Weekend Insulation Party

Not exactly the best party that I’ve been to, but probably one of the most productive. I got a jump start on this project Friday afternoon after a supply run on Thursday night, and I was able to finish installing all of the insulation by Saturday evening.

The first step to insulating the concrete block walls in our furnace room was to nail 2X4 and 2X6 blocking to the above floor joists. This is eventually where the wood studs will be attached. I measured out from the wall leaving enough space for the insulation. I also had to notch out around our outside water pipe.

Next came gluing the first layer of 1″ rigid insulation foam to the wall. I used an adhesive that is specifically made for the foam. It goes on easily with a caulking gun.

The 4X8 sheets of foam are all tongue and groove, and you are supposed to run a bead of silicone caulk down the groove to connect the pieces together so no moisture can get through.

After gluing the first layer of insulation foam to the wall I went back with sealant tape and taped all of the tongue and groove seams. This is another suggested step that helps prevent the cold and moisture from seeping through.

The foam tends to kick out a little bit at the bottom so I leaned some hand weights against the base while the adhesive dried.

There was one tricky spot in the room where all of our electrical comes into the house along with the fresh air vent and air conditioner wiring. Everything was already secured to the concrete wall so I just cut scrap pieces to fit around the awkward areas and then used a can of spray foam to seal all of the gaps in between the pieces.

Now that the first layer of insulation was installed, it was time to take the first step towards framing out the walls. I cut treated 2X4s for the base. Next I used construction adhesive and glued them in place upright on the floor against the insulation. At this point I let the baseboards set overnight since I would be nailing the rest of the framing boards to them.

Saturday morning, I got to break out one of my favorite tools (borrowed from my Dad): the framing nailer. If you’ve never used one of these before, you should if you ever get the chance. They are pretty fun and a huge time saver on projects like this one. Since space is at a premium in this room I didn’t want to stud out the walls with 2X4′s so instead I used 2X2 boards. I cut them to length as I went and spaced them 16″ on center.

There are 2 windows in the room that needed to be framed around with smaller pieces.

After all the framing was done, I took the thicker 1 1/2″ sized insulation boards that I bought and cut pieces to fit in between all of the studs. This is what the finished product looks like.

I could already tell the difference in the room by having the walls insulated so hopefully it will be more of a cost saver this winter. On Sunday I cut and installed the plywood on the walls that I bought which we’ll post on later this week. The next step for this room is to turn it into a storage/tool heaven. I wouldn’t say Rachel is excited about, but I sure am.