wall and then insulated the walls and closed the vents and opened it up to the rest of the house.

Probable due to the fact this house is 50+ years old we constantly get a smell from the crawl space even though the basement is fairly dry.

I am considering reversing what I did and re-install the vents and close it up to the rest of the house.

If I do I will insulate the floor. Am I correct that the facing should be up against the floor?

Appreciate any comments.

Thanks,

Harlan

Keep vents closed! I don't know what you mean by opining up to rest of house but the crawl should be a totally separate space than the living area.

The opening to the crawl space from the basement is a 4 x 4 opening. At this time this is open to the basement. Reading past comments I understood this was the correct procedure...except I am getting a small ordor from the crawl space.

Are you saying that the vents should remain closed and also closed off from the basement? It would appear to me that air would get awful stale.

Close the vents for sure. let it open to the rest of the basement. if you have duct down there .We even put a snmall regisster in it to let air out down there.Might take time to get the smell out. That 6 mil poly on the ground. Should over lap 2 ft and duct tape all seams. Did you put insulation up on the sill plate all around the home in the joist space?

http://www.rlcengineering.com/csspecs.htm

http://aboutsavingheat.com/crawlspace.html

Check out both of the www.

ED ;)

Thanks for the information Ed. Yes I did put insulation all around and on the sill plate with plastic on the ground. I do think the smell is getting better so I'll just keep it the way it is.

Harlan.