Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
ferroplasm

what is this black fibrous board material?

ferroplasm Zone 7b
10 years ago

I'm planning on sealing up the walls and floor in my crawl space. The house is a split level so one of the walls in the lower level is shared with the crawl space. On this wall, there is a fibrous, black sheeting material made by Gold Bond Building Products. The board is nailed to the 2x4 framing along the length of the wall. The are some areas where the board has been cut away to make access for plumbing, wiring, etc. The house was built in 1972, two years after Gold Bond stopped using asbestos in their materials (so google tells me), so I am reasonably sure the material is not asbestos. However, it does seem to be there for either insulation or to stop fire from spreading from the crawl space through the wall into the living area.

I'm having issues with air leakage from the crawl space into that lower part of the house, so I want to remove this board, seal all the gaps, and probably replace it with polyisocyanurate or some similar foil backed rigid insulation. I have a couple questions about doing so.

What is that material already in place? Is it okay to remove it?

If I remove that material and seal the air gaps, do I need to insulate the bays with fiberglass batts or can i just cut the rigid foam board to fit the bays and foam them in place?

Comments (5)