Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - Insulating the box

New homebuyer so bear with me and my terminology.

Our inspector suggested we insulate the box of the house. I've read that R15 - fiberglass is good for a basement. What I can't find is should it be faced or not. If it is supposed to be faced fiberglass, do I put the paper against the box or facing the inside of the house?

It appears to be a extremely dry basement do I need to worry about condensation with the fiberglass?

Thanks!

If the house needed insulation, why wasn't it made a contingency to purchase and place that burden on the seller? Now, if you are remodeling the basement, that is another thing. Not sure what he meant by "box". If your basement is below grade it is geothermally correct and will not vary in temperature more than a few degrees throughout the year. Ground temperature is around 70F. Insulation in such an area is not necessary, but gives owners (especially new ones) a warm and fuzzy feeling. So if you want to insulate the walls, once they are built, you can install R13 kraft faced insulation with the kraft facing the living space.

The house was an estate sale, so we got a deal and there was not much room for contigencies.
After doing lots of reading last night I've learned what he called the box is the area right above the sill(the "header" maybe?). I live in cold NH and the basement is probably 80% underground with the area above the sill is above ground.
Also, it will not be finished yet that will be a future project I'm hoping to begin next year.

Thanks!

Yes, insulate the pockets between floor joists. A good way to do this is to cut pieces of 1.5" or 2" Extruded Polystyrene (XPS...pink or blue foam board) to fit the pocket tightly. Push them in against the band joist (sometimes called rim joist or joist header), and caulk around the edges. Then, put your fiberglass insulation over that, with the kraft paper facing the room. You wouldn't really need the kraft-faced insulation actually, as the 1.5" or 2" XPS acts as a vapor barrier itself.

Any above-ground (and actually down to the frost line underground) foundation inside should be insulated. Concrete has little or no insulating power. And typically ground temperature is around 53 degrees...not 70. Maybe 70 on a hot sunny day, in the top 2" of soil...but below that is drops significantly.

For example, in my basement, there is 1.5 feet of exposed concrete foundation. I insulated the band joist pockets with XPS and R-30 unfaced fiberglass. Then I used 1.5" XPS from the top of the foundation down 4 feet. That should get me just below the frost line (I'm in southern Wisconsin). The rest of the way down the wall is uninsulated, but the previous owner had put a real brick facade there anyway, so it works out. Then I'm framing with 2x2's and will add drywall soon. I'm planning to heat this area when all said and done.

Good luck!

Thanks Q Brizzle.

1 question on your recommendation. I know there is alot of different caulks out there and I know nothing about them. Is there a particular kind I should be using?

Thanks

I like 100% silicone for this purpose. Dries fast, and remains flexible as the wood naturally expands and contracts with temperature and relative humidity.

A bit smelly...but only during curing.