Whether or not you need a vapor retarder hinges on three main factors.
Basement wall vapor barrier.
The material is stapled to the frame of a basement wall before it is finished with plaster or.
The construction of the wall for instance is vital to the use of a vapor barrier.
After the insulation is in place you will want to add a vapor retarder sometimes called a vapor barrier if you need one.
Thus installing vapor barriers on wall surfaces must.
When the mold grows it will spread to.
Not every wall does.
Also be sure to use treated lumber for the bottom plate on the wall framing.
Not to be confused with a vapor barrier which is placed on the warm side of the wall just in front of the insulation and behind the drywall a moisture barrier goes against the basement wall.
So we thought it might be a good idea to clear up some of the confusion.
A basement vapor or moisture barrier is installed during the new construction of a home or the remodeling of a basement.
1 on the interior wall between the heated and unheated portion of the basement i would not use with a vapor barrier.
The other option is to set the 2 4 wall framing in 4 from the masonry or concrete basement walls and use just the vapor barrier on the insulation facing toward the living space.
Water vapor can pass through building materials in several ways including direct transmission and by heat transfer but studies suggest that fully 98 percent of the moisture transfer through walls occurs through air gaps including cracks around electrical fixtures and outlets and gaps along baseboards.
We ve written several articles about basement insulation and a cost effective approach to basement insulation using foam board and fiberglass insulation since writing those articles we ve received quite a few questions about when to use a basement vapor barrier and when not to.
Basement vapor barrier and insulation.
The main concerns are condensation and drying potential.
A vapor retarder is a material used to prevent water vapor from diffusing into the wall ceiling or floor during the cold winter.
Polyurethane sheeting is a typical vapor barrier that contractors use to prevent moisture from penetrating the walls of a basement.
In winter the dew point of the interior air is typically about 50 f assuming an air temperature of 70 f and a relative humidity of 50.