Insulating the Interior and Exterior Walls of a Poured Concrete Basement

Builders are also seeking strategies to protect the poured concrete foundation walls from both summer and winter conditions. Insulation strategies may be the recommended strategy from a building science perspective, but modular home builders are looking for proof that the process will be effective and deliver the energy savings for the added costs.

There are four types of insulating the poured concrete foundation walls. These approaches focus on the exterior, interior, both interior and exterior, and the middle of the walls. The most common poured concrete insulation approach for new modular homes has been to insulate on the interior because it is the least expensive.

In this blog post, we will discuss about the interior and exterior insulation of the poured concrete walls of the modular home.

Poured Concrete Insulation: Interior

Interior insulation is the most risky insulation system because the foundation wall remains cold as a result of being in contact with below grade soil. It is imperative to keep warm, moist interior air from condensing on the cold wall. To do this, the interior insulation assembly must be built airtight.

To insulate the poured concrete walls interiorly, the walls must also be built to dry inward with the insulation layer built vapor-semi-impermeable vapor-semi-permeable, or vapor-permeable. As the presence increases, the inward drying potential rises and the risk of excessive moisture accumulation lowers. Highly permeable interior materials, though, will increase the outward wetting potential during the heating season in cold climates.

Poured Concrete Insulation: Exterior

Exterior insulation keeps the poured concrete within the home’s thermal envelope; this increases the amount of interior thermal mass and reduces the likelihood of temperature swings if heating and cooling equipment stops working. However, it’s worth pointing out that the advantages of interior thermal mass are often exaggerated. Exterior insulation protects the dampproofing or waterproofing layer from damage during backfilling.

Insulating on the exterior allows a builder to install an uninterrupted layer of rigid foam from the foundation footing to the rafters. While this approach isn’t required — you don’t have to insulate above-grade walls with exterior foam if you don’t want to — many builders like it.

Exterior insulation provides more interior space in your basement than interior insulation. It’s easier to insulate and air-seal the rim joist area with exterior insulation than with interior insulation.

In case you still have question about modular homes and insulated precast foundation, you may contact Legendary Homes Inc in Jackson, Michigan. A representative will be happy to assist you. Meanwhile you can check our modular home price sheets by signing up to our blog

Topic: Poured Concrete

Insulating the Interior and Exterior Walls of a Poured Concrete Basement