Insulating Crawl Spaces for Dummies

crawl space insulation orientation

One of the most glaring shortcomings of the freelance writing our staffers uncover on the internet is that the writers so often didn't know enough about their subject that they didn't realize when they'd made a mistake. The former eHow.com (and the niches now holding its posts) are a not-so-shining example: many of the "contributors" wrote dozens, even hundreds of posts based entirely on internet research; sometimes using undependable resources and sometimes just faking it entirely. You may make up your own mind about today's nominee, the HomeSteady.com post "How to Install Insulation Under a House"¹ that Beau Keyes threw together one day.

Keyes claimed to have gotten his information from a couple of books, so his references aren't available on-line. That's a shame, because if the books he cited are the real sources of his information, then they should be avoided...
Beau started out by making the assumption that the OQ wanted to insulate the floor over a crawl space. His illustration, however, is of someone working in a basement. Be that as it may, Keyes laid out his reasoning in his introduction, in which he declared that,

"Insulation placed under the house in a crawlspace [sic] improves the overall quality of the floor temperature while also helping to reduce the chances for drafts."

We wonder what other "quality of the floor temperature" is affected other than increasing it? That, and any floor that is subject to "drafts" is in need of more than just insulation. The juxtaposition of those two "qualities," however, suggests that Keyes merely attempted to repurpose an aricle about insulating an attic. More evidence for our suspicion comes later when Beau explains how to install roll insulation:

"Orient the insulation so that the paper side faces down into the crawlspace and the bare insulation faces up against the subfloor."

Well, no, Beau, you don't do that: the kraft paper should face the space that is under HVAC, not the bare dirt on the floor of the crawl space. That's because it's a vapor barrier. To improve the "hold" of the insulation, which Keyes says to staple to the "studs" (he means joists...) every six inches, Beau instructs his readers to,

"Attach metal insulation hangers to the edge of one stud [sic] and onto another. "

Again with the studs, not to mention how Beau says to install the hangers:

"Install by nailing the ends flush with the stud [sic] using a hammer. "

Again with the studs, and a couple of questions for Beau: first, what else would you use other than a hammer? Pliers? Marshmallows? Second, what do you mean by "flush" here?

When push comes to shove, Keyes got too much of this wrong to not deserve a Dumbass of the Day award. If you don't think so, you're welcome to follow Beau's instructions.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   homesteady.com/12338673/how-to-install-insulation-under-a-house

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DDIY - INSULATION