Home Improvement | Green Home Improvements | Home Improvement Tips

If you want to a surefire way to start an argument between 10 home remodelling expert, ask them “What’s the best way to insulate a basement?” You will almost definitely get 10 different answers with 10 different reasons for why that answer is correct.

Most basement remodeling books offer many different insulation methods.

To be fair, there really is no one 100% correct way to insulate a basement. There are different types of basements, different underground situations, different building codes and a number of other factors which vary from state to state, town to town and even house to house. Additionally, there are now different insulation technologies and techniques available than there were just ten years ago, so the process of insulating a basement is constantly evolving and changing as new tools and products come to market.

The best insulation for a basement wall would actually begin on the outside, but that’s something that’s still not done as commonly as it could be. Foam board insulation properly installed against the outside of a basement wall can prevent water from entering and provide an adequate insulation against colder temperatures.

Reasons For Insulating A Basement

This seems pretty obvious at first. Insulation in any part of the home helps block the flow heat (or cold) from one space to the next. This transfer of heat is part of a whole branch of science called thermodynamics. The idea of insulation is to slow down the “thermal bridging” of heat and cold from one area to another.

So you insulate the outside walls of your home to keep the cold temperature of winters from transferring to your warm living room. Conversely, insulation helps keep the heat from your living room from immediately slipping out into the cold air of the night. The other coverings of your outside home walls (siding, stucco, shingles, plywood, drywall) also help slow the heat transfer from inside to outside, but their primary goal is keep rain and excess humidity out of your home while keeping in some comfortable moisture in your house.

Insulating your basement properly could save you some money on heating and even cooling bills, but estimates range from 3% to 30% so ultimately your specific basement and your specific insulation strategy will determine what savings you experience. Generally, adding ANY insulation to a home will have some slight savings on energy costs as long as it’s done correctly.

It should be noted, however, that insulating basement walls is not like insulating the rest of your home. Most basement walls are concrete or cinder block, which means they conduct temperature (and moisture) a bit differently than regular home walls. Basement walls that are mostly underground will remain cool all year round, which can sometimes lead to condensation problems. Basement walls are also subjected to a lot of standing water in the soil around them, and that can lead to leaks and water seeping in through concrete or block walls. Ideally, your insulation choice should help prevent excess moisture from collecting in your basement as well.

Methods of Basement Insulation

There are several accepted ways to insulate basement walls, and within those methods are a lot of variations.

Blown or Applied Insulation: This has become more popular in recent years as more stores now offer rental machines to blow in insulation and the entire process has become easier and cheaper to use. This will work in some basements where you may already have studs and/or finished areas or if you’re using a blown insulation that has an adhesive mixed in. There actually a few different ways to “blow” insulation onto the walls and these different types of insulation have advantages and disadvantages. Blown in insulation includes wet cellulose insulation, closed cell foam and open cell foam.

Fiberglass Batt Insulation Between Studs: The old tried and true method of insulating walls in other parts of the home is often used in basements as well. That’s a shame because it’s generally a pretty lousy way to insulate a cement basement wall. Why? Because of moisture. Just a little bit of moisture behind those walls can make a mess of fiberglass. Even if you put up a tight vapor barrior, a single pinhole anywhere in the plastic could allow in enough moisture from the air for it to condense and start mold growth. While this basement insulation method used to be popular for

Foam Board Insulation: There are several different foam board products that you can use to insulate your basment. These rigid polystyrene foam boards are fairly easy to attach (screw or adhesive), are moisture resistant, so a little water won’t hurt them and they can serve as a sort of insulation and vapor barrier all in one. You do need to have fairly smooth and even walls to adequately install foam board insulation in a basement.

Air Pocket Insulation: Okay, this sounds crazy, but lots of older basements have been “refinished” this way - without any sort of insulation between the studs and finished panelling or drywall other than a pocket of air. While your basement definitely won’t be as warm as it could be this way, there are some actual advantages: you don’t have to worry so much about moisture because any moisture that comes through the walls will hit the air and have a chance to dry out. If the air in your basement is often humid, then you may actually have a problem with moisture condensing on the cool walls. The idea of simply having a “pocket of air” between the finished wall and the unfinished block wall is a simple one: it works the same way a storm door might work - by keeping the coldest air off the main door and therefore keeping the main door a little warmer. For this to really work you either have to live in a climate with a lot of dry air or use a dehumidifier pretty regularly in your basement (which is a good idea anyway in most cases).

