[quote]That's a small part of it.  A more complete & better explanation is found here.[/quote]

Out of concern that I was highjacking someone elses thread in the geo forum, I am starting a new thread here.

Dana1 - Wow, and more technical.  Thanks!  For those of us with existing basements, some of that can't be done (right?).  For some reason, that article makes me a bit more concerned about doing what was referenced in the "familyhandyman" article.  For instance, the possible mold and rot problems are very concerning.  Also, I don't understand what a capillary break is (third full paragraph of the article).

As I compare your (linked) article to the one that I found, it appears that the one I found is limited solely to the rim joist and sill plate area.  However, it also appears that the article that you referenced (the diagram on page 2 of 3 in particular) shows the installation of more rigid foam than the other one did.  Specifically, there is a horizontal piece of rigid foam (shown in blue).  Is that only necessary when you do the rest of the insulation work down the rest of the basement wall?

In looking at that diagram, it looks like you have the rim joist and then there are red dots.  The red dots are some sort of adhesive?  What kind of adhesive would I use?

Then I would install the rigid insulation (extruded polystyrene).

Then I would seal around the rigid insulation with either caulk or expanding foam (I would prefer to use the expanding foam).

Then I would install unfaced cavity insulation.  Would that be like an R-19 (around 5 inches) of rolled insulation that doesn't have the paper on it?

I know that this is not all that you (and the article) are recommending, but it would be a start for me.  I have heard from several people that the rim joist area is the source of lots of leaks.

Note that I have a poured concrete wall and that there is some sort of pink layer of fluffy paper-like stuff that sits on top of my poured concrete wall and underneath the sill plate.  Does that matter?

If I do the above, at least it is a start, right?  Would just doing the above cause me any problems?

Dana1

I have seen some post about geothermal. We had a vertical ground loop system installed over two years ago. Heating cost is about $450.00

We disconnected the hot tub at the same time we installed the heating system because we needed that circuit. Our hydro bill for the last 2 years is the same as before the heating system.

It cost as much to run the hot tub as it does to heat the house!    

I am a new member and would like to know if anyone sees a problem with this insulation process I have described.  Reading Dana1 post was very interesting and got me thinking about adding R10 roxul on top of the rigid and pony wall.   

I am insulating my basement walk out with 2” rigid in the rim joist and on the concrete walls and 1” on the floor with 5/8” plywood on top. The pony walls are 2”x 4”.

I cut strips of rigid to fit over the 2”x4”s on the pony wall to create a 5-1/2” cavity and a thermal break for the 2x4s

I placed R22 roxul in the cavity.

I placed 2” rigid on the concrete walls and rim joists and 1” on the floor, all glued, spry foamed and taped.

6 mill Vapour barrier on pony wall, sealed and taped to the rigid.

The pony wall is flush with the rigid covered concrete wall.

I built 2”x3” wall in front of the exterior walls and placed R10 roxul in the 16” centres and in the rim joist on top of the rigid and the vapour barrier pony walls.

The average cold temperature in this location is 22F.

I have an air exchanger and keep the humidity level around 35%

The other exterior walls are 2”x6”s with R22 roxul in the 16” centres and rim joist.

The vapour barrier is extended into the rim joist.

Does this make sense to you?

Could adding R10 cause moisture problem behind drywall?

Dana1

Thank you very much for this information.

I am using UN faced batting. I split R22 to create the R10 because to fit well in the 2x3.

Some of the stud walls are spaced out from the rigid because the poured concrete walls are not perfect.

This means there will be some space between the drywall and UN faced batting in some places.

Could this be a problem?

Am I at risk of adding too much R to those areas?  

I am just east of  Toronto Ontario Canada.

thanks again for your help.

The floor plates are on the 5\8” plywood and the plywood is on 1” Owens Corning CodeBord Extruded Polystyrene Rigid.

The walls are Owens Corning  foamular C-300.

I have been on this project for some time and in the hot humid summer days there was some condensation on the insulation side of the vapour barrier on the pony walls and other studded walls with vapour barrier.

I put the batt insulation on the pony wall to see if the batt insulation would insulate the vapour barrier from the air conditioned basement. I only did one wall and the condensation went away in 4 days.

Now the other walls condensation went away days after the humidity outside subsided.

This leads me to believe that this is normal because these walls are insulated for a cold climate.

By adding the insulation to the inside, the vapour barrier cannot get to the dew point.

Is this logical?

if I left the insulation as is, with out adding the batt insulation. Would this pose any problems or be a wasted opportunity. 

I get the impression that when dealing with high R values, if not done correctly it can be worse than a low R value.     

The house is brick and built in 1986. The covering on the studs is a fibre type material with a black face,

Not sure of the product name. I spray foamed around all the seams with a thin bead as to not create air pockets around the insulation. The days I had moisture were 30C + and humid. When the humidity dropped the walls dried out in two to three days. The next humid period is when I decided to try the insulation on the inside and that is what made me think of adding insulation to the inside. I have not had any vapour on the vapour barrier other than those two occasions. the temp. in the basement was 19C.   Because the air ducts are not cover yet it is hard to control the A\C temp in the basement and keep the upper two floors comfortable.      

Through weeks of researching the idea, I came across your post on the subject.

I like the idea of using R14 and my measurements of the irregularities indicate that R14 would fill in all of the spaces.

I would also add insulation between the studs and rigid to eliminate any gaps.

I have some areas that the wall is built out from the rigid i.e. around plumbing stacks and think this would be better left without the added insulation because the drywall will be quite a distance away.   

Your expertise is of great help and has made me look at insulating in a whole new way.