Vapor Barrier Thickness Basement Walls

Water vapor can pass through building materials in several ways including direct transmission and by heat transfer but studies suggest that fully 98 percent of the moisture transfer through walls occurs through air gaps including cracks around electrical fixtures and outlets and gaps along baseboards.

Vapor barrier thickness basement walls.

The main concerns are condensation and drying potential. Over time your concrete basement walls can become damaged due to many factors. If your basement wall is brand new then you can skip this step. After the insulation is in place you will want to add a vapor retarder sometimes called a vapor barrier if you need one.

Basement vapor barrier and insulation. In exterior walls that are below grade like basement walls. Not every wall does. Not to be confused with a vapor barrier which is placed on the warm side of the wall just in front of the insulation and behind the drywall a moisture barrier goes against the basement wall.

Whether or not you need a vapor retarder hinges on three main factors. Also be sure to use treated lumber for the bottom plate on the wall framing. The standard installation of a plastic vapor barrier is between the studs and the drywall but there are some exceptions to this. In winter the dew point of the interior air is typically about 50 f assuming an air temperature of 70 f and a relative humidity of 50.

The other option is to set the 2 4 wall framing in 4 from the masonry or concrete basement walls and use just the vapor barrier on the insulation facing toward the living space. Thus installing vapor barriers on wall surfaces must. The science of moisture movement. 1 on the interior wall between the heated and unheated portion of the basement i would not use with a vapor barrier.

A vapor retarder is a material used to prevent water vapor from diffusing into the wall ceiling or floor during the cold winter. So we thought it might be a good idea to clear up some of the confusion. Finishing basement walls using a vapor barrier is easy and the article below will show you how. The thickness of your vapor barrier is just one of the many considerations you need to take into account when installing a crawl space encapsulation system.