Claudia, it seems to me, if your getting water into your basement, you need to divert the water away.
earlier, Dale Leavens, wrote: > > >Good morning Claudia, > >Insulating a basement and finishing the inside >walls is a big and costly job though not without >benefit. It would probably be well worth while >though to take the time to really go around the >basement and seal up any penetrations. Easily >the biggest heat gains or losses are through air >gaps and other air exchange points between the >inside and outside. This makes tings a lot >quieter as well. If you are getting a lot of >dust and dirt and insects into the basement it >sounds to me like you have lots of access points. > >Sealing things up isn't easy but it isn't >necessarily all that expensive. Most of the >trouble will be around points where things like >drier vents, water and other pipes enter or >leave the building, utilities like telephone, >television and electrical cable enter the house, >places like water pipes, outdoor electrical >outlets leave the building. Then around windows, >a lot of air, dirt and critters tend to move >around poorly sealed window frames. > >Finally, there are often remarkably large spaces >between the sill of the building and the top of >the basement. Outside there may be siding or >other finish covering such spaces but they are >there and air moves through them bringing in the outdoor environment. > >You want to carefully and methodically make your >way around the top of the basement wall probably >with the wand of your vacuum and a brush to >sweep and suck loose dust and debris out of such >places then follow either with good elastic >calking or by filling the gaps with some of that >sticky difficult expanding spray foam. > >Similarly, seal around the penetrations and >window frames and you might even want to apply >some sort of appropriate weather stripping to any windows. > >Most of these products prefer warmer conditions >to apply but I find that poking around in >particularly cold weather often helps locate >those cool entry points. Sighted people might >stick a bit of toilet paper to the end of a wire >like a length of coat hanger wire and push that >toward suspect places where they can watch very >small air currents disturb the paper like a flag. > >Calking and spray foam are damn sticky and in >that regard not very blind friendly. One can >grease ones hands up with something like >Vaseline and that helps but you don't want to >transfer the grease onto the surfaces you are >sealing or the sealant won't stick. This is also >why you remove as much dust and grit as you can before applying the sealers. > >Mostly, over filling with the spray foam doesn't >matter much, you can trim off the excess with a >sharp old knife if it is in the way after it sets up. > >Once you take care of the air leaks the next >most cost effective insulation is to again climb >up there to the sill and insulate the rim and joist bays. > >The joist bays are those pockets between the >ends of the floor joists where they cross the >top of the basement wall. Again remove dirt and >dust and you might even wish to calk where the >floor crosses the rim joist and possibly where >the rim joist sits on the sill. You could try to >accurately cut extruded foam insulation to push >in there but it is very difficult to get a >really good fit and you really do want to fill >any gaps thoroughly. I like to cut fiberglass >bats for this purpose. You can usually buy a >bundle of bats the correct width, 14 inches or 2 >inches depending on the spacing of your joists. >It isn't nice stuff to handle and you want to >cut it fairly accurately. You probably have 10 >inch joists, actually closer to 9 and a quarter >inches. and they will be about 14 and a quarter >inches apart. You don't want to be forcing the >fiberglass into the bay, you want a snug and >full fit but compressing the insulation will >reduce it's efficiency. These joist bays and >along the long rim joist are the thinnest point >between you and the outside and are the highest >heat loss points. Further, insulating along >there will really improve the comfort of the floor above. > >cut the bat into length about 10 inches then fit >them carefully into the joist bays. You can >probably fit two into each bay depending on the >thickness, usually 4 or 6 inch thickness. fluff >it just a little so it well fills the space. > >You may wish to use a dust mask to keep any >fibers and dust in those location out of your >respiratory tract. I like to use an old long >sleeve shirt and it helps to wear light gloves, >even just light cotton gloves to keep any >particles out of the skin of your hands. > >to cut the bats I have found an old wavy >serrated bread knife about as good as anything. >I pull the end over a piece of lumber, maybe an >old bit of 2 by 4, place another over it and >kneel on that pinching the insulation between >them with the pressure of a knee squashing it >fully down then with the bread knife