Your mother-in-law is moving in with your family. You need some more room, FAST. Time to finish that basement.

In this task you need to decide how to insulate your basement to get it ready to drywall before your mother-in-law arrives.

First you need to properly air seal the basement.Then insulate and finish the basement.

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Choose the correct air sealing product and drag it into the gray boxes to match with each problem

area. Once you have finished. Click here to check answers.Chose your supplies

low expansion foam

Fire caulk

CaulkNextBack

Chose your supplies

low expansion foam

Fire caulk

Caulk

If you have questions about why a particular air sealing method is preferred, please click on the picture of the problem area for an explanation

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Low expansion foam: not allowed due to fire codeFire Caulk: required by fire codeCaulk: not allowed due to fire code

Air Sealing Fireplaces

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Air Sealing Rim Joist

Low expansion foam: Expansion will help fill in gaps and will help hold blocking in placeFire caulk: Not currently required by fire code. Will not expand to fill larger gapsCaulk: Will not expand to fill larger gapsNote: make sure to air seal all 6 sides of cantilevered floors, and insulate cantilevered floor, before blocking

and sealing rim joist

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Air Sealing CornersLow expansion foam: the expansion of the foam will prevent proper and easy installation of drywall. Low expansion foam used in this area will be promptly removed by drywall installers. Fire caulk: not required by codeCaulk: since caulk does not expand it will not get in the way of drywall installation and therefore is more likely to remain during and after drywall installation

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Air Sealing Doorways

Low expansion foam: Low expansion foam will expand to fill gaps, but will not warp doors or void manufacturers warrantiesFire caulk: Not required by fire code. Will not expand to fill gapsCaulk: Will not expand to fill gaps

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Low expansion foam: the expansion of the foam will prevent proper and easy installation of drywall and flooring. Low expansion foam used in this area will be promptly removed by drywall or flooring installers. Fire caulk: not required by codeCaulk: since caulk does not expand it will not get in the way of drywall nor flooring installation and therefore is more likely to remain during and after installation

Air Sealing Bottom Plates

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Low expansion foam: Low expansion foam will expand to fill gaps, but will not warp windows or void manufacturers warrantiesFire caulk: Not required by fire code. Will not expand to fill gapsCaulk: Will not expand to fill gaps

Air Sealing Windows

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Low expansion foam: not allowed due to fire codeFire Caulk: required by fire codeCaulk: not allowed due to fire code

Air Sealing Electrical Penetrations

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Now that you have successfully air sealed your basement, it is time to install insulation. The insulation is not only required by Georgia Code, but it will also help lower your heating and cooling cost.

However, insulating subterranean concrete walls is more complicated than insulating exterior stud walls, because the concrete is porous. When insulating poured concrete walls you need to protect against mold. There are three methods of insulting concrete walls. One method, insulated concrete forms (ICF) are installed during the construction process. They were not used in building your home. There are two other methods of insulating concrete walls. In this segment we are going to explore these two methods.

Decide which of the two methods you would like to use. Then click on (do not try to drag) the picture which represents the successive steps in the method of your choice.

Chose your supplies

Ummm, yeah. That doesn't really work with this application or at this stage. Please chose another option.

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Good job.

Another similar product for consideration is ThermalDry, but it does not seem to finish as smoothly.

The boards are designed to also be radiant barriers, preventing the concrete mass walls from absorbing the heat from the basement during the heating season. However, once you have controlled the moisture issues associated with concrete walls feel free to add studs and drywall over the walls. Keeping in mind that this will mitigate the radiant barrier aspect of these products.

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Chose your suppliesNow that you have chosen the 1st step in this method of insulation, choose the 2nd step.

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Ummm, yeah. That doesn't really work with this application or at this stage. Please chose another option.

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Whoops. You just created the potential to make you and your family sick. Faced insulation on concrete walls has been shown to cause an environment highly favorable to mold. Moisture moves easily through the concrete walls, then gets trapped on the vapor barrier of the faced batt. This can cause mold to accumulate on the batt or on the wall studs.

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Good job! Now you are ready to drywall.

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1. Which air sealing medium goes with which area

2. Which of the following is not an approved method of insulating preexisting concrete walls?

A) ThermalmaxB) Unfaced batt insulationC) ThermalDryD) Faced batt insulation

Name:

Date:

Doors and Windows

Rim JoistsBottom plates

Corners

Fireplaces

Electrical Penetrations

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