Moisture Control Measures

In the “old” days of basement remodeling finished walls were framed out with wood studs that were placed tightly against cement block or concrete walls, filled in with fiberglass insulation, covered over with a plastic sheet as a vapor barrier and then covered again with drywall. That was all well and good for temperature, but it for moisture control it was (and still is) a nightmare. A little trickle of water seeping in from the outside walls could start mold growth and go undetected for years. Likewise, moisture from the air could condense and collect behind the vapor barrier and end up soaking all your insulate (and again initiating mold growth) rather easily.

Most of the newer methods of insulating a basement try to eliminate the problem of having “sitting water” on your basement walls for any period of time. Foam board insulation can either be installed flat against your concrete and block walls with construction adhesive or they can be attached to the wall with screws using furring strips along specially designed edges. If you use adhesive, you should also tape over the seams with some sort of plastic seam tape.

Another method for dealing with moisture is to put up basement framing with a small (1 inch) gap between the framing studs (metal or wood) and the actual concrete wall of the basement. This allows air to actually circulate behind the walls, which means that small amounts of moisture that happen to form on the walls will actually have a chance to dry out.

Some experts even argue for a dual approach to basement insulation: insulating the top half of the wall for temperature control, while leaving the lower part of some basement walls exposed for drying.

Again, no matter what you do, if you have moisture and condensation problems in your basement you’ll want to invest in a decent dehumidifier.

Insulation and Vapor Barriers

Vapor, in the loosest sense, in moisture contained in the air around us. So a vapor barrier is really a moisture or water barrier. There are still lots of people who feel as though a vapor barrier is a necessity in a basement. When really pressed, though, they often don’t have a good reason as to why. In theory a vapor barrier is used to block any and all moisture from the air inside your basement (like you breathing out) from reaching your cooler block walls and condensing into liquid moisture. This idea only works if you have a 100% completely air proof vapor barrier.

I have never, ever seen someone put up a 100 square feet of plastic sheeting without having a single teeny, weeny air hole gap somewhere in that wall. It’s been stated by others that a single hole from a pin in a plastic vapor barrier can allow in up to a cup of moisture to condense behind a wall in a single year. Even if you staple every inch and then tape over every staple, I simply have a hard time believing that a vapor barrier can be 100% sealed in a regular home basement. And if you’re going to screw up drywall, forget it, because one slipped screw off the stud and you’ve just ripped your plastic barrier.

The more current thinking with vapor barriers and basement insulation is this: Moisture in air is going to enter and exit your basement walls. That’s almost impossible to completely avoid. So if it’s going to happen, use insulation materials that are not harmed by moisture and give them an opportunity to dry out.

Insulate and Fill The Gaps

A big part of basement insulation doesn’t actually have anything to do with the cement or block walls that make up most of a basement, but rather it concerns the wooden floors and framing of your house above your basement. That wood frame around the top of your basement that holds up your entire house is often a prime source of heat loss in a basement. Look around and you’ll see all sorts of pipes and wires going out of your house through various holes. All those holes and gaps should be insulated tight, to prevent cool or moist air from entering.

You can use foam board or other types of water resistant insulation to fill in the areas around the joists but one of the easiest (though slightly more expensive) ways to insulate that area is to use some sort of expanding foam. You just spray it in the area and the foam expands (there is a little bit of an art to it) and fills in the gaps and empty areas quite well.

Final Thoughts on Insulating A Basement

I’m just about to start my basement insulation project (I just have one unfinished room to insulate for now) so I’ll write up the details after I’m done. I’ve been looking into my various options a lot, and there’s one free basement insulation guide that I keep referring back to. It’s a free .PDF file called Basement Insulation Systems and it’s written by Nathan Yost M.D. and Joseph Lstiburek, Ph.D., P.E. It’s on the US Department of Energy’s website and it really breaks down the problem of basement insulation in a scientific but readable manner.

I think I’ve decided to go with the foam board insulation method, but I might have to get a little clever with what I’m doing. I have a fairly dry basement with very little moisture anywhere. I’ll post photos and let you know how my home insulation project goes once I get started!

We have some small room air filters in the bedroom of my home which we run pretty regularly to help cut down on some of the dust in the house that’s generated from an active family, two cats and an old force hot air heating system. The little air purifiers work pretty well, the filters were getting a bit expensive for my tastes, so I decided to see if I could just make my own air filters for a fraction of the cost.

