Replies

1. GBA Editor
   Martin Holladay | Feb 19, 2015 05:55am | #1

   Anthony,
   I don't know what you mean by an "outside wall." If this wall is part of your house, and if the wall has wood framing, you have a big problem on your hands. In that case, the grade should be lowered until it is at least 8 inches lower than the lowest wooden components of your building, or the wall should be demolished and rebuilt with poured concrete, CMUs, or ICFs.

   It you're talking about a retaining wall in your yard, that's a different story. If the wall is part of your house and is already made of concrete or masonry, you need to give us more information.

2. 
   ntisdell | Feb 19, 2015 11:20am | #2

   Another thing he might be refering to is maybe the below ground 'gutter' using foamboard? Article on GBA refers to it as "Inground Gutter" but for water containment using poly i believe.

   So in-lieu of insulating the foundation wall you could insulate horizontally a foot or two down to keep subsoil/foundation warmer....

   ?

3. 
   tonyccn | Feb 21, 2015 07:27am | #3

   Thanks for your answers. When I wrote 'outside wall' I meant "the outside of the wall" as part of my house. You were right on when you said ". In that case, the grade should be lowered until it is at least 8 inches lower than the lowest wooden components of your building." I had my gardener lowered the grade (by removing excess soil). I actually had him remove most of the soil, apply insulation cement, then put back the soil 6 inches lower then the wooden components.