Hello!
I have a split-level house, and I plan to renovate the basement.
The walls are made of plastered concrete block with "vassmattor" insulation on the inside and finished with plaster.
I will need to run electricity and water concealed in these walls, and the question is whether I should carve in VP pipes and PEX into the walls or tear down the plaster and vassmattor and use steel studs to frame, insulate, and drywall.
Another major disadvantage of the existing wall construction is that it's more or less impossible to attach anything to the wall. It's not easy to secure screws and plugs in intertwined reeds. :-/
The walls will later also be insulated externally with 50mm XPS or EPS.
What do you think I should do?
/Jonas
I have a split-level house, and I plan to renovate the basement.
The walls are made of plastered concrete block with "vassmattor" insulation on the inside and finished with plaster.
I will need to run electricity and water concealed in these walls, and the question is whether I should carve in VP pipes and PEX into the walls or tear down the plaster and vassmattor and use steel studs to frame, insulate, and drywall.
Another major disadvantage of the existing wall construction is that it's more or less impossible to attach anything to the wall. It's not easy to secure screws and plugs in intertwined reeds. :-/
The walls will later also be insulated externally with 50mm XPS or EPS.
What do you think I should do?
/Jonas
Don't know how you should do it. But it's not that your walls have träulit on the inside? http://www.traullit.se/
Wood is always tricky to have in a basement; I myself tore down what became the bathroom in the basement.
Wood is always tricky to have in a basement; I myself tore down what became the bathroom in the basement.
Yes, it could be träullit, but it doesn't quite look like it...
However, it is 50 years old, so a lot could have happened.
The room I'm working on is going to be a bathroom, so how do I ventilate the moisture out of the walls while moisture-proofing from the inside?
/Jonas
However, it is 50 years old, so a lot could have happened.
The room I'm working on is going to be a bathroom, so how do I ventilate the moisture out of the walls while moisture-proofing from the inside?
/Jonas
I have interpreted the BRK rules such that walls and floors should not be moisture-proofed if there is an uninsulated slab. From this, I made the decision to remove the träulite. Smooth plaster and continue. Then only moisture-proofed in the shower area and around floor drains.
If you insist on building inner walls for concealing cable, etc., I would go with metal studs, minerit, and space behind that can be ventilated from the adjacent room. Building a room within the room, in other words. But this costs space and isn't a hundred percent safe, I feel, since you're enclosing something you can't monitor. I decided that electricity could run in the ceiling and down to where it needs to go, except the bathtub, where I could go from the adjacent room without disturbance. Water pipes on the outside so you can see any leaks and have greater renovation possibilities for the future if you don't want to keep the bathtub. Otherwise, you could probably mill pipes into the concrete hollow clay blocks as well, but prepare for dust everywhere.
Do not insulate on the inside.Jonas_H said:
I would probably tear down the wall and frame with metal just as you planned. I highly value being able to easily screw things up, so that's a bonus. It's also not wrong to ventilate the wall, even though it probably won't be needed when you've done the drainage job properly.
What happens in the winter if you don't insulate the basement wall but only have studs and drywall with an air gap? Will the heat from inside penetrate the outer wall and warm up the ground outside, resulting in even more moisture penetrating the basement or even water?
In my little world, it's wise to have either insulation and/or a tight layer (like Platon) on the outside if you want it warm and cozy in the basement.procyon said:
On the other hand, I've had it warm in the basement for several years now, and the wall doesn't become more humid because of it... Generally, I'm quite skeptical about the effect of moisture migration due to vapor pressure. Soil already has 100% relative humidity, so it can't get much wetter. The interesting thing should be WHERE in the construction you get the dew point, i.e., where the water in the air condenses and precipitates in the form of water droplets. What you worry about, of course, is getting this inside the basement wall or in a construction you can't see.
Thank you for your reply. I am also convinced that drainage/insulation on the outside is the best option. However, I live in a condominium with my own basement, and this question is therefore of a collective nature. I have torn down an old wood wool mat from one of the exterior walls and only framed and put up gypsum with an air gap. So, not insulated. I heard someone mention that you need to insulate to avoid losing heat through the wall and prevent moisture migration through the wall. You get very different answers depending on whom you ask. Some say this wood wool mat should stay because it has been there for X number of years, others think it should be removed immediately because it contains organic material. As you write, you have had it warm in the basement for several years. The same goes for me in the winters before I did this renovation this past summer. I have never had to turn on a heater in the basement and have still managed to maintain a temperature of around 22 degrees.MathiasS said: