Robert Allison wrote:
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
The dining area of my kitchen is built over a crawl space that's
enclosed by cinder blocks like the rest of the house. In the basement,
there are two openings to this crawl space, but they're only 6" high x
18" wide. I assume they were put there for ventilation purposes, since
they're useless for anything else. The area in question juts out from
the main kitchen, and is 12x12 feet.

In winter, the floor is ice cold, so that dining area is useless. I
believe the traditional first step for dealing with this is to lay a
plastic vapor barrier on the soil underneath, followed by fiberglass
insulation. The vinyl flooring needs replacement, so I could also rip
up the wood underneath in that area and have total access to do the
work. Replace the sub-floor afterward, install new vinyl or tile, and
it's done.

BUT: Someone suggested an interesting alternative: When the vinyl
flooring is removed, drill access holes in the sub-floor and pump the
space full of foam. It's already a form of plastic, so it should form
its own vapor barrier. And, it'll insulate. Progress could be checked
via the access slots in the basement. Makes sense, but there's always
a "gotcha".

Your thoughts, please.

Did you know that termites find that foam is a perfect pathway to get to
what they like to eat without being seen? They just love it and it is
so easy to make their little tunnels through, that you probably won't
even notice anything until the floor falls through.



If the bugs don't get in the water will and rot everything until the
floor falls through.

LdB