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Basement Insulation
Insulate Your Basement & Save Money
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, it is energy- and cost-efficient to insulate your basement. Properly insulating your basement walls can save you money on heating and make for a more livable basement space. It can also help prevent moisture issues and high humidity levels that can lead to hazardous mold growth and indoor air quality issues in your house.
At WMGB, our ECOCELL and spray foam basement insulation services can help you protect your basement and, by extension, the rest of your home as well.
Benefits of Basement Insulation
Do you need to insulate your basement? Insulating your basement has the potential to save money month after month. But that isn’t the only way you’ll benefit from better insulation – you can experience many important upgrades to how your home operates. Chiefly, insulating your basement walls is the best way to protect the interior of your home from the unpredictable and wet West Michigan weather.
Insulation in your basement or crawlspace should prevent outside temperatures from infiltrating your indoor living spaces. And even though you may not use your basement all that often, it can significantly impact how the rest of your home feels. The full list of basement insulation benefits includes:
- A warmer home in the winter
- A cooler home in the summer
- A drier home year-round (when compared to no basement insulation)
- Fewer indoor drafts
- Improved indoor air quality
- Improved soundproofing
The key to finding the best insulation for basement walls, like ECOCELL or spray foam insulation for basements, is going through a trusted insulation installer. Proper insulation installation is absolutely essential to the long term success of your home upgrade. The WMGB pros are here to ensure the job gets done right the first time when you choose to invest in your home.
Interior Basement Insulation
Insulating the interior walls of a basement is used on existing homes as it is less expensive and invasive to your existing walls. While basic basement ceiling insulation will keep the floors of the home at a more ideal temperature, it will do little to protect your water pipes and other crucial elements of your home’s operation that can be found in the basement.
Air sealing and insulating your basement walls also offer you protection from water damage caused by ice buildup along foundation walls and pipes. When pipes and foundation walls consistently freeze year after year, they are much more likely to deteriorate, causing serious issues like a burst pipe or a cracked foundation.
In addition to cost savings during installation, the benefits of interior basement wall insulation include:
- Use of a variety of insulation materials
- Significantly reduced chance of insect infestation
- Can be painted over for a finished look
- Can be installed before stud walls for consistent thermal protection
Pros and Cons of Interior Basement Insulation
When insulating your basement, you have two options. One of these is insulating the interior of your basement. This project can be completed with a wide range of different products and methods, depending on your budget and preferences. Because of its relative ease of completion and the sheer number of available options for homeowners in West Michigan, this process is the most common of the two options. It comes with a wide range of benefits, including:
- A faster and cheaper installation process
- Wider variety of suitable insulation materials
- Reduce the likelihood of insect infestation
- Keeps interior basement space warmer
- Does not cause issues with home foundation stability
Insulating interior walls is an excellent option for those who wish to make regular use of their basement or those working on a smaller budget for upgrades. However, this route is not without its drawbacks, which include issues such as:
- Providing no protection for your home’s outer foundation
- Cutting into your basement’s usable space
- Causing potential issues with moisture
- Potential mold and mildew growth over time
Even though interior insulation is perhaps the weaker option of the two available paths, it is typically more widely available to homeowners, especially those moving into an existing building.The professionals are here at WMGB to help you explore the many options and what they have to offer you home.
Pros and Cons of Outside Insulation
Your other option is to invest in exterior basement insulation. This is undoubtedly the most comprehensive solution and offers a different range of benefits than interior insulation could ever hope to achieve. Some of the pros of choosing this process include:
- Reduction of condensation on interior walls
- Discouraging mold and mildew growth
- Protecting your foundation from extreme temperature damage
- Protecting your basement without reducing the amount of usable floor space
By keeping out both the moisture and chill, exterior insulation keeps the worst effects of harsh Michigan weather at bay without a hassle. While exterior insulation certainly has a considerable list of functional benefits to consider, the cons are equally as significant and may exclude many homes from being able to invest in this type of insulation at all. These include:
- Chiefly only suitable for new constructions
- Destabilizes existing constructions
- Significantly higher cost than interior insulation
- Higher risk for termite infestation if certain materials are used
- Fewer materials to choose from
External insulation is arguably more thorough than interior insulation, but it’s simply not an option for some homes. If you’re considering getting basement insulation, consider consulting with our professionals first to determine whether or not the process would be both financially and structurally feasible for your home. Finding the best of both worlds is always your best option, and we’re here to ensure you’re always able to find the perfect balance.
Types of Basement Insulation
Depending on the surface area and the unique characteristics of the house we’re working on, we have a variety of insulation types we can use in a basement. Spray foam insulation, for example, can be used for rim joists and for air sealing.
For basement walls, we use a product called ECOCELL, which are pre-formed sheets or batts of cellulose insulation. ECOCELL is:
- Made from 70% recycled materials
- Is fire-rated and mold resistant
- Dries faster than any other basement wall insulation on the market
Consider these facts when installing interior basement wall, basement ceiling, or basement floor insulation:
- Some insulation types release toxic gases on ignition, so they require a fire-rated covering
- Even if it’s only a few inches, interior basement wall insulation typically reduces the size of your basement area
- The insulation may become saturated through the foundation by moisture if your home has poor drainage issues
- Superior air sealing measures should be taken to ensure adequate insulation