follow the >2 by 4s as a guide and saw the 10 inch end off. > >Along the side rim joist you can split the bat >lengthwise to fit and slide them into place end-to-end so they fit snugly. > >You can also have a commercial company come in >and blow closed cell foam into these locations >and there are many other much more expensive and >albeit variably more effective methods. Studding >out the walls, fitting electrical then having >closed cell foam blown in is probably the very >best solution in the long term but my >recommendation can probably be done by yourself >for a couple of hundred dollars and serve you well. > >Hope this is helpful. > >Dale leavens. > >------ Original Message ----- >From: Claudia >To: <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com>[email protected] >Sent: Saturday, July 03, 2010 4:56 AM >Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Basements Again! > >The walls were sealed with a water-based paint, >but I would think I would eventually need >drywall, in order to help with insulating the basement? >We currently have no insulation in place, >either; the basements is bare too the bone, at the moment. > >Claudia > >----- Original Message ----- >From: Cy Selfridge >To: <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com>[email protected] >Sent: Friday, July 02, 2010 7:56 PM >Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] Basements Again! > >Claudia, > >I have seen responses from various folks and their advice is good. > >I would probably not bother to put in dry wall but rather seal the walls >with one of the new products as there is a possibility of more water in the >future. > >I use my large Sears shop vac and have purchased an optional tool designed >specifically for picking up things on the floor. (not the squeegy) > >I also have a couple of extra extensions for the plastic wand which will >allow me to reach up a good 7 or 8 feet above my arm's length. The want on >my shop vac is large enough to ingest tennis balls and the like so it will >do a great job of sucking down the webs as well as picking up all manner of >reasonable large objects from the floor. > >If you are able to seal off the basement I wold let loose a couple of those >bug bombs for starters. This will eliminate the bug problem and then you can >control it by the regular monthly spraying. > >I saw someone mention those Shell No Pest strips. They really do work and I >have used them in the kitchen of my restaurants many years ago to control >various flying things which come inside during the summertime. > >You can find what I think is the same product in many farm type stores. >These little strips are used on cattle to ward off flies and other insects >and they work just like the old Shell No Pest Strips. > >HTH, > >Cy > >From: ><mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com>[email protected] >[mailto:[email protected]] >On Behalf Of Claudia >Sent: Friday, July 02, 2010 1:05 PM >To: <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com>[email protected] >Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Basements Again! > >Hi All, > >We have a large unfinished basement; the floors are concrete, and the walls >are cindrblock. >There is no insulation or drywall in the basement currently! >We had that all taken out, after we experienced about a foot of water, in >our basement, two years ago. >What would be the best way to go about keeping the basement floor clean? We >currently use a shop vac to do that, but it takes forever and a day, to get >it done. >Also, I think I asked about this before, but the basement gets full of >spiders and spider webs, and I hate walking around down there, feeling stuff >hanging over my head! >What can we do to curb some of this activity, if anything? > >Or, would some of this probelm be eliminated, once we start putting back new >insulation and drywall? >Thanks. > >Claudia > >Windows Messenger: ><mailto:cdelreal1973%40sbcglobal.net>[email protected] ><mailto:cdelreal1973%40sbcglobal.net> >Skype: claudiadr10 > >__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature >database 5245 (20100702) __________ > >The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. > ><http://www.eset.com>http://www.eset.com > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > >__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, >version of virus signature database 5247 (20100702) __________ > >The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. > ><http://www.eset.com>http://www.eset.com > >__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, >version of virus signature database 5247 (20100702) __________ > >The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. > ><http://www.eset.com>http://www.eset.com > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > John Currently in Ocala, Florida Mostly Cloudy, 80°F Wind:ENE-070° at 10mph * Ever stop to think, and forget to start again? 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