Just buy a larger (and cheaper) air filter of the same thickness and cut it down to size.

Turns out, it’s pretty easy! You can essentially buy cheap air filters and cut them to whatever custom size you need.

I’ve had an ongoing battle with dust in my home for a while, and each thing I do makes the situation a little better. I regularly change the large air filter for my home as part of my regular furnace and air conditioner maintenance and I even wrote a review of a professional duct cleaning service. I also regularly vacuum and we try to keep our cats away from our bedrooms when we can.

I decided to also get two $30 small room air cleaners and I set one up in each bedroom. They work well, but when it came time to replace the filters I was shocked to learn that the filters it needed sold for over $12 a piece for what was essentially a piece of cardboard with filter paper in it. Even worse, I soon learned that the exact sized filters I needed were discontinued, so online sellers were basically raising their prices whenever they wanted.

Now, general air cleaners are not particularly complex machines. Most are just plastic boxes that have a fan and a filter. Yes, you can actually just place an air filter over a box fan and make a quick air filter that way. The fan pulls the dirty air in, the filter traps the dirt and dust and the clean flows out the other end of the fan. Some fans are fancier than others, but the filter paper used in the majority of air purifiers is about the same, though the exact specifications may vary. Remember: this is for air purifiers and filters that use paper filter boxes. You don’t want to go replacing HEPA filters or other spongy types of filters with simple paper filters. It may filter your air, but it’s not going to do as good of a job. Your air filter is only as good as the filter type being used.

Here’s what I did to make my own air filters:

1. Measure your old air filter: This is probably the most important step. For most air cleaners the air filter has to be an exact size to fit into the device, so you want to be sure you get as close as you can. For my air cleaner the thickness of the air filter is what mattered most. My filter was about 1 inch thick.

2. Buy a large air filter replacement: I then took my measurements and when to my local mega hardware store where I had about 700 air filter replacements to choose from. Now that I know this works I’ll probably just purchase a pack of cheap furnace filters online and save myself even more money in the future. I purposely picked a home air filter that was 1 inch thick and was larger than my small 10 x 9 inch filter. I got one with a thin wire mesh on the filter paper because I figured that would help the filter retain it’s rigidity when I cut it. If I had been smarter I would have bought a filter that was at least TWICE as large so I could maybe cut two replacement filters out of one cheap filter. I ended up buying an air filter replacement that was $3.99, which is a heck of a lot cheaper than $12!

Cardboard from a cereal box and some invisible tape are all you need to build an edge around your air filter.

3. Cut the air filter to size: Measurements are nice, but for this I ended up just placing the old air filter on top of the new one, lining up one corner. I then traced the exact size out of the old filter on the new filter. You want to line up the corner so you only have to cut two sides and can leave two sides in tact.

One important step: be sure you mark which way the air is supposed to flow. It’s usually on the edge of the air filter and it does make a difference. Air filters are designed to have air go in one way and out the other. Once everything is measured you can take a hefty pair of scissors and start cutting. You may want to wear gloves or use a mask for this, just to avoid cutting your hands on any wires or breathing in any dust particles from the filter (though they should be safe).

The finished air filter doesn’t look pretty, but it works great.

4. Reinforce the cut air filter edges: Now you have an air filter that probably has a cardboard edge on two sides and no cardboard edge on the other two sides. Those cardboard edges are important because they give the filter some form and they prevent air from flowing around the filter when it’s in place. To put new filter edges back on, just use some thin cardboard (the cardboard from a cereal box works nicely) and some simple tape. Remember, these filters only last 90 to 120 days, so they don’t have to be made out of plastic or steel. In about 10 minutes I was able to cut out and fold an edge around my air filter, keeping everything in place with a few pieces of invisible tape.

It wasn’t pretty but it met the specifications of the old air filter, so I slipped it in and gave it a shot. The whole project ended up taking me no more than about 20 minutes from start to finish and I ended up saving $8 right off the bat.

I’ve had my new DIY air filter installed in my air cleaner for about a week now and everything is working just as it was before, so I’d consider this project a success!

A caulk gun is one of those tools that everyone can identify, but not a lot of people use on an everyday basis. Caulking guns can, of course, be used for much more than just caulk. They can spread out caulk, sealants, adhesives, and just about any other tacky chemical or material that is designed to be used with a caulk gun.

