Expanded Polystyrene Foam Board Insulation For Basement Walls

There are a few different kinds of foam board insulation diyers should know about.

Expanded polystyrene foam board insulation for basement walls.

Use a premade kit for this type of project. Eps foam insulation boards are more permeable to air and moisture than xps but it doesn t retain moisture to the same extent because of it s more closed cell structure and it s breathability which lets it dry out. When this ignition barrier is supported on a stud wall the cavities of this wall may be filled with supplemental insulation. Spray foam is also an option but usually a lot more expensive than foam boards.

Rated at r4 per inch. Attach the tongue and groove insulation boards to the concrete wall with adhesive. For new construction use rigid boards to insulate slabs and the outside of foundation walls. From below grade to above grade inside and out halo is the rigid foam insulating system designed perfectly for specific applications including basement floors.

In most basement wall situations the foam plastic insulation material will need to be covered by a fire ignition barrier. When using foam insulation on basement walls the building code irc requires r 5 for southern states excluding the deep south and r 10 for the rest of the us. It has a higher r value per inch of thickness it s resistant to moisture and is easy to work with. Foam board insulation is a great alternative to the very common fiberglass batt insulation that is in most of our homes.

Green builders prefer eps to xps since xps is manufactured with a blowing agent that has a high global warming potential. What is foam board insulation. For a basement remodeling project consider insulating basement walls with foam board. Polystyrene foam boards commonly called foamboard are a clean lightweight convenient way to insulate bare concrete walls.

Basement walls don t need to dry inward so it s ok to use foil faced rigid foam for this purpose. When you are looking for polystyrene eps insulation board think halo. Expanded polystyrene insulation more commonly referred to as eps is a closed cell insulation that has been around since the 1950 s. Half inch gypsum board usually provides sufficient ignition barrier check your local building code.

There is almost. Eps is made of 98 trapped air and only 2 plastic making it an efficient insulator with a small amount of raw material. Where polystyrene foam bead insulation has been installed into brick veneer walls as an insulation improvement or retrofit mold and mould odors in building wall and ceiling and even floor cavities may later be traced to leaks into the cavity especially for homes in humid climates such as areas in the u k. Many energy experts recommend r 15 to r 20 for far northern states.

Eps expanded polystyrene foam insulation boards.