Brand Drywall and Insulation for Basement?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Post Reply
Topic Author
virginiabirdie
Posts: 224
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:51 am

Brand Drywall and Insulation for Basement?

Post by virginiabirdie »

Had flooding during Ida. Contractor wants to insulate with R21 foil backed batt insulation and Greenboard. Are these the right brands? A quick google search suggested that maybe they're not. FWIW, it should not flood again. So I'd like moisture resistant materials, but don't need fully waer proof. Also, would be nice if you could suggest brands easily bought at Home Depot. It's been heck getting someone out here, and I don't want to scare them away by making them buy esoteric, hard-to-source products. Thank you!
JoeNJ28
Posts: 535
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2018 9:13 am

Re: Brand Drywall and Insulation for Basement?

Post by JoeNJ28 »

Rockwool would be my go to for the basement in case it does flood again atleast the insulation will be fine.
twh
Posts: 1775
Joined: Sat Feb 08, 2020 2:15 pm

Re: Brand Drywall and Insulation for Basement?

Post by twh »

What makes you think those are appropriate?

If it isn't wet now and you don't expect it to get wet, that seems fine.
Topic Author
virginiabirdie
Posts: 224
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:51 am

Re: Brand Drywall and Insulation for Basement?

Post by virginiabirdie »

twh wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 4:03 pm What makes you think those are appropriate?

If it isn't wet now and you don't expect it to get wet, that seems fine.
Just in case...Ida was a 1 in 1,000 year storm. But then again, we had a one 1 in 100 year storm and three 1 in 500 year storms last year. :p I read that greenboard has a paper back, so is a no go.

Thanks for lead on rockwool! i remember seeing it in the house next door. Makes sense now. Thanks again!
User avatar
Sandtrap
Posts: 19591
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:32 pm
Location: Hawaii No Ka Oi - white sandy beaches, N. Arizona 1 mile high.

Re: Brand Drywall and Insulation for Basement?

Post by Sandtrap »

virginiabirdie wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 4:00 pm Had flooding during Ida. Contractor wants to insulate with R21 foil backed batt insulation and Greenboard. Are these the right brands? A quick google search suggested that maybe they're not. FWIW, it should not flood again. So I'd like moisture resistant materials, but don't need fully waer proof. Also, would be nice if you could suggest brands easily bought at Home Depot. It's been heck getting someone out here, and I don't want to scare them away by making them buy esoteric, hard-to-source products. Thank you!
Post flooding:
1. Were all the effected walls stripped and gutted and dried out?
2. Were all these areas sprayed or painted with stabilizing material/spray (remediated)? (takes care of mold).
3. Are the areas going to be effected by future moisture, flooding, high hunidity?

If #1 and #2 but not #3:
1. Any insulation and dyrwall is fine. No greenboard needed. (greenboard is for bathrooms, etc).

If #1, #2, #3 (yes).
1. Greenboard only on lower area of wall, if layed horizontally, then lst course at base. Then all or switch to regular g.b.
2. Consider raising the G.B. on the lower course about 1 inch to keep moisture from small flooding from reading the g.b.
3. Consider moisture resistant baseboard such as tapered commercial cove base, etc, that will not be effected by moisture.
(you'll see this in airports and hospitals, etc).

If you have huge concerns, though foil backed insulation is fine, sub sheet foil back insulation (at extra cost and install hassle.

PM me as you wish.
j :D
Wiki Bogleheads Wiki: Everything You Need to Know
crefwatch
Posts: 2500
Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2007 1:07 pm
Location: New Jersey, USA
Contact:

Re: Brand Drywall and Insulation for Basement?

Post by crefwatch »

I don't see how you can leave alone any product that was submerged in water, sealed behind a sheet material. If the basement floods again, even if you have sheet rigid foam behind blue bathroom board (or marine plywood, for that matter), you have a filth and mold potential. You have to cut it open or rip it out, to be sure.
User avatar
Tubes
Posts: 1881
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:33 am

Re: Brand Drywall and Insulation for Basement?

Post by Tubes »

crefwatch wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 6:27 am I don't see how you can leave alone any product that was submerged in water, sealed behind a sheet material. If the basement floods again, even if you have sheet rigid foam behind blue bathroom board (or marine plywood, for that matter), you have a filth and mold potential. You have to cut it open or rip it out, to be sure.
Yes. I volunteer in disaster work. The rule is very simple "Get down to the last layer". For walls, that means to the sheathing. For floors, that means every single layer -- waterproof or not -- down to the last layer of subfloor.

