Basements are known to be one of the coldest areas of a house. They account for about 20 percent of a home’s total heat loss. Many residential basements are concrete, concrete block or stone, which have very little insulating value and are why basements are cooler than other rooms.

Because basements are cooler areas, they tend to attract moisture more. Various problems occur because of moisture buildup through your basement walls, including damage to your home and health issues for those living there.

This is why you need good insulation that’s installed properly. CMI recommends using fiberglass insulation for residential basements. Their insulations are usually installed with a facing material that’s laminated to the surfaces, and this facing provides vapor retarder protection and defends insulation from condensation.

Properly installed insulation and vapor barriers prevent many problems that can happen and affect your home and anyone inside. Vapor barriers keep moisture from condensating against the exterior wall surfaces

The effectiveness of vapor barriers depends primarily on three factors: location within the insulated selection, permeance and proper installation. Vinyl facing material has a 1.0 permeance rating. Materials with a 1.0 perm rating or lower are considered sufficient vapor retarders

CMI can also provide perforated vapor barrier facings.  Obviously, perforating the vapor barrier seams counter intuitive.  However, some circumstances are such that perforating the vapor barrier helps a moisture wicking foundation breathe better without exposing the fiberglass blanket to the interior of a living space.

When you use CMI’s insulation with perforated vinyl vapor barriers, you prevent moisture from being trapped between your basement wall foundation and the insulation, avoid certain health issues that occur from moisture buildup and save money on heating bills. All of these reasons are why you should choose CMI for your residential basement insulation needs.