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Fully encapsulated crawlspace/basement – how bad?

nexp | Posted in General Questions on

I have a very old house built into a hillside. The basement is living space (kitchen and dining room). Underneath the kitchen is a 10×16 sub-basement (which might be considered a crawl space now – it’s about 5’ tall and only accessible from outside. 

Insulators came today as part of the renovation, and they used closed cell foam on the walls of the crawlspace/subbasement (expected) and also the ceiling (unexpected). Everything I’ve read says that the ceiling of an encapsulated crawlspace should NOT be insulated. How much of a problem is this and what should the remedy be?

Additional info: the crawlspacement (new word) has an uninsulated slab. It is above grade on two sides. It is accessible only from outside. It has a water heater, ejector tank and pump and a makeup-air blower. It also has a zehnder ERV with an exhaust and supply to the space. 

Thanks!

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Replies

  1. Expert Member
    MALCOLM TAYLOR | | #1

    nexp,

    It's not the end of the world at all, it just means the means the crawlspacement can't passively piggyback off the heat of the house above.

    It sounds like with your setup it should be fine. At worst it may need supplemental heat and dedicated dehumidifier, but I doubt it.

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