Most caulk guns have a nozzle cutter in the handle.

Caulking guns only have a few moving parts, but correctly operating them often eludes the home improvement beginner. I know, because I was once one of them! Manual caulk guns are relatively cheap (usually under $10) and can be used over and over again for many years if they are properly cared for. And, like a lot of home improvement tools, caulk guns only take a few minutes to understand but can take a lifetime (or at least several big jobs) to really master.

It’s called a caulk or caulking gun because it pretty much looks like a gun. There’s a shallow metal half-tube that’s the “barrel” of the gun. That holds your caulk tube. There’s usually a metal plunger that can move back and forth along the barrel of the gun and the shaft that connects to the metal plunger is notched on only one side. That’s an important detail. The gun also has a trigger which, when squeezed, should move the plunger a little bit forward if the notches are aligned down towards the floor. The entire caulk gun is simply a mechanical device for pushing caulk or sealant out of those plastic or cardboard tubes.

Before you use any sort of caulk you’ll want to read the manufacturer instructions carefully, be sure that the area you’re applying your caulk or sealant is clean and free of any dirt, dust, debris or other sealant and you’ll probably want to be working in a well-light and well-ventilated area. Goggles are also a good idea when working with caulk because you don’t want some of these chemicals anywhere near your eyes. A lot of people smooth over their caulk with a wet finger when they are done. That’s usually an okay idea, but if you’re using anything other than simple bathroom caulk you’ll want to double-check the instructions to really make sure the stuff in your tube is safe for contact with skin.

Now that our area is clean and we’re set up to be safe, here are the basics of using a caulk gun:

1. Cut off the end of the caulk nozzle: All sealant and caulk tubes have a tapered plastic tip that’s usually a few inches long. You’ll have to cut this nozzle to allow the caulk to come out, but there’s a few things to remember. The farther away from the nozzle you cut, the larger your opening will be. A larger opening means more caulk will come out in a thicker stream. If you’re unsure, you may want to go with a smaller hole (cut closer to the tip of the nozzle) when you start out. You can always cut the nozzle a little further down to make the hole bigger, but you can’t make the hole smaller once you’ve cut the nozzle.

Another trick: look closely at the nozzle because many have a small outline of where you should cut for various applications. If you have one of these little guidelines on your caulk tube nozzle then you’ll also realize that the guidelines are on a 45 degrees angle. You’ll almost always want to cut your caulk tube nozzle at an angle, and not straight across. It gives you a better shaped hole and allows for a little more control when it comes to spreading your caulk.

Finally, it’s time to cut. Check your caulk gun closely. Do you have a little hole somewhere near the trigger mechanism? Be careful, that’s actually a little sharp piece of metal that’s made to cut the nozzle off a caulk tube! Just stick your nozzle in there, angle it appropriately, and gently but firmly squeeze your caulk gun’s trigger. The trigger should move back and slice the top off that nozzle fairly cleanly. If your caulk gun doesn’t have a nozzle cutter built in then you can you a utility knife or razor, but be sure to cut against a piece of wood or the floor. Never place the caulk tube against your leg or part of your body and try to cut it.

2. Poke a hole in the seal: Even though you cut off the tip of the nozzle, you may need to take one additional step. If you look down the nozzle you may see that the caulk tube actually has a foil or plastic seal that’s holding the caulk back. You need to poke a hole in that seal. This time look under the front of the barrel of your caulk gun. Many caulking guns have a long metal pin there. The pin should swing out and in front of your barrel, almost like a bayonet. You can push that metal pin down your caulk tube nozzle and straight through the seal. It shouldn’t take much effort. When you’ve done it, pull the metal pin out and wipe it clean before folding it back under the barrel of your caulk gun.

Just pull the plunger all the way back and rest the caulk tube in the caulk gun barrel.

3. Load the caulk tube in the gun: Now you’re ready to go! You just need to load the caulk tube in the gun, which is a pretty straightforward procedure. First, twist the metal plunger so that the notches are facing upwards. Now pull the metal plunger all the way back. You’ll now want to put your caulk tube into the gun, with the nozzle sliding securely into the opening at the front of the gun. The tube should lay completely flat in the metal barrel.

