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Where/how/if: putting vapor barrier and insulation in basement walls for northern illinois climate.
I am starting the project to finish my basement and I have been having a hard time figuring out what I need. I am in the northern illinois region, so cold winters, but warm summers and we do get a fair bit of rain in the spring. Our basement doesn’t have any kind of moisture problem at all. I have done the plastic taped to the wall through all seasons and there isn’t any condensation on either side. Also as a bit of a real life proof to myself, I have thin cardboard boxes stored with all kinds of paper crafts and products down there and there isn’t any waviness or dampness in anything down there. Also, there is HVAC vents down there, so temperature is the same (give or take) as the rest of the house. I say all this to get at the fact that this isn’t a typical cold, musty, wet, Midwest basement. Now the basement walls are poured concrete. I don’t know about insulation from the outside but there is nothing on the inside. Just bare concrete walls that we can see. It is painted with a drylok or something similar. It’s not red though like I’ve seen in some videos. It’s just gray. There is also drain tile system on the exterior that drains to the 2 sump pumps. Now I started my search by asking the county what they recommend, but they have been useless since I’ve moved in. Im in an unincorporated area and it seems no one wants to take claim for our house. I have done a bathroom remodel, patio install, fence install, and various other projects that would normally need permits, and every time I call I am basically told to do whatever they don’t care. For the fence I was told as long as no one complains about it then they aren’t coming out. Lol. When I called about this basement project they asked if I was adding bedrooms, to which I said no. And they told me then it doesn’t matter. As long as I’m not trying to claim it as livable space with extra bedrooms then it won’t count towards the square footage of the house anyways, and I can do whatever. They consider it “cosmetic” from their words over the phone. Very strange I know, but that’s all I got and that’s been the norm over the years from the county. All we want to do is basically frame the basement for drywall so we can paint and make it feel a little more “homey”. I’ll probably add a cheap tile floor. And it will be used for a kids play space, as well as a secondary tv lounging area. There will also be a little man cave in one corner of it with a bar, and some collectibles. With all that being said, do I need a vapor barrier and insulation? I figured a vapor barrier is cheap enough for a roll of it so I can just do that, but the insulation was going to cost a bunch for how big a space it is. So with the temp not being an issue, if I don’t need it then I won’t put it. But then I’ve seen some things saying that the vapor barrier can cause problem if it isn’t installed correctly, so would it go on the cement wall and then frame over it? Or would I frame against the cement wall (with a small air gap) and then vapor barrier, and then drywall over that? Both ways seem like they make sense and I’ve seen videos of both ways being done so I don’t know lol. I’ve asked some neighbors and friends and I’ve gotten responses ranging from “just threw some studs and drywall up and they’ve been good for 20 years” all the way to “we had a company come and do every thing and it cost us 100k” and everything in between. Lol. submitted by /u/anthonymi [link] [comments]
I am starting the project to finish my basement and I have been having a hard time figuring out what I need. I am in the northern illinois region, so cold winters, but warm summers and we do get a fair bit of rain in the spring.
Our basement doesn’t have any kind of moisture problem at all. I have done the plastic taped to the wall through all seasons and there isn’t any condensation on either side. Also as a bit of a real life proof to myself, I have thin cardboard boxes stored with all kinds of paper crafts and products down there and there isn’t any waviness or dampness in anything down there. Also, there is HVAC vents down there, so temperature is the same (give or take) as the rest of the house. I say all this to get at the fact that this isn’t a typical cold, musty, wet, Midwest basement.
Now the basement walls are poured concrete. I don’t know about insulation from the outside but there is nothing on the inside. Just bare concrete walls that we can see. It is painted with a drylok or something similar. It’s not red though like I’ve seen in some videos. It’s just gray. There is also drain tile system on the exterior that drains to the 2 sump pumps.
Now I started my search by asking the county what they recommend, but they have been useless since I’ve moved in. Im in an unincorporated area and it seems no one wants to take claim for our house. I have done a bathroom remodel, patio install, fence install, and various other projects that would normally need permits, and every time I call I am basically told to do whatever they don’t care. For the fence I was told as long as no one complains about it then they aren’t coming out. Lol. When I called about this basement project they asked if I was adding bedrooms, to which I said no. And they told me then it doesn’t matter. As long as I’m not trying to claim it as livable space with extra bedrooms then it won’t count towards the square footage of the house anyways, and I can do whatever. They consider it “cosmetic” from their words over the phone. Very strange I know, but that’s all I got and that’s been the norm over the years from the county.
All we want to do is basically frame the basement for drywall so we can paint and make it feel a little more “homey”. I’ll probably add a cheap tile floor. And it will be used for a kids play space, as well as a secondary tv lounging area. There will also be a little man cave in one corner of it with a bar, and some collectibles.
With all that being said, do I need a vapor barrier and insulation? I figured a vapor barrier is cheap enough for a roll of it so I can just do that, but the insulation was going to cost a bunch for how big a space it is. So with the temp not being an issue, if I don’t need it then I won’t put it. But then I’ve seen some things saying that the vapor barrier can cause problem if it isn’t installed correctly, so would it go on the cement wall and then frame over it? Or would I frame against the cement wall (with a small air gap) and then vapor barrier, and then drywall over that? Both ways seem like they make sense and I’ve seen videos of both ways being done so I don’t know lol. I’ve asked some neighbors and friends and I’ve gotten responses ranging from “just threw some studs and drywall up and they’ve been good for 20 years” all the way to “we had a company come and do every thing and it cost us 100k” and everything in between. Lol.
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