Insulating The Floor Crawl Space

Stapling fiberglass batts between joists to the underside of your home s floor presents a number of problems.

Insulating the floor crawl space.

Unless there are excessive moisture problems in the crawl space use unfaced fiberglass batts to insulate the walls. Floor insulation for moderate climes popular reads. The crawl space is actually dirt floor. To take the chill out of a crawl space it s usually best to insulate the exterior masonry walls rather than the underside of the floor above.

The sill plate is the first piece of framing lumber and it runs on top of the crawl space wall. Insulation also helps to preserve the air quality and reduce energy costs. Crawl space insulation basics. While this method does work in the very short term moisture eventually builds in the crawl space and grows on this highly porous surface.

That s especially true when heating ducts or pipes pass through the 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. Where winter temperatures are extreme opt for insulating the walls and sealing off the crawl space entirely. When you re using fiberglass batting insulation material run it about 6 inches or so onto the crawl space floor.

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. A crawl space is an unfinished accessible area below the ground floor of a building. In moderate or dry climates without the threat of sustained subfreezing temperatures insulation between floor joists makes sense. Sometimes the crawl space is insulated from the above space and left cool and sometimes they are heated or cooled as part of the home but in either case there should always be insulation separating your interior space from the outdoors or you will have a lot of energy loss which you will pay for.