Hello, everyone!
I am about to purchase a home in northwest Indiana and will be finishing ~90% of the basement. This particular basement does not have a sump pump installed, but apparently has very little issues with water due to the property elevation. (There was a large flood about a decade ago and this home did not suffer any water damage) There is, however, a bit of efflorescence on the walls, likely caused by air infiltration or slight water seepage over the last few decades.
The house is a brick exterior home built in the early 1960's. The current owners installed a finished bathroom in the basement utilizing non resistant wood for framing. The remainder of the basement to be finished is approximately 1100 square feet, concrete floor.
My plan is to install steel studs for the perimeter walls and in two sections, one to partition off a bedroom area and one to separate the utility room, which will remain unfinished.
My main question (finally) is how to go about creating a subfloor? After reading up on many, many methodologies I think I've settled on placing a 6 mil polyethalene vapor barrier on the concrete, followed by an inch of XPS foam. On top of the foam (I believe) it is standard practice to install a half inch layer of OSB. I will finally finish the project with the installation of an engineered hardwood floor. I am unsure as to where any of these layers should be anchored to the floor (or if they should all be left floating).
My larger concern in this project that I have found no solid information on are that I wish to use a layer of thin cork (maybe 0.25 inch?) to muffle sounds and provide more heat retention. If I were to add this cork in, should it be located below the hardwood, or potentially between the XPS foam and the OSB? (My thoughts were that since cork resists moisture and temperature changes that installation should probably be between the XPS and OSB to provide a solid temperature barrier preventing water condensation from causing issues with either the OSB or the engineered hardwood, but this would likely not muffle as much sound) Or is utilizing cork in the subfloor just the pipe dreams of a madman obsessed with providing the best quality final product?
Also, will not sealing underneath this already finished and tiled bathroom cause any issues with water infiltration at that point? (If water becomes trapped under the 6 mil poly barrier and can only escape back into the concrete or by coming up through or adjacent to the bathroom floor. I do not know if there was a barrier installed at that location.)
And finally, since I am obviously insanely concerned (/ focused (/ obsessive)) with water intrusion would it be a complete waste of time to seal the OSB panels before installation or would that potentially help? (Or would I need to worry about the sealant reacting with the XPS?)
Thank you all for your time in reading this short novel. Thank you more for helping me out!
I am about to purchase a home in northwest Indiana and will be finishing ~90% of the basement. This particular basement does not have a sump pump installed, but apparently has very little issues with water due to the property elevation. (There was a large flood about a decade ago and this home did not suffer any water damage) There is, however, a bit of efflorescence on the walls, likely caused by air infiltration or slight water seepage over the last few decades.
The house is a brick exterior home built in the early 1960's. The current owners installed a finished bathroom in the basement utilizing non resistant wood for framing. The remainder of the basement to be finished is approximately 1100 square feet, concrete floor.
My plan is to install steel studs for the perimeter walls and in two sections, one to partition off a bedroom area and one to separate the utility room, which will remain unfinished.
My main question (finally) is how to go about creating a subfloor? After reading up on many, many methodologies I think I've settled on placing a 6 mil polyethalene vapor barrier on the concrete, followed by an inch of XPS foam. On top of the foam (I believe) it is standard practice to install a half inch layer of OSB. I will finally finish the project with the installation of an engineered hardwood floor. I am unsure as to where any of these layers should be anchored to the floor (or if they should all be left floating).
My larger concern in this project that I have found no solid information on are that I wish to use a layer of thin cork (maybe 0.25 inch?) to muffle sounds and provide more heat retention. If I were to add this cork in, should it be located below the hardwood, or potentially between the XPS foam and the OSB? (My thoughts were that since cork resists moisture and temperature changes that installation should probably be between the XPS and OSB to provide a solid temperature barrier preventing water condensation from causing issues with either the OSB or the engineered hardwood, but this would likely not muffle as much sound) Or is utilizing cork in the subfloor just the pipe dreams of a madman obsessed with providing the best quality final product?
Also, will not sealing underneath this already finished and tiled bathroom cause any issues with water infiltration at that point? (If water becomes trapped under the 6 mil poly barrier and can only escape back into the concrete or by coming up through or adjacent to the bathroom floor. I do not know if there was a barrier installed at that location.)
And finally, since I am obviously insanely concerned (/ focused (/ obsessive)) with water intrusion would it be a complete waste of time to seal the OSB panels before installation or would that potentially help? (Or would I need to worry about the sealant reacting with the XPS?)
Thank you all for your time in reading this short novel. Thank you more for helping me out!