1)This house we purchased is 37 years old and it has a brick foundation. The basement is not finished. We would like to finish a rec room but my problem is with the following situation:1)a natural gas pipe was installed by cutting a notch of approximately 2¼"wide x 2½"high and 6¾" from the adjoining 2"x 8" on the top plate.2)The floor joists are approximately 17' from a supporting wall built of 2"x6" on a 4¼" brick foundation on the cement floor and dividing the basement in half.3)The floor joists are @ 16" centers and the dimension of this room with the notches will be approx. 24'long x 11' 4" wide. How should I proceed with this project in order to protect the above floor from any damages and safety below.
2) The insulation batts in the attic are covering the soffits. a) Should I pull them back and cut them to fit and to cover the the ceiling below. b) Can I use some of the cut pieces and insert them on the basement top plate around the foundation.
Thanking you in advance for your cooperation.
Jean-Guy
Answer:
Don't move the supporting wall! If you feel you have to augment the joists for integrity, do it with nailed-in wood of the same dimension as the joists. Other than that, just go ahead as though it were in every way a normal basement - When insulating any below-grade masonry wall it is best to build (in place) a 2X4 structure with studs 16" O.C. and pull it an inch and a half from the wall in order to accommodate R-20 fibre insulation bats without compressing them. The insulation actually goes from the sub-flooring above to within eight inches of the concrete floor and the 6mm polyethylene vapour barrier goes two inches lower so it can be pinched and stapled to each side of each stud. This keeps the insulation bats from sliding down and at the same time, the system avoids a lot of condensation problems. It also permits a bit of heat loss to the drainage tile along the exterior perimeter of the footings. In areas where frost is a problem, it is important that drainage at this point not be impeded.
