Insulating a basement

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

The only problem with glueing foam directly to the block is that if ANY water gets in through the block... and it can happen on a wet year, block is porous, you are trapping that moisture behind the foam and it will mold. If you are going to glue the foam directly to block you should seal the block on the inside first with a sealer paint.

We use typar between our energy walls and against the block in the basement to allow any moisture that seeps through the block to wick through the typar and dry and we leave at least a 1/4" air gap between the framing and block so if any moisture does get through it will not come in contact with framing or insulation. We have never had any mold or moisture problems on our projects.

Some people will say typar is for framing, but its an air barrier and it works for this type of construction too. There are lots of different ways to accomplish energy walls in the basement, but i never like the idea of moisture being trapped between the block and insulation. I would recommend leaving an air gap between framing and block no matter what you do.

[fishhuntwork]

I had my basement spray foamed last night and all I can say is night and day difference. I had all my rim joists sprayed and half of my exterior walls. This also adds some rigidity to the framing. So far so good!

[Pinusbanksiana]

Fish, what kind of a price did you have to pay? Are costs for this coming down?

[fishhuntwork]

I have a buddy that does so I got his pricing on it. I did call a company and they did a quote of about $.90 per sq ft per inch.