I would like to insulate my unfinished basement. Basement foundation
is cinderblock. Two of the four walls have cheap wood paneling mounted
to thin strips of furring, mounted directly to the cinderblock.

Can I mount rigid board foam insulation directly to the wood paneling?
Should I install a vapor barrier (6 mil plastic sheet) over the
insulation? If I decide at some point in the future to add an
additional layer of paneling over the 6 mil plastic (for a 'finished'
look) can I do this without mounting additional furring?

Dave

wrote in message
ups.com...
I would like to insulate my unfinished basement. Basement foundation
is cinderblock. Two of the four walls have cheap wood paneling mounted
to thin strips of furring, mounted directly to the cinderblock.

Can I mount rigid board foam insulation directly to the wood paneling?
Should I install a vapor barrier (6 mil plastic sheet) over the
insulation? If I decide at some point in the future to add an
additional layer of paneling over the 6 mil plastic (for a 'finished'
look) can I do this without mounting additional furring?

Dave


Do it right. Take down the paneling, put up 2 x 4 studs and either foam
board or fiberglass, vapor barrier, then a finish of drywall or paneling.
Putting a vapor barrier over the existing furring strips and paneling is a
sure way to find problems in a few years.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
wrote in message

I would like to insulate my unfinished basement. Basement foundation
is cinderblock. Two of the four walls have cheap wood paneling mounted
to thin strips of furring, mounted directly to the cinderblock.

Can I mount rigid board foam insulation directly to the wood paneling?
Should I install a vapor barrier (6 mil plastic sheet) over the
insulation? If I decide at some point in the future to add an
additional layer of paneling over the 6 mil plastic (for a 'finished'
look) can I do this without mounting additional furring?


Do it right. Take down the paneling, put up 2 x 4 studs and either foam
board or fiberglass, vapor barrier, then a finish of drywall or paneling.
Putting a vapor barrier over the existing furring strips and paneling is a
sure way to find problems in a few years.

It also wouldn't be a bad idea to give the foundation wall a coating of
Thoroseal or Drylock. True waterproofing has to be done from the
outside, but the interior coating is cheap insurance and easy to do.

R

One more thing, while down there...

If you have windows, change them to double pane
insulated ones. (single pane glass ones arent that good)

I put fiberglass in all the outer walls as well as in the ceiling.
Drywalled the whole thing. So far so good and its made a
BIG difference in the warmth of the room.

Tom