insulate concrete floor before carpeting

This is a question our experts keep getting from time to time. tall dimples to create air space and a moisture barrier between the concrete and the plywood.

Opening basement windows helps reduce negative air pressure, diluting radon with clean outdoor air.

Friday: 8am 5pm A forum community dedicated to Do it yourself-ers and home improvement enthusiasts. Have the necessary tools for this DIY project lined up before you startyoull save time and frustration. The perimeter of your slab is responsible for most of the slab-related heat loss. You can attach wood sleepers to the floor, fill the gaps with rigid-foam insulation, and then apply a subfloor and finish flooring. This feature has been temporarily disabled during the beta site preview. 10,773,882US Patent No. It may turn out to be slightly less than this (my Manual J program didn't give me credit for the approx. When posting in forums, letting us know your location will help others give better feedback/advice/solutions to your questions. R3 of carpet and pad), but it's still major.

A carpet remnant (permeable) is laid not installed; it's a large area rug. Seal the concrete floor using a commercial sealing product. But if you use fiberglass insulation batts, then a moisture barrier will prevent water and moisture from entering your walls and creating mold and mildew. Note that summer slab temperature will be above deep subsoil temperature and that it's indoor (controllable by the occupant with AC or dehumidification), not outdoor dew point that will determine if there is condensation in the carpet. 6 mil polyethylene) under the carpet pad and carpet? A similar product is DriCore R+ : a foam plus OSB click lock tile (so no tapcons needed). While household fans will work, they aren't designed for drying and may overheat or short out. Insulate it quickly and cost-effectively with InSoFast EPS foam insulation panels! Use fans and dehumidifiers to dry wet carpeting in the basement. Since I cant expect any drying from the inside down under any circumstances, it seems best to at least reduce the possibility of moisture coming up. Our team has collected thousands of questions that people keep asking in forums, blogs and in Google questions. Ideally, you will excavate the perimeter of your house about 2 feet, so that you can install a 2-foot-high strip of vertical rigid foam (1.5 or 2 inches thick) at the slab perimeter. When youre converting your garage, theres little question that InSoFast panels are the best way to insulate the concrete floor. I think we are getting a good amount of heat loss through our floor and want to know a better way to insulate it and put new carpeting down. Also, be sure your basement floor is level. Sealing your basement floor before installing carpet is a. on the surface or backing. Glued down: Bond the panels in place with a 3/8 bead of PL Premium 3X Stronger Construction Adhesive along the dove-tailed ribbing of each stud. We have now insulated the interior of these walls with 1.75" of polyiso, but that thick, cold block still sits atop the slab/footer and will be effectively keeping that slab edge cold all winter long even if I insulate the slab edge above grade and a foot or two down. If you are going to be installing flooring in the basement, it is best to use a moisture vapor barrier coating like the Vapor-Tek 440. From what I have gathered, Radonseal claims to be better at sealing then DryLok. Sponge rubber underlay Sponge rubber underlay is very durable and great for sound reduction which makes it one of the best carpet underlays for concrete floors. See what goes into waterproofing a basement, too. Before you proceed, consult a local building inspector to determine specific building codes for this type of project. I am going with a R-2.1 insulation pad with Shaw Anso Nylon. Prevent damp basement floors from ruining carpet and other finished flooring. Finally, note that these options will raise your floor by 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 in., so make sure this added height wont create problems. D863,599CA Patent No. Its ultra viscous synthetic latex resins make great replacements to tackless strips. KILZ Bonding Primer. Saturday / Sunday:CLOSED. Both can cause a surprising amount of moisture to be put into the air. Helping You to Do It Yourself! It can be used on uncoated interior/exterior surfaces such as: concrete, masonry, stucco, cinder block and any porous stone or brick. Our basement, with no headroom to spare and the needed soft surface for a basement rec room. Now, we have got the complete detailed explanation and answer for everyone, who is interested! All, For a dry, mold-free finished basement floor, always install a vapor barrier before laying a wood subfloor or carpet pad. It turns out Joe isn't much of a fan of plastic sheeting anywhere, I guess! Radonseal is a silicate based sealer and just about every commerical construction job requiring a concrete sealer specifies that only a silicate based product.

