LESLIE: Well, we named the dog Indiana. Not Indiana Jones (laughter); Indiana the state. And that’s where Keith’s from. What’s going on?
KEITH: This is Indiana Jacobi (sp).
TOM: Alright.
KEITH: (laughter) OK, I have a concrete block home and what I want to do is put wooden walls on the inside or stud the inside of these walls, you know. And I want to know if there’s something I have to do to make sure that that concrete doesn’t keep sweating.
TOM: Ah, good question. Now, you have a concrete block home right now, so there’s no wall studs on the inside whatsoever?
KEITH: None, none.
TOM: Alright.
KEITH: And the reason I want to put the studs in is so that I can put electric in.
TOM: Mm-hmm. So what you want to do is this: you want to frame the wall using a pressure treated sill …
KEITH: OK.
TOM: … OK? So that everything that touches the concrete floor is pressure treated. And then you’re going to want to insulate those walls. And you would use a vapor barrier between the cold space and the heated area. So basically, the last thing that goes on the walls before the drywall is the vapor barrier. And so, you can have the vapor barrier that is part of the insulation or one that’s applied separately. But that would be the way to seal out the indoor humidity from getting to the exterior walls.
LESLIE: But Tom …
TOM: Yes?
LESLIE: … do you want to put the sill flush against the concrete wall or do you want to sort of float it out from the concrete wall a little bit and then build a new wall?
TOM: Yeah, my practice is to leave it out a little bit. So I’d like to have just a bit of space – you know, maybe an inch or so – between the wood wall and the concrete wall. I don’t want it to touch.
KEITH: As long as I have a bit of an air space there, then I’m OK?
TOM: You should be good to go.
KEITH: Gosh, that’s all I needed to know.
TOM: Alright, Keith, thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974.
Whether it’s a technical question or a simple DIY question, we are here to help you. 888-666-3974.
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