Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - Insulating half a basement
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01-26-01, 09:19 AM
I have a house in Northern climate with walk out basment. Front half is finished and back half is utility room that is partly below grade. In Winter everything is fine, but in Summer I have a real mess!!
In Summer the utility room side is cooler by 20 degrees or more and the front side, especially when opened to the outdoors, is hot and wet (just like outdoors). I feel it necessary to open the windows in the front half since I don't have central air and need to get fresh air in the Summer. Problem shows up as puddles at the wall between the cold and warm portions of the basement. Obviously a condensation problem, but question is how to solve it??
I've tried a number of things to come up with a solution but nothing has worked yet.
Heating the "cold" side doesn't seem to make sense - I've tried using a fan to blow warm summer air through the utility room and it just causes condensation because the outside air is laden with moisture.
Keeping the doors and windows shut on the finshed side of the basement seems to reduce the problem a little but warm, wet air still gets in of course, and condenses on the floor (and up the sheetrock walls!!)
Running a dehumidifier helps a little. In the utility room it heats it up a little maybe which may be what helps. In the finished front portion it's impractical since the house is open to the outdoors via a stairway upstairs. And you can't close up the house and run a dehumidifier; when it's 90 degrees outside running a dehumidifier inside will cook you.
Central air is an option too (an expensive one), but you really only need it where I live about half a dozen days a year from the temperature point of view anyway.
I'm considering insulating the wall between the two rooms since it's relatively accesible from the utility room side, but not sure which side to place the vapor barrier or if even using one makes sense. Maybe should use rigid foam with our without aluminum facing but again which side to face the aluminum?
Any and all help welcome!!
In Summer the utility room side is cooler by 20 degrees or more and the front side, especially when opened to the outdoors, is hot and wet (just like outdoors). I feel it necessary to open the windows in the front half since I don't have central air and need to get fresh air in the Summer. Problem shows up as puddles at the wall between the cold and warm portions of the basement. Obviously a condensation problem, but question is how to solve it??
I've tried a number of things to come up with a solution but nothing has worked yet.
Heating the "cold" side doesn't seem to make sense - I've tried using a fan to blow warm summer air through the utility room and it just causes condensation because the outside air is laden with moisture.
Keeping the doors and windows shut on the finshed side of the basement seems to reduce the problem a little but warm, wet air still gets in of course, and condenses on the floor (and up the sheetrock walls!!)
Running a dehumidifier helps a little. In the utility room it heats it up a little maybe which may be what helps. In the finished front portion it's impractical since the house is open to the outdoors via a stairway upstairs. And you can't close up the house and run a dehumidifier; when it's 90 degrees outside running a dehumidifier inside will cook you.
Central air is an option too (an expensive one), but you really only need it where I live about half a dozen days a year from the temperature point of view anyway.
I'm considering insulating the wall between the two rooms since it's relatively accesible from the utility room side, but not sure which side to place the vapor barrier or if even using one makes sense. Maybe should use rigid foam with our without aluminum facing but again which side to face the aluminum?
Any and all help welcome!!