But a mere inch of foam renders it irrelevant. insulate joists insulation familyhandyman tighten drying insulating sealing Without air conditioning it's likely that the average indoor dew point will track somewhat above the average outdoor dew point. There is a carpet cushion that a friend imports, made especially to insulate concrete floors and is also moisture resistant. Subfloor over a concrete slab with wall-to-wall carpet. So, feel free to use this information and benefit from expert answers to the questions you are interested in! Concrete stain is another inexpensive option. (30 mil polyethylene is probabaly enough, or perhaps EPDM membrane roofing.). What Is the Optimal Temperature for a Greenhouse? My question: In this situation, is it advisable to put down a vapor barrier (e.g. Avoid last-minute shopping trips by having all your materials ready ahead of time. Continue drying the floor until your dampness test with the plastic square stays dry overnight. Basement Carpeting: Installing Carpeting In a Finished Basement, How to Remove and Replace a Small Concrete Entry Pad, How to Finish, Frame, and Insulate a Basement, How to Install Basement Windows and Satisfy Egress Codes, Basement Waterproofing: How to Install a Basement Drainage System, Metal Studs: How to Use and Frame With Metal Studs, Damp Basement: Finding Leaks and Water Sources, How to Install Under Cabinet Lighting in Your Kitchen, We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer). Install dimpled polyethylene to create an air space between the concrete and the finished floor, sealing off dampness and giving moisture a chance to dissipate. Add the plywood layer on top and anchor it to the concrete with 15 concrete screws (predrilled and countersunk) per 4 x 8-ft. sheet. And both of the options use the same layers of 1/2-in. Any kind of persistent moisture will allow mold to get a foothold and soon ruin carpet or wood flooring. Have you thought about converting your garage but are stumped about what to do with the cold uninsulated concrete slab floor? Mop the concrete floor using a bleach solution. Heres a list. Designing a house to work well without mechanical dehumidification or air conditioning would be best practice, and that requires at least keeping the carpet underlayment above the outdoor dew point. Option A can be applied on concrete where theres a higher risk of some dampness. Use Option A to keep your floor dry if you have damp floors in your basement. The 6-mil layer of plastic helps to minimize potential moisture migration up into the plywood. For a dry, mold-free finished basement floor, always install a vapor barrier before laying a wood subfloor or carpet pad. Our experts have done a research to get accurate and detailed answers for you. It provides the best coverage and R-value and and functions as a moisture barrier in and of itself. Regular carpet paddings have a negligible R factor, certainly under 1. We are working on a :budget restricted fix-up of a house near Dayton, Ohio (Zone 5). Low spots should be filled in with concrete patch or concrete floor leveler. Well, with the lack of thread. Its the initial layer that differs. With an insulating carpet above the slab the slab temperature can be low enough to create a mold problem at the deeper levels of the carpet. Epoxy and Concrete Paint. This won't delete the articles you've saved, just the list. Remove all dirt and debris from the concrete floor. Were going to put wall-to-wall carpet down ( a long story, but thats the outcome). Draught-proofing - simply use sealant or caulking to fill the gaps between your floorboards and between skirting boards and the floor. The Fora platform includes forum software by XenForo, VerticalScope Inc., 111 Peter Street, Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2H1, Canada.

