Hi there,

We bought a 1959 house with a damp basement and have addressed the obvious water management issues that we think caused the dampness such as improper grading, lack of downspouts and some poorly sealed pipes coming through the foundation. We live in a small town without much access to knowledgeable contractors, and I’m doing my best to keep us generally on the right track using GBA. I’ve read all the helpful posts on insulating existing basements, and the “The Stay-Dry, No-Mold Finished Basement” article. Unfortunately, our contractor has laid about 600 sq. ft. of dricore on the concrete slab floor without any insulation under it, and I now see that we should have used XPS/EPS to insulate it prior to the subfloor. I also see that several members have reservations about the use of dricore more generally. Now that the contractor has purchased and laid 600 sq ft, I think we are stuck with the dricore, and the current question is whether pull it all up and redo it with XPS under it, or if it is fine to leave it as it, and if we leave it, if there is anything we can do at this point it offset/minimize the moisture that will come through to the basement. The overall impression I am getting is that the dricore without insulation is less than ideal, in that the end result will be colder and more damp, but not a disaster if we can control the humidity with a dehumidifier and the temperature with gas fireplace installed in the basement.

I see dricore also has an insulated product w EPS on the bottom, and we could get the contractor to use that to finish the rest of the basement. We’d then be left with a mishmash of regular dricore and insulated dricore, about 600 sq. ft. of unisulated and 400 sq. ft. of insulated. Not sure if I would just be making a bigger or more complex mess by doing that.

It’s not too late to do better on the walls, which were filled with damp fiberglass batts. We’ve removed all the fiberglass, and the plan is to do 2-2.5 inch XPS or EPS for those following the instructions in the The Stay-Dry, No-Mold Finished Basement article.

We are in southeastern Ontario on the lake, Zone 5A.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jess