Should the floor or crawl space of a pier and beam house be insulated?

Question

The house is fully skirted The floor joists are approximately. 16" from grade. The temp has been 20's and 30's. The floors seem extremely cold, which seems to cool the inside air rapidly. Will insulating cause a condensation problem? Is there another solution?

Answer 1

First, moisture moves to cold. You know how a glass of iced tea sweats in summer. That happens when warm air moves from a warm room to a cold one in winter.

Condensation can also occur if you warm a house quickly from a cold or very low temp.

Insulation will actually STOP condensation. Remember the tea? Put a cozy around it, and what do you get?

Putting a vapor barrier on the ground is a good thing to do, but you can use the cheap window plastic sold at Wal Mart for it as well. All that matters is that you have it overlaying each piece. You don't need to tape it together, though that is a scrupulous way to proceed.

You can use foam sheets to insulate the inside fo the skirting, though regular batting works well. If you can find un-faced batting, that is great, it is cheaper, but if you can't don't worry, that is okay too. Just put the paper side to the inside, not the outside.

Now, if your floor joists are relatively clear you can insulate your floor space too. I'd suggest you look into under the floor heating elements. This can be a way to heat your house evenly, but in any case, it can take the chill off of your floor in the worst weather cases.

HOWEVER, you will need to insulate below that so that the heat goes up and not down. Also, if you have carpets, it is less efficient.

Hope this explanation helps some.

Good Luck.

Answer 2

i agree with most of the answers , but if you insulate between the floor joists you dont have to go through the added expense of insulating the side walls of a crawl space as there is no heat under there anyway. you can use faced insulation but push the paper side up to the surface of your floor and not facing the ground...vapor barrier of some sort would be helpful

Answer 3

Insulation will not cause a condensation problem.unfaced bats insulation between the joist and a vapor barrier on the ground is the best way to go.be certain to insulate the exposed water supply lines that are under there to prevent them freezing.

Answer 4

place non-faced batt insulation between the joist. You should have a vapor barrier on the ground under the crawl space. Just heavy plastic with the splices covered with duct tape. A concrete foundation is considered to have zero insulation value, so you know where you stand.

Answer 5

okay let me get this straight least I give you bad advice. You have wood floor in your home or is it just the crawl space that is wood.
Well what ever the case may be you should not be getting condensation on the walls or the floor.
But it is not because of the insulation although I am not and expert on the subject.
It could be because of the cold but I am not sure it also could be
the contractors did not seal the roof properly in what ever case if it was not you who built the home call the contractor and have them come back out and redo their screw up.
And if it was you I apologize in any case good luck in finding the correct solution to your deli ma

Answer 6

You definitely need insulation. You should
go to a good hardware or home supply
as I think there's an insulation that has a
metallic backing plus you staple plastic
sheeting over all. But you need to ask
someone--because if dampness gets in there, then what. Call an insulation expert.

Answer 7

Certainly should be insulated skirting or no skirting. I don't see why you would end up with condensation problem if the insulation is installed properly.

Answer 8

i don't see how it could cause a problem since you really should not have condensation from insulation, it should make the house keep in the heat in the upper part where it should be. if your floor were concrete it might cause a problem.

Answer 9

I not sure I know what you are getting at? Is this under your house? If so, I would definately put plastic down on the dirt. I would not put plastic down after the insulation is down, because that will trap moisture that cames down from above and hold it against the boards causing rot.

Answer 10

It's definitely possible, that's for sure