A little help. Please!

[western_mass]

My wife and I are in the process of building a very small 14' by 14' cottage. It's on concrete piers, and we're wondering what the best way to install rigid foam insulation under the home would be. Nails? Screws?

Any advice would be welcome!

[glenn-k]

At a building materials place -large specialty roofing and stucco -etc. I got some white plastic washers about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter.  they were thick in the middle - maybe 3/16 tapering out to a feather edge - they could be used with any length nails or screws and were ideal for me for attaching 2 1/2 inch foam board.

[western_mass]

Thanks, but why plastic washers? I assume they protect the insulation in some way?

[glenn-k]

They are a little stronger than the foam and kind of squish down into it a bit leaving a pretty flat surface if you were finishing - not the case here -but the also spread the stress out a bit to a wider area rather than crushing the entire contact area - a plain fender washer could probably work also but may cost as much as the ones that are made for it and they wouldn't countersink and feather out -again not a concern if not being finished over.

[harry51]

Will you be able to skirt the perimeter varmint-tight but with ventilation? Critters will chew into the darndest things!

[western_mass]

I hope to do so in the springtime. Any suggestions on what to use? I don't want to block it off entirely, as airflow will help keep the moisture down. We have access to LOTS of head-sized stones. Perhaps small stone walls??

[John Raabe]

Something folks have had good luck with is the cedar or plastic lattice panels that are sold in garden centers. Put this over galvanized wire mesh (hole size determined by local critter dimensions). Installing the lattice on the diagonal usually looks best.



Link to this owner-built (12x18) office/workshop in the Gallery: http://www.countryplans.com/12x18.html

[western_mass]

Excellent suggestion! Doing it in white cedar lattice would go very well with the white cedar shakes that we're using for siding. This board has been a font of knowledge! Thanks one and all!

[harry51]

Seems as if mortared stone walls, (no cracks for varmints to sneak in through) with pressure treated wood frames built in for an appropriate number of standard mesh vent screens would work. Someone here can likely give a rule-of-thumb formula for vent area vs. vented area. Such walls should maybe be started slightly below grade, or on a footing. Maybe the vent frames could be screwed up to the bottom of the rim joists, then mortar in the stone wall around them?

[harry51]

John's method would sure be a lot faster and easier!

[western_mass]

John's method is more my style.  

As far as using pressure treated goes, this cottage is being built with as few chemically-treated products as possible. No pressure tretaed lumber, no fiberglass insulation (we're using cotton), no plywood, nothing that will off gas. It's created more than a few delays as you can imagine.  

[JRR]

Western_mass, I like your idea of using the available stones.  

If you were to install a welded-wire mesh screen inside the perimeter by a few inches, secured to the floor sill above and with a generous "tail" lying on the earth facing inwards and well staked to the ground: followed by stones dry-stacked against the screen .... not quite reaching the outside perimeter ... I think you would have a good looking skirt that uses available materials and would breath very well without any "vents".

[western_mass]

I like the idea, too, but I can't take credit for it. It's fairly common where I live (Franklin County, MA). It just seems like a lot of work and there's so much else to do!

[Amanda_931]

If a product called Timbersil has become available, I think it would qualify as minimal "chemicals" and PT.

http://timbersil.com/product-info.html

(I had severe asthma when I was working near automotive paints--trying to limit exposure to other kinds of things as well)

Cocoon (readily available cellulose) or even wool for insulation.

There are or were a couple of books on the subject available--in one the sensitive person couldn't tolerate raw wood--oak was especially bad.

[western_mass]

I've heard of Timbersil but did not know where to find it. We used black locust instead.

As far as insulation, we went with http://www.bondedlogic.com/.

Fortunately my wife (so far) has been tolerant of all the raw lumber we've been using.

Does anyone have any suggestions for insulating our rafters? We're using the aforementioned cotton for the actual insulation, but the original builder (who has since abandoned us) wanted us to use styrofoam vents under the insulation and we'd prefer not to!

[Doug Martin]

I've been lurking on this board on and off for a while but now that another western Mass person has popped up I thought that I would finally register and say hi.

I too live in Franklin County in western Mass in a little village called Shelburne Falls.  I'm in the last 10% of a gut remodel of a house we bought 3 years ago this month.  As in with all projects that last 10% takes 50% of the time    

western_mass:

I'd love to see your cabin sometime.  I also have some ideas for the skirting.  We have pretty reactive clay soil here so if you go with a stone infill I'd make sure to put in a trap rock gravel trench under it to deal with frost heaves (otherwise your skirting may lift your floor off its piers!)  

My idea is to connect the foundation posts with a 2x filler "wall" over a gravel trench and then screw the blueboard insulation to the filler wall.  You could then attach diamond mesh to the blueboard and trowel on fibercement to make a flexible but hard shell.  Then fill the trench around the wall with 12" of gravel and I think your would have all the benefits of a continuous foundation along with the insulation value of the blueboard.  See the attached image.

Anyone else tried this?

[western_mass]

Small world.   I live on the other side of Franklin county in Wendell. I've been to Shelburne Falls quite a few times. It's a lovely place to visit.

I'll get my wife to send me the link to our online pics and post some as soon as I can!

[Daddymem]

Ahhh the bridge of flowers...I'm missing western mass now (Um-ass grad).  Did you guys know that one of Sarah Susanka's houses is in Amherst?  It is that one with the steep roof, shingles and green trim, large deck with outdoor fireplace off the kitchen.  Ross Chapin was the architect. Here.

[western_mass]

I'd love to see that place up close. COuld you give me a hint as to where it is in Amherst?  

[Doug Martin]

I'd love to see that place up close. COuld you give me a hint as to where it is in Amherst?  

After a little Googling:

Owners: Susan and Rene Theberge
Phone: 413-253-2161
Address: 250 Shutesbury Rd, Amherst, MA  01002-1267

Scary how there is no privacy anymore huh?

[western_mass]

Yikes! That is scarey. I'll have to swing by there on my way to Hadley tomorrow morning. Thanks!

[Doug Martin]

Ahhh the bridge of flowers...I'm missing western mass now (Um-ass grad).

I walk the bridge every day when its open (closed now due to winter).  If you are ever plan to be in Shelburne Falls drop me a note.

[western_mass]

This pic was taken a few weeks ago. It's mostly sided now (white cedar shakes), and the roof (metal) is on. I'll try to get an updated shot over the weekend.

[Daddymem]

I'd love to see that place up close. COuld you give me a hint as to where it is in Amherst?  

After a little Googling:

Owners: Susan and Rene Theberge
Phone: 413-253-2161
Address: 250 Shutesbury Rd, Amherst, MA  01002-1267

Scary how there is no privacy anymore huh?

Shutesbury road sounds familiar...ask Mommymem, she visited it.

[Mommymem]

I  decided to drop by after going to my friend's bridal shower at Yankee Candle. Mr Theberge was very nice and gave me a tour of the house. He said people drop by all the time to look at the house because of the book. It was really easy to find too. Can't miss it on the left side of the road round a corner up a hill.

One of my good friends also lives in Shelburne. I've yet to see the bridge in bloom!