Dirt under crawl space of new addition, how to finish
by
Mariska
+1
We added a 20 X 28 four seasons room with cathedral ceiling and four skylights. It's a lovely addition especially with the seven glass siding doors. Beautiful view of our pond and back yard. The floor is carpeted with nice thick carpet, but the floor gets cold in the winter. We ran heat ducts out there also. The room stays comfortable with the expensive insulated glass doors. I have seen on t.v. pictures of crawl spaces that are covered in thick plastic over the dirt. Is this the way to finish it off? Would it make the floor warmer? We also insulated in the ceiling down there, which is the underside of the floor. Thanks for any suggestions. Mariska
4 answers
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Why is there actual dirt in your floor? And I say put wood over it and then carpet.
Grady
on Feb 17, 2015
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@Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com, this sounds like something you could help with.
Shira
on Feb 19, 2015
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Plastic is good though it isn't to help keep the floor warm but rather the moisture out - on top of this many people pour a rat slab if critters might be an issue - the only catch of doing it now is the moisture that would be released until is fully cured. We generally have them put a dehumidifier down there for a few months to help eliminate this issue Keeping the floors warm - that is tough, going with what you have are the vents closed, did you insert some foam blocks? If not that is one trick. The best way is called a sealed crawl where they insulate the crawlspace walls with closed cell foam, add 1 supply vent & remove the insulation from the floor. In many cases this actually saves energy & results in a much warmer & nicer floor above.
SLS Construction & Building Solutions LLC
on Feb 19, 2015
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Few things are puzzling me in regards to the floor being cold. You stated that you insulated the underside of the floor, I assume with at least an R-19 or more. You also stated that your floor is carpeted as well. Assuming there is a padding under the carpet and its properly insulated below I cannot understand why your floor is cold. I assume you currently have a dirt crawl space under the room. Being dirt it should be covered with a plastic vapor barrier. This barrier has nothing to do with increasing warmth. Its only job is to prevent moisture build up in the crawl space area where it can possibly condense on the floor joists and any exposed ducts that will be cooler in the summer months. Without this important feature you would experience in a very short time a large mold issue. So this barrier is very important. It should be sealed tightly to the edges of the crawl space so no moisture can leak around the edges where they meet up with the foundation. Being located where you are your suffering from some pretty cold snaps. As a result of this I would again assume that your crawl space has venting on the sides? If so be sure during the winter months that these vents are closed. You may even want to place a foam board that is cut to size into the opening to assure your not getting any air leakage into that area. No so much to keep the cold out as it still will go down in temp quickly, but to stop any air drafts which can remove the heat protection that the insulation provides. Ideally and correctly installed any vapor barrier on the crawl space insulation needs to be close the heated side. Its not uncommon to see the insulation where the paper vapor barrier is facing the installer making it easier to install and staple into place. If that is the case, you need to remove it and turn it around. Properly installed with the fiberglass being seen from the crawl any flowing air within the crawl space can easily pull the heat that the insulation is attempting to keep into the room out of the floor quickly. Another mistake that people do in this case is to install a 2nd vapor barrier in the form of plastic thinking they are making it better. This only causes more issues with mold and moisture build up within the insulation. The idea of the vapor barrier near the room side or warm side is to prevent any natural humidity from within the room to move into the insulation far enough to where it can condense into liquid causing the insulation capacity to go down and often resulting in mold development. You said that you have heat ducts installed. I do not know if they are running in the crawl space or simply coming from another area such as a basement. Be sure that these ducts are heavily insulated and air sealed at every joint using proper duct sealing compound. If all of this is correct and your vents are closed tight (only during cold months) the only thing left to do is to pull the carpet up and install a floor warming system under the carpet. your not looking for a floor heating system, but a much lower costing and operating warming system. This will take any cold out of the floor quickly and only during the times that your in the room. It can be turned off if your not in it in an effort to save money on utility bills. So be sure your insulation is installed correctly, Close off as tightly as you can any venting from outside of crawl. Be sure your duct system if its located in the cold crawl space is air sealed and insulated And install a floor warming system if your still suffering with cold floor.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Feb 20, 2015
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