Now you’ll need to get the gun ready for action. Twist the back plunger back around, so that the notches are now down towards the floor. You can now squeeze the trigger of the caulk gun, and it should catch on the plunger’s notches (or teeth) and it should move the plunger forward towards the front of the gun by just a small big. Each time you squeeze and let go of the trigger, the plunger should move forward a little more. You’ll want to watch the plunger to make sure it goes into the back of the caulk tube straight and even. The trigger should squeeze easily for a few times, and then you’ll begin feeling some resistance. Stop when you feel that pressure, because it means the plunger is now in the caulk tube and about ready to start pushing caulk out the other end!

4. Begin caulking: Again, this is a little bit of an art form and if it’s your first time, you may actually want to buy an extra tube or two of caulk and simply practice on some scrap wood or a left over cardboard box. To apply caulk (or any other sealant) you’ll want to lay the angled tip at your starting point and begin squeezing the trigger firmly and steadily. As the caulk begins to come out you’ll want to slowly pull your caulk gun away from the trail of caulk. You’re going to basically keep squeezing and pulling the caulk gun along, leaving a trail of caulk “behind” it. As long as you are firm and consistent, your caulk line should be about the same thickness along your entire edge.

Again, this takes practice and a lot of people smooth over their caulk lines with a wet finger or popsicle stick or some other slightly rounded object after they’ve applied their caulk. You can do this, but again, practice makes perfect. I’ve put down a line of “okay” looking caulk only to then completely mangle it because I didn’t smooth it over very well.

5. Remove the caulk tube when you’re done: If everything went well, then you’ll be able to continue applying caulk or a sealant until the plunger has moved all the way into the tube and you can’t squeeze the trigger anymore. To remove the caulk tube you’ll want to turn the plunger so that the notches or teeth are pointing upwards (and therefore not engaged) and then pull the plunger all the way back. Now the caulk tube can be lifted out of the barrel and thrown away. If all went well, then your caulk gun is probably still fairly clean and can simply be put away or used again.

Power caulk guns can apply consistent pressure to the caulk tube.

After a tube or two of caulk you may find your hand starts to get a little sore if you’re not used to this sort of thing. Just take a break and pick up again in a few minutes. If you’re working on a large job that’s going to require lots of caulking you may want to consider picking up a power caulk gun which runs on batteries or canisters of air. These caulk guns should be able to consistently squeeze out a bead of caulk without wearing out your hands.

Again, when it comes to applying caulk, practice makes perfect. Find a caulk gun you like and stick with it for a few jobs before your switch to another. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to operate a caulk gun and put down professional looking caulk lines after just a few jobs!

It’s not often that you have a book, much less a large set of home improvement books, that are voluntarily recalled.

Yet, that’s exactly what’s happened to about 951,000 different home improvement books published by Oxmoor House, Inc., a publishing company that specializes in informative “lifestyle” books.

Oxmoor House, Inc. and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) are working together on the home improvement book recall. The nine books in question are all home improvement in nature and contain errors in electrical diagrams and wiring instructions that, if followed to the letter, could give DIY homeowners an electrical shock or could result in an unsafe fire hazard.

The books were published between 1975 and 2009, which indicates that the exact same wiring diagrams and instructions have been used over and over again in these various home improvement books for the past three decades without anyone catching the error!

Though the Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported no incidents related to the error, Oxmoor House still strongly encourages anyone with the books to contact them for a full refund. To get the book refund you will need to register your recalled home improvement book on the special recall website: www.sunsetrecall.com or call the Oxmoor House Recall hotline at (866) 696-7602.

After contacting them, Oxmoor House will send you a prepaid shipping label so that you can mail the recalled book back to them free of charge. Within 4-6 weeks you will receive a check as a refund for the book. You do not need to have a sales receipt to be eligible for the refund.

The nine books in question are:

This is not the first time a home improvement book has been recalled due to faulty electrical diagrams. Back in May of 2009 two other electrical book, “Wiring a House 3rd Edition” and “Wiring Complete Expert Advice from Start to Finish” were also recalled. Both books, published by The Taunton Press, contained electrical graphics that were mislabeled, mixing up the ground and neutral wires and incorrectly stating how to wire a GFCI Receptacle.

I do not have any of the home improvement books on the recall list. If you’re looking for good DIY home improvement books with plenty of photos and fairly clear instructions, I usually recommend the Black and Decker Complete Guides as a good starting point.