dsmith060
New Member
Hi all,
I've been researching across this and other forums for several days now, and while I've found the occasional situation that is similar, nothing seems to provide a clear answer on how to handle this.
I'm beginning work on finishing my basement (poured concrete, house built 2011), and planned to insulate the back of the rim joists using 2" XPS rigid foam board, using Great Stuff spray foam to seal the seams. After removing the fiberglass insulation that was put there by the builders, I realized that there was a gap along the bottom of the rim joist at the far back. Turns out that this gap is the air gap for the brick veneer built around the foundation that is above grade (the whole back side of the house) and the joists extend past the concrete foundation up onto the brick. The air gap is loosely covered by what appears to some white house wrap. I've attached some pictures to help illustrate.
Basically I'm just trying to determine the best course of action for insulating this area, as well as how this might affect the rest of my waterproofing / insulation plan. Should I add another piece of foam board and block off the air gap? Or does it need to be left open? If I place the foam board in front of the air gap, then I'm leaving my joists exposed behind it (which sounds like a bad idea).
The basement is generally very dry, but I don't want to leave myself vulnerable to moisture issues down the road and want to make sure I do it properly before closing everything off with drywall. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!
I've been researching across this and other forums for several days now, and while I've found the occasional situation that is similar, nothing seems to provide a clear answer on how to handle this.
I'm beginning work on finishing my basement (poured concrete, house built 2011), and planned to insulate the back of the rim joists using 2" XPS rigid foam board, using Great Stuff spray foam to seal the seams. After removing the fiberglass insulation that was put there by the builders, I realized that there was a gap along the bottom of the rim joist at the far back. Turns out that this gap is the air gap for the brick veneer built around the foundation that is above grade (the whole back side of the house) and the joists extend past the concrete foundation up onto the brick. The air gap is loosely covered by what appears to some white house wrap. I've attached some pictures to help illustrate.
Basically I'm just trying to determine the best course of action for insulating this area, as well as how this might affect the rest of my waterproofing / insulation plan. Should I add another piece of foam board and block off the air gap? Or does it need to be left open? If I place the foam board in front of the air gap, then I'm leaving my joists exposed behind it (which sounds like a bad idea).
The basement is generally very dry, but I don't want to leave myself vulnerable to moisture issues down the road and want to make sure I do it properly before closing everything off with drywall. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!