The rim joist is a joist that runs around the perimeter of the floor joists and home. It normally is accessed via the crawl space or basement and according to BuildingScience.com is a critical place to air seal your home. Michael Church's Crawl Space Repair Myths-Busted book was written to help you Avoid Bad Advice, Bad Decisions, & Bad Repairs. "This book is the Cadillac for crawl space information and Michael Church is your experienced driver. What can I say? It's just an amazing read." The real deal. https://www.buildingscience.com/documents/information-sheets/critical-seal-spray-foam-at-rim-joist Rim joist insulation is ignored by many professional insulation contractors which is a shame considering how effective it is in air sealing. I believe in insulating rim joist insulation so much I removed drywall in my basement in order to air seal and insulate them. We purchased a home that was built in the 1960s shortly after we got married. Needless to say I wasn't familiar back then with the order of making a home energy efficient so like many homeowners I did it backwards. I discovered that replacing windows, upgrading HVAC and air sealing doors did very little to improve our comfort or energy efficient. In fact, it did almost nothing. The reason we did not see any results was we had three huge problems that are never discussed. I decided to investigate my attic and wow, what a mess. Very little blown-in insulation to reduce thermal energy transfer. Poor ventilation was keeping my attic hot. No air sealing of hatches and other major penetrations was robbing my conditioned air. I removed all the insulation from my attic in order to expose the floor so I could air seal. Installed radiant barrier and ventilation to reduce radiant heat and air sealed the hatch and all penetrations. The attic, in my opinion, is the first place to start when it comes to comfort and energy efficiency, not HVAC or windows. After finishing the attic, I exposed my rim joists and found they were not insulated at all. Rim joist insulation without air sealing is important to prevent the transfer of thermal energy. Rim joist insulation with air sealing is even better. Now we recommend using a combination of foam board and spray foam in order to better protect your home. Spray foam is hard to control for many people and can be messy. Foam board gives you a true R Value and the spray foam is easier to apply in small quantities. Rim Joist vs Sill Plate Insulation https://crawlspaceninja.com/blog/rim-joist-sill-plate-insulation/ The third most productive improvement we made to our home was air sealing our duct-work. Once we properly insulated our attic, air sealed our rim joists and duct-work, we noticed a huge comfort improvement in our home. Please contact us to schedule your assessment to fix your crawl space, basement or yard drainage issue. Do you need help with mold removal, crawl space encapsulation, crawl space insulation, vapor barrier, waterproofing, foundation repair, basement waterproofing, or controlling humidity in your crawl space? If you live in Georgia, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, or Kentucky, Crawl Space Ninja can help! Also, let us know in the comments below if you have an idea for a new blog topic. Perhaps you'd like to tackle your own crawl space repair. Visit our DIY Store. Learn about Crawl Space Ninja Franchise opportunities.
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Great information, thanks. But I need more specific information. My sister is building a home in Showlow,AZ. (Lots of snow and it’s cold). The crawl space is vented. The contractor has hung the pecks water lines on the bottom chord of the floor joists and does not plan to insulate between the joists. What are your thoughts
Hi Jim, not sure of all the particulars but sounds like the contractor is not intending on insulating the crawl space. DOE/building code recommends/requires crawl space insulation. I’d check with local codes enforcement to see what they recommend but remember code normally describes the minimum requirement. Here is a video we did about research that was done and the importance of insulation in crawl spaces. I hope it helps. https://youtu.be/JZfksZZbrW0