For those of you with a crawlspace, do you have insulation in your floor joists?
I’m currently having a home built and the builder asked if I wanted insulation in the crawlspace. Rather stunned, I replied with, “I thought every home got insulation.” He then explained to me that nowadays many people are skipping the crawlspace insulation because studies show that it really doesn’t help much/at all.
Apparently there are 2 sides to this. 1 being insulation helps keep the home cool in the summer and warm during the winter. 2 being the studies have found that insulation traps moisture and will begin to mildew and the insulation will start to fall down over the years anyway.
He also informed me that half the homes being built do not have insulation in the crawlspace. Just FYI, my home will have hardwood floors and will be well insulated in the walls and attic. Also, the home is in Kentucky so it’s not in a warm climate year around.
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Insulation under the house, crawl ground/dirt has a plastic cloth to lower the amount of moisture in crawlspace. I open the vents when the night time temperature are above 50* F and close them when the night time temperature drops below 40* F.
I should have added…I do have plastic down on the ground.
If it’s the fluffy kind, it will fall down and get ripped up, most likely because of animal activity. In my experience it was due to mice. Instead of that kind, you could try spray insulation or the kind that’s a stiff board and can be glued or wedged in place. Insulation in a crawl space sounds like a good idea to me. I don’t get how “it doesn’t make any difference”.
Yes, I have it between the floor joists but not against the foundation, which would be even better! Have it done: You’ll reap the $$$ reward later in comfort, lower heating/cooling costs, resale value. Plastic sheeting covering the ground in crawlspace reduces moisture in the house, dry rot, radon gas intrusion. Open foundation vents in the summer, close them in the winter.
I have a full basement, poured concrete. I would think a vapor barrier and insulation would be the way to go.
Yes, our house has it in the remodeled sections (2008). The old sections (1955) do not.
We have a crawlspace under our livingroom only. The rest of our house has an exposed basement. When we moved in, there was no insulation under the floor over the crawlspace. The floor, even though carpeted, was freezing in the winter. The room was also very cold! We added bats of insulation under the floor and it made a huge difference. I would highly recommend doing that.
If you haven’t already done it, this is how I insulated my dirt crawlspace at my first home. I also dug a pit and put in a sump pump as my crawl regularly flooded.
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