I was interested in the comments about rigid foam insulation and termites. Since I am refinishing the basement, I will be placing rigid foam insulation under the floor and on the wall. We definitely have a termite issue in our area. The interior basement stairs are seriously damaged from a termite infestation about 15 or more years ago. Two years ago we found termite activity again in the basement and had the place treated. So, I need to be careful.
What I found out about foam insulation and termites is mainly that the insulation isn't a food for the termites, but they can tunnel through it, and it can hide their activity making it more difficult to identify the infestation early. According to a couple of web sites, building codes, in areas where termites are known to be active, require termite barriers if foam insulation is used on the exterior of the foundation walls. Now here is a question for the crazier of the handymen. Since I am only finishing the middle third of my basement, and since, being a town house, one of the side walls is actually an interior wall, I really only have about 15 feet of exterior wall that I will be insulating. Would I be insane to make that wall semi movable? Meaning, maybe hinge the panels so that I can do annual inspections behind the wall to check the block for signs of water, termites, mold, dot dot dot. Would there be any way to do this and still make it look reasonably nice on the interior? -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081
