clubbert
10-23-2006, 12:02 AM
My mother built her new home about 5 years ago. When planning the home she decided to build a Cold room/root cellar type room under the concrete front porch. This room is built completely of concrete, the ceiling witch is the floor of the front porch is spanned concrete the walls are solid concrete all the way around, even the wall between this room and the rest of the basement is concrete foundation wall. It has a steel insulated door entering it from the rest of the basement.
Originally this sounded like a good idea, but since building the home she has had moisture problems in the room, the walls and ceiling sweat, and it is always damp and musty in there, she now has started leaving the door open to the furnace room to try to control the air in there and has seemed to help quite a bit.
Now because the rest of the basement is finished leaving this door open causes the rest of the space to be very cold in the winter and she would like to insulate it or do something else.
I considered cutting vents in the room to allow for ventilation and help the moisture, but she doesnt want to do this, she has decieded it would be better to insulate the room and just use it as a storage room.
I am trying to figure out the best and cheepest way to insulate this room, that will not have a moisture problem. I am afraid if I do not do this right she will end up with a mold problem and would like to know the best way to do this. I figure I will insulate the ceiling and the 3 outside walls and leave the wall adjoining the rest of the basment uninsulated.
We also have figured that putting a vent in the door once it is insulated will also help.
This is what i have thought of doing but dont know if it is the best idea or not. covering the walls and ceiling with plastic, then frame up 2x4 walls and ceiling with the total insulating space on the ceiling being 6 inches, use fiberglass batt insulation, JM comfort therm, (the kind that is encapsulated in basically a plastic bag. Then over that possibly put foam board insulation withe the aluminum facing for a radient barrier, taping all the seams, finally covering it all with sheet rock.
the room is approx 36 foot long and 8 to 10 feet deep. and 8 feet high.
anyone that has any knowledge to this project would be greatly appreciated. the systems on this site look good but dont know wich is the best for this application and if they are cost prohibitive. thanks in advance.
cory
Originally this sounded like a good idea, but since building the home she has had moisture problems in the room, the walls and ceiling sweat, and it is always damp and musty in there, she now has started leaving the door open to the furnace room to try to control the air in there and has seemed to help quite a bit.
Now because the rest of the basement is finished leaving this door open causes the rest of the space to be very cold in the winter and she would like to insulate it or do something else.
I considered cutting vents in the room to allow for ventilation and help the moisture, but she doesnt want to do this, she has decieded it would be better to insulate the room and just use it as a storage room.
I am trying to figure out the best and cheepest way to insulate this room, that will not have a moisture problem. I am afraid if I do not do this right she will end up with a mold problem and would like to know the best way to do this. I figure I will insulate the ceiling and the 3 outside walls and leave the wall adjoining the rest of the basment uninsulated.
We also have figured that putting a vent in the door once it is insulated will also help.
This is what i have thought of doing but dont know if it is the best idea or not. covering the walls and ceiling with plastic, then frame up 2x4 walls and ceiling with the total insulating space on the ceiling being 6 inches, use fiberglass batt insulation, JM comfort therm, (the kind that is encapsulated in basically a plastic bag. Then over that possibly put foam board insulation withe the aluminum facing for a radient barrier, taping all the seams, finally covering it all with sheet rock.
the room is approx 36 foot long and 8 to 10 feet deep. and 8 feet high.
anyone that has any knowledge to this project would be greatly appreciated. the systems on this site look good but dont know wich is the best for this application and if they are cost prohibitive. thanks in advance.
cory