Is there a cheap/temporary way to insulate an exterior stone foundation? It's a 110 year old house, it has cold floors and drafts! We will be insulating the house in the future but for right now we need to keep out the cold. Our house temp is currently 17'C and dropping, the room temp is 21'C. The outside temp is -28'C with the wind chill. Our winters can drop to -45'C with wind chill! We need help now!
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Wow. That is cold! There was a man I know here in Washington State that used to use hay bales against his bathroom wall to keep the pipes from freezing. Not sure if it would help with your foundation or not.
When my double wide was set up several years ago it was set on concrete block foundation BUT they forgot the fact that there was a wooden porch on half of the front! We didn't think much about it until the pipes froze the first winter. We got foam board and installed it the crawl space just behind the porch. This is still in place and served well. We did later fill in the cracks between the porch floor boards with a caulk and have had no problems since. (We also keep a light under the house trained on the needle valve of the pressure tank for use in extremely frigid weather.) If you have room enough to get in the crawl space and do this (and if $$ allow you to do this to a space of this size) it should solve a lot of your problem.
Good Morning Manitoba......
This is pioneer insulation. It works and it is inexpensive.
Hay bales (rectangular ones). They have very good insulation value (straw bale houses are incredibly well insulated).
Set the bales all around the foundation, butted up against each other. If you feel the need, set another row on top. They will not shift, as they are too heavy. Once you have had a good snow, you are set for the winter.
This will work for you, and you should see and feel a huge difference in the warmth of your home.
Good Luck, and Stay Warm out there in Gods Country!
From Me in Ontario
Insulating the outside might be a problem because of the vapor barrier issue. Banking snow around might be a problem in the spring when it melts. That could be a lot of moisture right at the foundation or could be a problem with the freeze and thaw issue as well.
What about using big bags of leaves? Then in the spring put the leaves in the compost.
Your thoughts about using hay bales isn't a bad idea.Even garbage bags full of leaves might be a good idea stacked against your outside foundation wall.But the best method in keeping your house warm is to insulate your basement walls.Just make sure your basement walls don't leak from the outside in.Spray foam insulation is a fairly new method to insulate residential homes.Having an old foundation like yours it might be advantageous to spray foam your joist ends and walls to completely seal your drafty joist ends.
Great Article. Thank you for sharing. Spray foam insulation is a great, affordable way to improve your home's energy efficiency and comfort level. Add some spray foam insulation to your attic, and you can save on utility costs and improve your home's overall energy performance.
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