Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote:
wrote:



IIRC, you don't see moisture migrating through poured concrete unless
there are
substantial cracks. Any mildew would be caused by moisture in the
warm air
condensing on the colder concrete. That's why the moisture barrier
should be
facing the source of moisture, which is usually the living area.

Poly sheeting is cheap though and can't hurt. When I framed in a
basement in a
home a number of years ago, I put poly sheeting between the studs and
the
concrete, and then used standard faced insulation with the moisture
barrier
facing the living area. You wouldn't want unfaced insulation as that
would let
moisture condense in between the studs.


Heat rises and the earth is a pretty good insulator, so insulating
the floor
won't be a money saver or comfort improver. A good pad and carpet is
all you
really need. That said...

Hmm.... rule of thumb is that 10" of concrete is R1... though the
floor will be below the frost line (poster did not indicate his
climate), a substantial amount of heat/comfort will be lost to the
floor. (Here in New England, it is required to have insulation on the
basement ceiling, to reduce heat loss on the first floor).


Headroom is usually an issue in basements, so you typically can't put
joists on
the concrete.You could do this: Seal the floor with a two part epoxy
paint. Use
1x2 lathing strips spaced at two foot intervals with sheet styro in
between.
Particle board flooring over the lot.

Personally, I would never use particle board flooring, and
especially below grade. I do like the lathing strips/sheet styro
method; I use PT lathing, and a heavy grade poly sheeting under all,
instead of the epoxy paint.