"BobK207" wrote in message
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On Feb 28, 1:37 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"BobK207" wrote in message

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On Feb 28, 6:34 am, "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.

Joe-

Cut out a couple more cinder blocks to get proper (temporary) access
to the space.

I assume that once through the block there's enough room to work?



Install fiber glass roll (cut to fit) with vapor barrier up (if you're
in a heating climate, which sounds like you are)

The foam sounds like a quick & easy way to do the job but process
control would be tough and having the foam bridging from soil to floor
would be asking for trouble (sub type termites)

A 12 x 12 space wouldn't take much time or $'s to fiberglass if you
had a helper cutting & supplying material......but filling it
completely with foam would be pretty expensive

cheers
Bob


There's only about 18-24" from the beams down to the dirt. That would
mean
hugging the fiberglass the whole time. No thanks. I'd rather do it from
above.



Joe-

!8" to 24" is a bunch of crawlspace clearance.

You've only got ~9 joist bays. If you plan the work & lay it out
properly there won't be any "hugging the fiberglass".

Once you have access to the space, the stuff would be up in about an
hour or so..

If don't want to DIY......you could pay someone to install it for
you; you cut, they install.

Still way cheaper than foam.

cheers
Bob


I'm not real keen on removing blocks. The existing slots are in the 2-by
wood which sits on the sill plate.