How To Insulate A Floor Above A Crawl Space

Many homes with crawl space foundations reveal basic signs of poor crawl space insulation.

How to insulate a floor above a crawl space.

Crawl space insulation as a part of overall home air sealing and insulation helps maintain your entire home s energy efficiency without insulation heat and cool air are easily lost through the floor. Fiberglass insulation batts or rolls are the most economical and easiest diy choice for insulating between the floor joist in a crawl space. Get expert tips and advice on how to insulate a crawl space and the floor above it plus average costs. Department of energy recommends r 11 3 insulation under floors in warm climates and an r 25 6 to 8 in cold climates.

While this method does work in the very short term moisture eventually builds in the crawl space and grows on this highly porous surface. Insulating during crawl space encapsulation. Where winter temperatures are extreme opt for insulating the walls and sealing off the crawl space entirely. In those days common building practice was to insulate the floor above the crawl space and to leave the crawl space s wall vents open so any moisture buildup would vent to the outside a.

If as you say the floor is only dirt covered with a vapor barrier then there would be heat loss there. Remember up to 50 of the crawl space air can transfer into the living space. Crawl space insulation basics. In addition another sign of improper crawl space insulation is musty odors coming up from the space under the.

Stapling fiberglass batts between joists to the underside of your home s floor presents a number of problems. A crawl space under a house helps protect against certain pests but a crawl space with abundant moisture can invite problems including mold wood rot and vermin. When it s cold the floor areas directly above the crawl space may be cold and even uncomfortable to walk on with bare feet or in just socks. Insulation on the dirt floor may be useful but in tennessee we find this not to be so.

That doesn t mean it s a problem but it isn t needed. In this episode larry janesky ow. You can also insulate the floor of the crawl space and the sub floor of the crawl space if you live in a cold environment. Insulation is to keep heat from moving from one place to another so if the crawl space is heated then the insulation is not needed.