Exterior Insulation Retrofit Questions
 

I need to do an insulation retrofit on my house. I'm a little
uncertain about what I'm doing; I thought I would run my ideas past
this group.

So: the lower floor of my house is partially below-grade. The exterior
walls are cinder block, and it's all beneath a wrap-around deck. We
want to bump up the insulation by R-15. I live in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The plan: dig a ditch around the outside of the house and attach 4
inches of Insulfoam R-Tech to the outside walls. Cover it all up
with ... something.

There is already a vapor barrier inside the wall. I don't want to make
another one, correct?

Therefore, I can just scrape/brush all the crud off the outside wall,
and glue (adhesive appropriate for foam insulation) a 2-inch-thick
slab of R-Tech directly to the wall, and then glue another 2-inch slab
to that. (Right?)

That gives me an insulated wall, but it's a bit ugly, not too durable
in the event of bumps & scrapes, and can catch on fire easily. The
"ugly" doesn't matter too much, since this is all under a deck. The
fire hazard certainly matters. In any case, I need to cover it with
something.

I'm not sure what to cover it with, though. I was wondering about
getting some rolls of vinyl sheet and gluing that on. Any ideas?

Exterior Insulation Retrofit Questions
 

Glenn G. Chappell wrote:
I need to do an insulation retrofit on my house. I'm a little
uncertain about what I'm doing; I thought I would run my ideas past
this group.

So: the lower floor of my house is partially below-grade. The exterior
walls are cinder block, and it's all beneath a wrap-around deck. We
want to bump up the insulation by R-15. I live in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The plan: dig a ditch around the outside of the house and attach 4
inches of Insulfoam R-Tech to the outside walls. Cover it all up
with ... something.

There is already a vapor barrier inside the wall. I don't want to make
another one, correct?

Therefore, I can just scrape/brush all the crud off the outside wall,
and glue (adhesive appropriate for foam insulation) a 2-inch-thick
slab of R-Tech directly to the wall, and then glue another 2-inch slab
to that. (Right?)

That gives me an insulated wall, but it's a bit ugly, not too durable
in the event of bumps & scrapes, and can catch on fire easily. The
"ugly" doesn't matter too much, since this is all under a deck. The
fire hazard certainly matters. In any case, I need to cover it with
something.

I'm not sure what to cover it with, though. I was wondering about
getting some rolls of vinyl sheet and gluing that on. Any ideas?
Don't know about Up North there, but around here they sell faux-stucco
faced sheets to insulate or cover exposed foundations with. 3'x5' is the
size I usually see, since that works out handy for the usual exposure
and frost line around here. Don't forget to Z-flash or something the top
of the foam to keep water out from behind it. Making the top edge look
right will be a pain.

I need to do a similar thing to this place- 'raised ranch' with a lot of
foundation showing on one end, where the original garage was under the
bedrooms. (Wish idiot previous owner hadn't poured the wall solid where
the OH door was, and filled in front yard. It'd be a great workshop
space if there was any way to get tools and materials in there.)

--
aem sends...

Exterior Insulation Retrofit Questions
 

"Glenn G. Chappell" wrote:

-snip-
The plan: dig a ditch around the outside of the house and attach 4
inches of Insulfoam R-Tech to the outside walls. Cover it all up
with ... something.
-snip-
I'm not sure what to cover it with, though. I was wondering about
getting some rolls of vinyl sheet and gluing that on. Any ideas?

I covered mine with wire lathe- then two parge coats of mortar. Then
a waterproof tar-like substance for all the below grade portions. Talk
to some local contractors to see what is the 'tar-du-jour' this year.
It has been years since I did mine and I'm sure there is something
new.

Jim