How to Insulate Rim Joists

even if the ends of the joists in your basement are stuffed with fiberglass insulation you could still be losing up to a quarter of your home's heat through the rim joist without a vapor barrier tons of warm air can leak right through unsealed gaps to the outside if you have an unfinished basement you can significantly reduce those heating costs by investing a morning's worth of work reinsulated a rim with one and a half inches of foam and sealing around those with spray foam measure the height of the rim and subtract about a half of an inch that will give you the space you need for adding the spray foam later rip strips either on a table saw or snap chalk lines and do the ripping by scoring with a utility knife and then snapping the pieces free make a list of the width of each opening again subtracting a half inch from each measurement most will be the same but you're bound to have a few odd balls cut the length with a carpenter's square and a utility knife squirt a circle of caulk against the foam then Center and stick each block to the rim leaving an even space around the perimeter after all the blocks are in place seal the perimeters with spray foam you'll have some areas where you'll have to fit the foam around pipes and wires but the spray foam will seal up any nasty gaps don't throw away all those chunks of fiberglass put them back over the foam to add even more r-value this little task could save you lots and lots of money and lost heat so it is well worth the effort [Music]

Channel: Family Handyman

Views: 398,842

Rating: 4.8410597 out of 5

Keywords: How to, insulate, rim, joists, insulation, energy, efficient, fix-it, make-it, diy, step-by-step, easy, r value, increase, cost saving, the family handyman, handyman, project

Id: Y7KrhGdPnmk

Length: 1min 45sec (105 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 18 2017