Need insulation removed from a basement area (floor insulation)

[ApS]

The insulation installation is "botched"?

Can you provide a picture of what you're seeing?

[DickR]

Besides degradation of the insulation due to having the vapor barrier on the cold side (in winter), resulting in condensation of interior moisture diffusing through the insulation to the cold surfaces, I have to wonder if long-term accumulation of moisture has damaged the bottoms of the floor joists. Wetness held there by that plastic vapor barrier won't dry to the exterior easily.

As part of your later renovation efforts, and assuming you have a crawl space under the living space, you might think about enclosing that crawl space, eliminating any air leaks into it, insulating its walls, and having a sturdy vapor barrier over the ground. A lot of good information on all this can be found on greenbuildingadvisor.com.

[IslandRadio]

Originally Posted by DickR

Besides degradation of the insulation due to having the vapor barrier on the cold side (in winter), resulting in condensation of interior moisture diffusing through the insulation to the cold surfaces, I have to wonder if long-term accumulation of moisture has damaged the bottoms of the floor joists. Wetness held there by that plastic vapor barrier won't dry to the exterior easily.

As part of your later renovation efforts, and assuming you have a crawl space under the living space, you might think about enclosing that crawl space, eliminating any air leaks into it, insulating its walls, and having a sturdy vapor barrier over the ground. A lot of good information on all this can be found on greenbuildingadvisor.com.

So far, I have not observed any degradation of the joists themselves. The home inspector also did not flag any damaged joists.

However, yes, job 1 here is to get this crawl space (about 5 feet high) sealed up properly (after the old insulation has been removed of course).

[IslandRadio]

Originally Posted by ApS

The insulation installation is "botched"?

Can you provide a picture of what you're seeing?

The insulation for the floors is installed with the vapor barrier AWAY FROM the (warm, in the winter) living space.

So, during the cold months (the people lived here year round), the warm, relatively moist air from the living space will work its way through the insulation until the dew point is reached, at which time the vapor will condense and form water dropletts.

And then the condensed water is more or less trapped there due to the vapor barrier.

It appears to me as if the house was built with uninsulated floors, and then the homeowners installed insulation after the fact.