Home Repair (alt.home.repair) For all homeowners and DIYers with many experienced tradesmen. Solve your toughest home fix-it problems.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor

I am looking to add insulation to a first room floor (100-year-old
farmhouse, full fieldstone basement underneath). Will be removing carpert
and pad (about an 1"), putting down laminate flooring, so have some room for
a layer of insulation.a

Is it possible to put a layer of foam board below a 1/4" layer of ply prior
to flooring? The basement is a rat's nest of wires and pipes. Maybe even a
simple layer of poly would make a huge difference?

FYI: I have already done the walls and sealed all cracked in them and around
pipes. New windows, etc. This is the last frontier.

Thanks.


  #2   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
m Ransley
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor

Insulate from the basement I wouldnt use anything under the subfloor,
foamboard under the subfloor will have about as much affect as carpet
and pad does now and be soft and compress, bad idea.

  #3   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
Edwin Pawlowski
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor


bks wrote in message ...
I am looking to add insulation to a first room floor (100-year-old
farmhouse, full fieldstone basement underneath). Will be removing carpert
and pad (about an 1"), putting down laminate flooring, so have some room
for a layer of insulation.a

Is it possible to put a layer of foam board below a 1/4" layer of ply
prior to flooring? The basement is a rat's nest of wires and pipes. Maybe
even a simple layer of poly would make a huge difference?


Some materials are referee to as "rigid" insulation, but they are not rigid
enough. Not a good idea as they will compress over time and cause problems
with soft spots and flexing.


  #4   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
Buck Turgidson
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor

I am looking to add insulation to a first room floor (100-year-old
farmhouse, full fieldstone basement underneath). Will be removing

carpert
and pad (about an 1"), putting down laminate flooring, so have some

room for
a layer of insulation.a

Is it possible to put a layer of foam board below a 1/4" layer of ply

prior
to flooring? The basement is a rat's nest of wires and pipes. Maybe

even a
simple layer of poly would make a huge difference?

FYI: I have already done the walls and sealed all cracked in them and

around
pipes. New windows, etc. This is the last frontier.


It is not cheap, but you can buy the spray on kind of foam, and spray
from underneath. That might help with your "rats nest."


  #5   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
Joseph Meehan
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor

bks wrote:
I am looking to add insulation to a first room floor (100-year-old
farmhouse, full fieldstone basement underneath). Will be removing
carpert and pad (about an 1"), putting down laminate flooring, so
have some room for a layer of insulation.a

Is it possible to put a layer of foam board below a 1/4" layer of ply
prior to flooring? The basement is a rat's nest of wires and pipes.
Maybe even a simple layer of poly would make a huge difference?

FYI: I have already done the walls and sealed all cracked in them and
around pipes. New windows, etc. This is the last frontier.

Thanks.


No, go the proper way and insulate from underneath.

I have one caution however. You say you have pipes in the basement.
Assuming some of those pipes carry water, I suggest that you make sure you
don't insulate so much as to allow some parts of your basement to go below
freezing on the coldest of days anywhere near any of those pipes.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit




  #6   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
m Ransley
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor

Maybe look at basement walls first, then basement ceiling and as JM said
remember about the pipes.. Thick foam pad and carpet do alot.

  #7   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
yourname
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor

Joseph Meehan wrote:
bks wrote:

I am looking to add insulation to a first room floor (100-year-old
farmhouse, full fieldstone basement underneath). Will be removing
carpert and pad (about an 1"), putting down laminate flooring, so
have some room for a layer of insulation.a

Is it possible to put a layer of foam board below a 1/4" layer of ply
prior to flooring? The basement is a rat's nest of wires and pipes.
Maybe even a simple layer of poly would make a huge difference?

FYI: I have already done the walls and sealed all cracked in them and
around pipes. New windows, etc. This is the last frontier.

Thanks.



No, go the proper way and insulate from underneath.

I have one caution however. You say you have pipes in the basement.
Assuming some of those pipes carry water, I suggest that you make sure you
don't insulate so much as to allow some parts of your basement to go below
freezing on the coldest of days anywhere near any of those pipes.


If the space underneath is not high enough, they will not be able to
spray foam properly[see my older thread]

I have 2 inches of foam under my concrete garage floor, why not under a
house floor?

If you could put up with 3/4 foam plus at least 1/2 plywood, I think it
would work

Fiberglas is the cheapest for its r value, so if you can insulate from
below, fiberglas will be the least expensive.
  #8   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
Joseph Meehan
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor

yourname wrote:
Joseph Meehan wrote:
bks wrote:

I am looking to add insulation to a first room floor (100-year-old
farmhouse, full fieldstone basement underneath). Will be removing
carpert and pad (about an 1"), putting down laminate flooring, so
have some room for a layer of insulation.a

Is it possible to put a layer of foam board below a 1/4" layer of ply
prior to flooring? The basement is a rat's nest of wires and pipes.
Maybe even a simple layer of poly would make a huge difference?

FYI: I have already done the walls and sealed all cracked in them and
around pipes. New windows, etc. This is the last frontier.

Thanks.



No, go the proper way and insulate from underneath.

I have one caution however. You say you have pipes in the
basement. Assuming some of those pipes carry water, I suggest that
you make sure you don't insulate so much as to allow some parts of
your basement to go below freezing on the coldest of days anywhere
near any of those pipes.


If the space underneath is not high enough, they will not be able to
spray foam properly[see my older thread]

I have 2 inches of foam under my concrete garage floor, why not under
a house floor?


Too hard to work with and too expensive and if you enclose wires or
pipes, too hard to access them. Also make sure you are using a foam rated
for the use as some are fire hazards.

Other than that foam can be an outstanding insulation.


