Buck Turgidson wrote:
I have wood paneling on furring strips on cinderblock in my basement. For a
contractor to redo it with drywall, he needs to do it to code and build out
almost 2 inches to bring it up to R-13.

I know 1.5 inches is just that, but how much does this perceptibly make a
room smaller? I tend to think it is worth it to have the work done, but
worry a little about losing the space, since it is at a premium.



I would think that part of the answer would depend on how big the space
is to begin with. The size of a closet? Then a 2-inch shrinkage may mean
something. The size of a stadium? Who's going to know?

When I remodeled my basement recreation room splitting the 25X25 space
into 2/3rd and 1/3rd to make an "extra" room and insulated and drywalled
getting rid of the '64-vintage dark wood paneling in the process the
space actually felt larger because of the lighter colored walls.
Removing the old lighting fixtures and putting in recessed cans and
track lighting also increased the visual space.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com