We've taken up plenty of LVP with mold under it after floods. If I had greenboard, I sure would want the sediment and mold deposited behind it scrubbed out. So I'm of the opinion keep it cheap if you have a flood, 'cause it should come out. Greenboard/Purpleboard is for clean moisture areas like bathrooms, not for inundation events. It is high quality stuff, so perhaps if you had a quick flash event with clean water (like a supply pipe burst), you would get benefit. But floods with nasty outside water are a different animal.

Here's a picture of a recent flood job. The insulation acted like a filter and caught the sediment. The fact that this was drywall and fiberglass doesn't matter. Greenboard and rockwool would do the same.
Image
User avatar
Sandtrap
Posts: 19591
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:32 pm
Location: Hawaii No Ka Oi - white sandy beaches, N. Arizona 1 mile high.

Re: Brand Drywall and Insulation for Basement?

Post by Sandtrap »

Tubes wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 7:00 am
crefwatch wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 6:27 am I don't see how you can leave alone any product that was submerged in water, sealed behind a sheet material. If the basement floods again, even if you have sheet rigid foam behind blue bathroom board (or marine plywood, for that matter), you have a filth and mold potential. You have to cut it open or rip it out, to be sure.
Yes. I volunteer in disaster work. The rule is very simple "Get down to the last layer". For walls, that means to the sheathing. For floors, that means every single layer -- waterproof or not -- down to the last layer of subfloor.

We've taken up plenty of LVP with mold under it after floods. If I had greenboard, I sure would want the sediment and mold deposited behind it scrubbed out. So I'm of the opinion keep it cheap if you have a flood, 'cause it should come out. Greenboard/Purpleboard is for clean moisture areas like bathrooms, not for inundation events. It is high quality stuff, so perhaps if you had a quick flash event with clean water (like a supply pipe burst), you would get benefit. But floods with nasty outside water are a different animal.

Here's a picture of a recent flood job. The insulation acted like a filter and caught the sediment. The fact that this was drywall and fiberglass doesn't matter. Greenboard and rockwool would do the same.
Image
great picture. . . worth 1000 words...
Great points and well said. (thanks).

Our company also did remediation work after floods, rain damage, structural damage, etc. (nasty work).
We took out everything and left what was structurally sound, bone dry, and had no possibliity of mold, etc.
Then, after clean up, spray with "mold remediation spray" (kills mold, etc), and then we'd use the equiv. of Zinser (original stinky) stain killer primer to stabilize everthing and ensure that there's no fine leftover dust, and also, (importantly, no mold or other nasty smell.)
The goal is after all this to look new and smell new. All traces of what happened, gone.
Only then, after that, to install the foil/paper backed batt insulation and G.B., etc.
Much of the time, in our area, the insurance companies (homeowner) or various inspectors had to check the work before closeout.

j :D
Wiki Bogleheads Wiki: Everything You Need to Know
Valuethinker
Posts: 49036
Joined: Fri May 11, 2007 11:07 am

Re: Brand Drywall and Insulation for Basement?

Post by Valuethinker »

virginiabirdie wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 4:06 pm
twh wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 4:03 pm What makes you think those are appropriate?

If it isn't wet now and you don't expect it to get wet, that seems fine.
Just in case...Ida was a 1 in 1,000 year storm. But then again, we had a one 1 in 100 year storm and three 1 in 500 year storms last year. :p I read that greenboard has a paper back, so is a no go.

Thanks for lead on rockwool! i remember seeing it in the house next door. Makes sense now. Thanks again!
With a 1 in 100 year storm you have something like a 2 in 3 chance of having one in 30 years in a house?

It's a very unintuitive way of expressing risk and leads people to significantly underestimate their risk.

Besides that, of course, we appear to have entered a new era of weather extremes, in which historic record in less useful.
User avatar
Tubes
Posts: 1881
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:33 am

Re: Brand Drywall and Insulation for Basement?

Post by Tubes »

I would invest spare cash in other areas to prevent flooding. It isn't just a problem of a changing climate -- it is also a problem of changing urban sprawl. More hard surface means more flooding in urban areas. This isn't going away, although some metro areas are enforcing future-build water retention. That only goes so far. It won't get better. 1000yrs becomes 500, 500 becomes 100, and so on. The more building, the worse it gets. Whatever they told you, assume the frequency will be 3x. 100 years becomes 30.

You have to look at your situation and understand how the water got into the basement.

- Was it seepage from saturated ground, and if so, do you need a sump system?
- Was it backflow from floor drains and fixtures because you are on a shared sanitary/storm city system?
- Do you know how your basement drainage is hooked up? Do you know if your city has separate storm/sanitary systems? Sanitary backups can be mitigated with check valves.
- Was the flood from surface water overwhelming and coming through windows and doors?

There are ways to stop or mitigate such flooding. Some easy, some expensive.
Post Reply