Kitchen Reno: Add insulation or not?

13 years ago

I am going to be starting my kitchen reno in a week. One nagging question is whether to add insulation to the exterior walls while we have them open. The exterior walls are made of cinderblock. House was built around 1940. Currently there are 1x strips attached to the cinderblock and the drywall is attached to that, leaving only 3/4" gap between drywall and block. Because of this I am building a stud wall (out of 2x3) to house our electrical (I am rearranging things and adding electrical where there is none) and plumbing.

My big concern with adding insulation is preventing mold & rot inside the wall. I have read and understand that if I add batts into the stud cavities that I would get condensation between the insulation and cinderblock. Not good.

The way to go seems to be attach foam board (like XPS) directly to the wall. The potential problems there would be:

1. I have to remove the strips that are probably nailed to the cinderblock. How hard will this be?

2. The cinderblock face is very uneven. What I read recommends gluing the XPS to the brick or concrete to reduce/eliminate air gaps between the two. I know I can't eliminate all the gaps. I have read recommendations to use "Tuck Tape" at the top and bottom of the XPS.

I should also add that the wall cavity is vented to our unfinished basement the builders left a small gap between the subfloor and brick. Dunno if this was to allow for expansion, just to make sure wood doesn't touch brick, or to actually allow the walls to breathe. But that's the way it is.

Thanks in advance. I'm finding it hard to find good advice on the internet because of the age and somewhat unique to our home.

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Comments (4)

worthy
13 years ago
Remove the strips. A heavy crowbar and a sledge should do it.

Here's a couple alternatives:

1) Use an inch of XPS on the walls. Tape the joints and use handheld cans of polyurethane foam where necessary. Then frame and fill with high density fg batts.

2) Frame an inch from the exterior wall, run your services, then have closed-cell spray foam sprayed in. This may not be feasible on a commercial basis, unless maybe you want to have other parts of your energy hog home tightened up, such as the basement sills.
brigittk_gmail_com
12 years ago
I wonder what you ended up doing, Paulyg? I am now in the same situation as you and am concerned about moisture. Our house information is the same - 1940s house, cinderblock walls, same strips, etc. I read that to finish a basement one should add a sheet of vapor barrier. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks.
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klrock
12 years ago
I am also remodeling a kitchen (1951) and have removed the sheet rock to replace plumbing. I want to put insulation batts in the wall (there was no insulation previously), but the 2X4 studs are on 20" centers and I cannot find batts to fit.

Any ideas?
worthy
12 years ago
I read that to finish a basement one should add a sheet of vapor barrier.

Certainly not around here for many years.

***

I should add that there is also research that says that leaving an air space on the interior side of the brick on a multiple wythe walls--two or more layers of masonry--may be an appropriate way to reduce moisture entrapment in an insulation retrofit.

Here is a link that might be useful: Building Science Corp on Basements