Expert: Dave Johnson - 5/16/2009

Question
Dave,

Can you justify the answer you gave Dick (11/7/2007) regarding insulating his cinder block basement?  his footing are 5-6 feet below grade-(below frost). Why would you suggest the heat leave the house is a good idea?  Why would you suggest digging up around the hose would be be a better option than properly insulation the inside of the house?

Regards

Answer
John,
If his blocks are, as he said, a little dicey, he would want to NOT keep the warmth from them. Currently there is anough heat going into the blocks to keep the frost from working on them.
If he were to insulate the INSIDE, there would be a good chance of the frost damaging the walls.
Therefore, I suggested insulating the exterior to keep cold out, and to still allow some heat into the walls.

Anything else??
Dave