Hi All. I just moved in to a new house that has a fairly large cold room
in the basement. I really don't need to have a room for cold storage so
I am considering insulating the room and adding shelving to use it for
normal heated storage space. I was thinking of getting the foam board
insulation to glue to the concrete walls. Shelving I have is stand-alone
units that don't need to attach to the walls.

The home is in Kitchener, Ontario, so the winters can get quite cold and
currently there is some evidence of condensation on the inside of the door
which is why I am thinking of this. Perhaps all I need to do is add an
insulated door instead of bothering with the walls.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks,

Larry

In article 9,
GoHabsGo wrote:

Hi All. I just moved in to a new house that has a fairly large cold room
in the basement. I really don't need to have a room for cold storage so
I am considering insulating the room and adding shelving to use it for
normal heated storage space. I was thinking of getting the foam board
insulation to glue to the concrete walls. Shelving I have is stand-alone
units that don't need to attach to the walls.

The home is in Kitchener, Ontario, so the winters can get quite cold and
currently there is some evidence of condensation on the inside of the door
which is why I am thinking of this. Perhaps all I need to do is add an
insulated door instead of bothering with the walls.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks,

Larry

It'd be cheaper to get rid of the stuff than to heat a basement in
Canada. Besides, if it's just storage, why do you need it heated? I grew
up in northern Wisconsin; we had storage in the basement and the attic
but neither was heated.

On May 12, 7:53*am, GoHabsGo wrote:
Hi All. *I just moved in to a new house that has a fairly large cold room
in the basement. *I really don't need to have a room for cold storage so
I am considering insulating the room and adding shelving to use it for
normal heated storage space. *I was thinking of getting the foam board
insulation to glue to the concrete walls. *Shelving I have is stand-alone
units that don't need to attach to the walls. *

The home is in Kitchener, Ontario, so the winters can get quite cold and
currently there is some evidence of condensation on the inside of the door
which is why I am thinking of this. *Perhaps all I need to do is add an
insulated door instead of bothering with the walls.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks,

Larry

Is the home currently heated with forced air or radiant heat?

If forced air you can mitigate some/all of the condensation by getting
some air flow down there and DryLocking the walls. Install at least a
cold air return duct, or both supply and return ducts. I wouldn't
even bother with insulation frankly, basements are already below grade
and temperature stable so insulation has no effect unless you first
properly heat the space and seal any moisture penetration that will
cause mold between insulation and wall. The DryLock (latex) on walls
will help with condensation as well you should seal the slab with a
penetrating water sealer (if its not already painted, etc), both will
help. Dry and cold is good for storage areas. I wouldnt insulate
unless you are serious about heating the space, that doesnt mean dont
fill any air leaks though if they exist at the top of the foundation
wall.

RickH wrote in

Is the home currently heated with forced air or radiant heat?

If forced air you can mitigate some/all of the condensation by getting
some air flow down there and DryLocking the walls. Install at least a
cold air return duct, or both supply and return ducts. I wouldn't
even bother with insulation frankly, basements are already below grade
and temperature stable so insulation has no effect unless you first
properly heat the space and seal any moisture penetration that will
cause mold between insulation and wall. The DryLock (latex) on walls
will help with condensation as well you should seal the slab with a
penetrating water sealer (if its not already painted, etc), both will
help. Dry and cold is good for storage areas. I wouldnt insulate
unless you are serious about heating the space, that doesnt mean dont
fill any air leaks though if they exist at the top of the foundation
wall.

About half of the cold room is above grade and there are a couple of vents
to the outside which means it will get very cold in there in winter but
the builder only put an interior door in place, with no insulating value.
I would think some heat will be lost through there. I assume it would get
rather warm in the hot days of summer as well.This causes the door to sweat
on the cold room side. This is essentially what I am trying to prevent.
I'm not too concerned with keeping any of the stored goods warm. Is it a
good idea to block the vents and put up some insulation on the door?

Thanks,

Larry

"GoHabsGo" wrote

About half of the cold room is above grade and there are a couple of vents
to the outside which means it will get very cold in there in winter but
the builder only put an interior door in place, with no insulating value.

Not all that good then if I understand you and the 'interior door' faces the
outside.

If that is the case, replace the door (might need to re-frame as interior
ones may be as small as 22 inches (minimum I've ever seen) while exterior
tend to be larger).

I don't know the Ontario code specs but it's likely you wont find an
exterior door there that isn't within them.

I have something like that here in Virginia. Code allows an interior type
door if leading to an enclosed porch. Problem is that 'enclosed porch' can
be just screen enclosed. I replaced the problematic one that leads into the
house proper but have not yet replaced the one that leads to the garage
(garage to house proper has an exterior door).

Want really odd? I get grief over an exterior door *inside* the house
proper that used to be the back of the house before the enclosed porch was
added (leads to enclosed porch portion with another exterior door now
applied). Codes can be pretty odd so I mention it only if you may have same
issues and it's an interior door. That way you can check to see if you
create an issue.