Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - Preventing future sill plate rot

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tromansky
09-07-09, 08:47 PM
I have a 30 yr old home w/ slab on-grade and brick exterior. I recently have noticed an awful musty smell near my front entrance, and after removing some drywall, I found a whole lot of nothing - the sill plate completely rotted away! Fortunately the rot was limited to about 4 feet. But I need to replace the sill plate and sister 3 studs. I have found the source of the moisture problem and will correct. The question I have is concerning the old fiberboard that is between the studs and the brick exterior. I removed the damaged area - approx. the bottom 12", but I am unsure if I need to replace this with some other material? There is about a 1" void between the studs and the brick, which doesn't provide ample room to fit anything in there. But it doesn't seem right to have new insulation exposed to the brick.

Thanks in advanced!

Bud9051
09-08-09, 04:29 AM
Hi tromansky and welcome to the forum. I agree, you will wand something between the insulation and the brick. I will attach a good article (link) talking about brick exteriors, maybe it will help. You will want pressure treated (pt) wood in contact with the slab, use proper type of fasteners as pt chemicals have changed.
BSD-106: Understanding Vapor Barriers — (http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/digests/bsd-106-understanding-vapor-barriers/?full_view=1)

It can be tricky getting a board back in there, but glue and screws will usually prevail.

Bud