Improving Comfort of Unfinished Basement
I ran across this article today and thought I would run it by you guys. So basically the article is saying if you aren’t confident in your basement moisture issues and are on a budget you can;
1. seal the floor with moisture sealant, then use interlocking foam if you want to make softer for a kids play room, (what I need it for)
2. Paint concrete walls and ceiling with 100% acrylic paint
So how hard would this be to manage and will a gain anything from insulating rim joists alone? I live in NY where summers are humid so I probably would have to take floors up at end of summer and wash the floor and tiles, let it dry out. I probably would also need a coat of paint every year or so to keep it in good condition. Is this a bad idea to paint everything. How much benefit would I get if I just insulated the rim joist? I have some spots where pipes are near wall and it’s awkward. They have that up to 3” great stuff spray home. Could I stick the tube into back of rim joist and just spray it up. Of course this is a temporary solution to make space useable. I do plan on finishing eventually.
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Replies
There is a significant gain from making the basement airtight. This may be as simple as sealing all of the rim joists.
I think the article does a bit of conflating between finishing -- nice interior surfaces -- and sealing and insulated. Under current codes even an unfinished basement should be sealed and insulated.