Sealing all cracks and applying non-porous, thick epoxy coatings (over 10 MILS dry film thickness) would be a better step. Before you start, make sure the concrete slab is in good condition, level, and free of excess moisture. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Sealing your basement floor before installing carpet is a good idea. 8,635,824US Patent No. I helped a friend install them in his basement (CZ3) after he pulled up the carpet installed by the previous owner. You can also install it yourself, however, you need many specialized tools. Are Expensive Building Components Necessary? Instead, rent high volume fans and structural drying dehumidifiers. Before installing carpet over concrete, it's best to ensure the concrete surface is smooth, level, free of imperfections and sealed. The solution (which you already alluded to) would be to install 3/4-1" of EPS over the slab held down with a subfloor TapConned to the slab. InSoFast panels alone will raise the floor by 2- to 2-inches. Unless you can design or retrofit your basement slab to be warm and dry, avoid wall-to-wall carpet as a floor finish. At least 95% of heat loss will be from leaking windows and doors, lack of insulation in the attic not the floors. The simpler solution would to use something other than carpet, something that won't grow mold, or trap materials that can grow mold the way a carpet can. Which type of dentition is present in scoliodon? You then have two options, depending on your circumstances. An epoxy-coated basement floor is one of the best ways to maintain and preserve your space. Sealing helps protect the concrete from any spills, and give you peace of mind knowing the surface your carpet is setting on is as moisture proof as you can make it. Tools and supplies? There are two ways to handle insulating concrete floors. Thanks very much for the input.

Carpet is warm, soft, and cushioned, making it ideal for covering the cold cement floor. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Basement condensation occurs when warm, moist air comes in contact with your cool basement walls and floor. See what goes into waterproofing a basement, too. All this over our concrete slab. The complete source for building, designing, and remodeling green homes. It's also the best carpet underlay for underfloor heating as it allows heat from the underfloor panels to escape into the room efficiently. Option B (in the photo) will work on a concrete floor that has no persistent dampness, seepage or leakage. Add an insulating layer under your carpet or floor-covering - try a fibreboard underlay or polyfoam board. You'll need to install metal Z-flashing at the horizontal seam between the top of the rigid foam and the bottom course of siding. I have a family room that is 24x11 and it currently has carpet on it. We recommend our users to update the browser. The R3-R4 is enough to keep the temperature of the underside of the carpet warm enough to mitigate that issue. Option B is sufficient if your floor is generally dry except for small amounts of moisture evaporating through the slab. There are four basic methods for installing InSoFast floor insulation: Floating: The simplest, quickest installation involves placing the panels directly on the concrete without any adhesive. Des. plywood, carpet pad and carpet as shown. Where is the sanctuary basement fallout 4? For below-grade slabs, assume that the concrete floor will get damp at some point. See what goes into waterproofing a basement, too. But just sealing the cracks would be unlikely to reduce those amounts in the long term. For tack strip-free installation, use an industrial carpet adhesive called carpet seam epoxy. You must be a magazine subscriber to access this feature. Lay the sheet over the concrete floor (dimples down), overlap adjacent edges and tape the seams. Welcome to FAQ Blog! I pulled it up to look at it looks like there is wood down and a pad with the carpet on top. In addition, carpet is one of the most flexible floor-covering materials, so even if your cement floor is not perfectly level, carpet can be installed right over it, without the need to level the floor or otherwise prep it first. As a general rule, you can lay carpet over concrete. The versatile closed-cell, injection-molded InSoFast panels feature a continuous R-value of 8.5 to 10, rot-resistant framing, drainage channels, electrical raceways, and tightly interlocking tongue-and-groove edges that dont require taping. The walls of the home are solid masonry (a wythe of concrete "bricks" on the outside, with an inner wythe of CMU blocks covered with stucco/plaster in the interior). (888) 501-7899 Whether you plan on finishing your basement space or keeping it in its original state, it is important to apply a waterproof sealant to the concrete floor in order to lock out moisture. It also is not adversely affected by moisture contact. My Manual J calcs indicate the floor will constitute 35% of my winter heat loss, which is a LOT considering the modest insulation of the walls and ceiling, and that the house has a relatively compact ground footprint (square shape, 1.5 stories). Paint is generally your cheapest basement floor option. 2,761,810US & Foreign Patent PendingManufacturing in MA, MN, IDMade in the USA, (651) 653-3677 It is the only carpet padding I am aware of that has an R-value of 4.5 and contains no BHT, which makes this padding very mildew resistant. Install the UX 2.o or EXi 2.5 panel to warm up the garage and provide the perfect foundation for finish flooring, such as carpeting. Apply a concrete sealer to block moisture or install a vapor barrier on the concrete floor prior to installing the InSoFast panels unless youre working with new construction with a vapor barrier already installed underneath the slab. Sealing the basement floor can help reduce the amount of radon entering the home. When sealing basement floors and foundation walls the best concrete sealers to use are the Lithi-Tek 4500 primer followed by the Siloxa-Tek 8510 waterproofing sealer. Allow the concrete floor to dry thoroughly. Do not use on coated surfaces.

