Quote:
Originally Posted by STAMPEDRED
Thanks for the reply!
Build was 2006/7 when we moved in.
It’s a basic basement in that the builder did the minimum for code for the basement. So heat is run, but is all on the ceiling, nine runs down any walls as there is not interior walls, just 2x4 with batts and vapour barrier along the cement walls. Cold air vent is also on the ceiling. I don’t have an issue runni those down into newly framed room walls and such, but my main concern is it is shivering cold in the winter time and I don’t want to do all that and then realize that it wasn’t enough to suffice. But if that and the dricore or similar would help the problem then I’m good with that as I’m not so ambitious that I want to redo the exterior walls.
Thanks again for your help!
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I see now that you said 2013 in your original post so I shouldn't have asked about build date. That age definitely makes a difference in my perspective. If you said 1940 and it was a partially developed space I could see there's probably a lot of potential for unknown issues. 2013 though, you should be at a good starting point.
Bringing the cold air return down to floor level will be one step. Certainly heat registers brought down to a low level in interior walls is a great idea, but plenty of homes without that done aren't freezing.
If you can, pull back a bit of the poly/insulation. Is there a 1/2" - 1" air space between the foundation and the framing? This helps with thermal bridging between the foundation and the wall studs. Is there poly behind the wall up to grade? This keeps moisture transferred through the concrete from destroying the Rvalue of the batts.
When are you planning on finishing out the area? If it's not for a while, doing some simpler things in stages would allow you to monitor what actually improves things over the coming winter.
If you're ambitious and want to go all out as it's a space you'll use a lot in the future, then before you finish would be the time to improve the insulation. You can replace the batts with a higher R value batt if you wanted to go one more step but not all the way to Quik Therm, but compare the costs.