I think the first item of business is to determine why the insulation is there in the first place. Is your basement conditioned? Do you have HVAC registers/vents there? What area of the country is this? Regional differences often mean different standards for constructions. Was this done for sound deadening reasons?Long story short, we have a large basement that has exposed fiberglass insulation in the 10ft ceilings, between the joists. The insulation is never disturbed (for the most part - see below) and my understanding, based on what I've read thus far, is that we should just leave it alone and it's fine as long as we don't fool with it and don't camp out down there, but I am seeing some conflicting information. The house is a new build and we've been in it for exactly 3 years. Humidity is kept steady at 48% with the help of an auto-running / draining dehumidifier and there are no bad smells, mold issues, water intrusion, etc.
That prompts my question: Should I be covering the entire ceiling in plastic?
Once you determine if it should be there or not, then it is easier to figure out a solution.
In my area, no houses have insulation in the joist bays of the basements. If your basement is conditioned and you are in a similar climate zone, I would simply remove the insulation, clean up really well, let the air exchange and call it a day.
Putting plastic up is highly dependent on the climate region. Depending on which climate you are in dictates which side of the insulation plastic should go. Putting it on the wrong side ensures lots of mold growth which is not what you are aiming for. In my area, putting up plastic would mean water would condense between the plastic and the insulation during the summer months creating a perfect habitat for mold.
I'm not a big fan of drywall in basement ceilings. It makes working on existing utilities or future utilities difficult and any spilled water above has a potential to find the nearest crack in your subfloor and stain the basement ceiling. I prefer to do a "drop" ceiling so that stained panels are easy to replace and you can remove all the panels necessary to access utilities in the joist bay. I put drop in quotation marks because modern drop ceilings can actually attach directly to the studs and you only lose about 3/4 of an inch of head room versus the drop ceilings of old which needed 6 inches to a foot.
Statistics: Posted by lthenderson — Thu Mar 28, 2024 12:06 pm — Replies 12 — Views 475