Keeping the cold out of the crawl space
Q. We recently bought a vacation home which is built on piers sheathed with boards and with fiber-glass batt insulation inside the crawl-space walls. How can we further weatherproof the crawl space? We are considering cordwood walls on two sides. Daniel Bishop Albany, N.Y.
A. Undoubtedly, the floor joists should be insulated with R-19 or better insulation in batt or rigid form between the joists.
Your walls below the floor level may at present have sufficient insulation if it is rated R-19 or higher. Cordwood outside the foundation can't hurt. We saw such a cordwood lay- out in rural France onetime. The wood was stacked on all four sides of a farm dwelling.
Can anyone tell us the effectiveness of cordwood as insulation?