Home House & Components Rooms Basement Basement Flooring, By the DIY experts of The Family Handyman Magazine. The carpet is insulating, and the subsoil temps are below 55F, whereas your mid summer outdoor air dew points are north of 65F more than half the time: http://www.earthrivergeo.com/img/geothermal-article/geothermal-subterrainean-temperature-contour-map.jpg, https://weatherspark.com/m/15863/7/Average-Weather-in-July-in-Dayton-Ohio-United-States#Sections-Humidity. This method can be used for carpet, laminate and wood floors. Call us today to explore our great products!

When I tore out the old carpet it was quite filthy, but I cant say I saw any visible mold, etc. Jon,--thanks. It still needs a vapor barrier, else all the moisture ends up in the room anyway through the edges. 3,056,074CA Patent No. All you need is a utility knife, saw (hand, jig, skill or table), construction glue, and a caulk gun and youre good to go! We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer) as we strive to provide site experiences for browsers that support new web standards and security practices. It doubles as a seam adhesive to stop the edges of the carpet from getting frayed. Installing Rigid Foam Above Roof Sheathing, Climate Activists React to Dont Look Up. Dana, I wanted to go with a foam/plywood subfloor Tapconned to the slab, but it just wasn't possible due to resource limitations (incl time). I cant think of a down sideit wont make any top-side moisture problems worse, and it might reduce them (if moisture migration up from the slab is making them worse). Martin, I had plans to install some perimeter insulation, but now wonder if, in the particular case of this house, it is worth the effort. As the walls cool the warm air, moisture is created, just like condensation on a cold beer on a hot summer day. The house is slab-on-grade with solid masonry walls (we are adding 1.5 of polyioso to the interior of them). InSoFast is a style of engineered continuous insulation that comes in 24-inch x 48-inch interlocking panels of varying depths. I don't see any downside to installing polyethylene, as long as you make sure that the interface between the polyethylene and the carpeting doesn't squeak when you walk on it. There is a down side to installing carpet on an uninsulated slab in your location. The floor is concrete slab on grade, and has had asbestos and then vinyl tiles applied to it in the past, and most recently had carpet over this. Yes, the slab in mid-summer will be above the deep subsoil temperatures, but determining how much above the deep subsoil temps is a complex to model with lots of important factors that can't be known without intimate knowledge of the local soil strata & types, the distance from the water table, etc. A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part. Installing carpet also helps to insulate the interior of a basement by keeping the floor warm in cold weather. Home Depot (and probably others) used to sell a hardwood flooring system comprised of plastic underlayment w/adhesive strip and foam backed hardwood planks.

Rinse the floor with clear, hot water. Become a GBA Prime member and get full access to GBA articles, enyclopedia, videos, CAD library, and more. info@insofast.com, Monday Thursday: 8am 5:30pm Screwed down: For any type of flooring, InSoFast panels can be attached to the concrete floor by installing concrete screws through the studs. It will make carpeted, laminate, and wood floors feel softer and more comfortable. See here for an expert who recommends not using polyethylene. The initial layer is a durable high-density polyethylene sheet or similar system that uses evenly spaced 3/8-in.

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