If you could put up with 3/4 foam plus at least 1/2 plywood, I think
it would work

Fiberglas is the cheapest for its r value, so if you can insulate from
below, fiberglas will be the least expensive.


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit


  #9   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
Edwin Pawlowski
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor


"yourname" wrote in message
I have 2 inches of foam under my concrete garage floor, why not under a
house floor?

If you could put up with 3/4 foam plus at least 1/2 plywood, I think it
would work


You THINK it would work??? Not much confidence there.

The 2" of foam you have is under a 4" thick slab of concrete with re-bar or
wire screen keeping it all together.

That is much different than foam under laminate. The laminate is about 1/4"
to 3/8" thick and will flex considerably after the foam starts to compress
over time. If there is enough room for buildup of the floor, you'd want at
least a 3/4" plywood underlayment over the foam.

If it is eps foam, it can support about 20 psi with minimal deflection. The
laminate will flex but I don't have figures for it. Take a 200 pound person
putting down a heel on the floor and what is the psi loading of that point?
Repeat this many times a day for years.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/


  #10   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
Wayne Whitney
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor

On 2005-12-16, Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

The 2" of foam you have is under a 4" thick slab of concrete with re-bar or
wire screen keeping it all together.

That is much different than foam under laminate. The laminate is about 1/4"
to 3/8" thick and will flex considerably after the foam starts to compress
over time. If there is enough room for buildup of the floor, you'd want at
least a 3/4" plywood underlayment over the foam.


How about 1" foam, 3/4" plywood, and 3/4" hardwood floor? I'm
thinking one reason the foam under 4" thick concrete slab works is
that the concrete slab will disperse a point load over a 4" radius
circle of the foam. (Isn't that loads work, they fan out at 45
degrees?) With 1.5" of wood, it will only fan out over 1.5" radius
circle, I wonder if that is enough.

Cheers, Wayne


  #11   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
Edwin Pawlowski
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor


"Wayne Whitney" wrote in message

How about 1" foam, 3/4" plywood, and 3/4" hardwood floor? I'm
thinking one reason the foam under 4" thick concrete slab works is
that the concrete slab will disperse a point load over a 4" radius
circle of the foam. (Isn't that loads work, they fan out at 45
degrees?) With 1.5" of wood, it will only fan out over 1.5" radius
circle, I wonder if that is enough.


That would be a rather beefy floor and would probably work very well. Only
problem I see is that the floor is suddenly 2 1/2" thicker and may cause
problems with any built in fixtures or a step at the top of the stairs.
There is a code on how much any step can vary in a set. .


  #12   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor

Everyone, thanks---that super beefy floor is going to be a problem---that
would put me seriously over the surrounding floors and we're a clumsy family


Looks like the way to go is probably some insulations underneath, insulation
on all the pipes in the basement to help prevent freezing. Thanks.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
.. .

"Wayne Whitney" wrote in message

How about 1" foam, 3/4" plywood, and 3/4" hardwood floor? I'm
thinking one reason the foam under 4" thick concrete slab works is
that the concrete slab will disperse a point load over a 4" radius
circle of the foam. (Isn't that loads work, they fan out at 45
degrees?) With 1.5" of wood, it will only fan out over 1.5" radius
circle, I wonder if that is enough.


That would be a rather beefy floor and would probably work very well.
Only problem I see is that the floor is suddenly 2 1/2" thicker and may
cause problems with any built in fixtures or a step at the top of the
stairs. There is a code on how much any step can vary in a set. .



  #13   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor

The bigger question here is why bother at all? You have a full
basement underneath. None of the homes I've lived in nor any of the
new construction I've seen has insulation under the living space floor
above a full basement, unless they are using radiant heat. I think the
reason is the temp delta between the living space and basement, which
is surrounded by earth, is not great enough for it to make that much
difference beyond the insulating value of the subfloor, floor, etc.

  #14   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
Edwin Pawlowski
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor


wrote in message
oups.com...
The bigger question here is why bother at all? You have a full
basement underneath. None of the homes I've lived in nor any of the
new construction I've seen has insulation under the living space floor
above a full basement, unless they are using radiant heat.



I've seen a few new houses built with insulation on the floor. My neighbor
had to add insulation before his house could be approved for a mortgage. I
think it was FHA or something that required it. New house across the street
from me has it also. Like you, I've never had it and don't really see much
need as the basement has to be kept at least above freezing, maybe more if
you use it on a regular basis.


  #15   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
yourname
 
Posts: n/a
Default insulating subfloor

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

The bigger question here is why bother at all? You have a full
basement underneath. None of the homes I've lived in nor any of the
new construction I've seen has insulation under the living space floor
above a full basement, unless they are using radiant heat.




I've seen a few new houses built with insulation on the floor. My neighbor
had to add insulation before his house could be approved for a mortgage. I
think it was FHA or something that required it. New house across the street
from me has it also. Like you, I've never had it and don't really see much
need as the basement has to be kept at least above freezing, maybe more if
you use it on a regular basis.


The reason would bew that since ther is no insulation around the
foundation, ther eis no inulation period. Just becaase the floor doesn't
feel cold, doesn't mean you are not losing heat.
Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Stiffening plywood subfloor Darro Home Repair 6 December 8th 05 01:43 AM
Insulating garage in CT Bob M Home Repair 3 October 28th 05 01:40 PM
Insulating basement floor Shep Home Repair 0 July 28th 05 02:51 AM
How to repair an uneven concrete subfloor? poofy Home Repair 18 April 19th 05 05:17 PM
Ardex on Gypcrete Subfloor cracker Home Repair 0 February 1st 05 03:21 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:30 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 DIYbanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about DIY & home improvement"