Basement mineral wool insulation technique

[Evolver1981]

Curious if anyone has gone this route or not with insulation and wall setup for basement.

Concrete walls are poured 8” and dry (for now anyways) home is 7yrs old, climate zone 5.

Build wood wall roughly 2 1/2” off concrete and install mineral wool in the stud bays for warmth.

I know moisture can and does come in thru all concrete from outside in and that mineral wool is air permeable and will allow “some” ( not much since it is so dense) air conditioned air to go thru to concrete from inside out.

Thought process is that the space allowed between wall and concrete would allow any moisture that may come to dry out and not collect on anything and create that basement smell.

I am aware of other methods of applying foam and then wall up against that, or extra foam for more warmth then open stud bays etc. My concern is that even with foam you can get moisture behind it trapped and odors can come up and out if not sealed perfectly (and no one is perfect).

Any thoughts or experiences with leaving air gap and using mineral wool instead of fiberglass?

 

[Greenman]

The only method I know of to deal with moisture is to vent it outside.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

The best way to deal with condensation on the concrete is to insulate the outside of the walls. Since that ship's sailed, I think you're on the right track. You either leave a 1-1.5" gap between the insulation and wall to allow the moisture to dry, or use foam board and seal the gaps.

I went with the latter option. 1.5" foam boards with a thick bead of glue along the top and bottom when putting them against the wall. Then taped joints and closed-cell foam along corner edges.

We'll see how well it holds up. I'm a novice so who knows how good a job I did. Moreover, the foam and framing are exposed in the laundry room and I can see the Tyvek tape coming off the foam in a couple areas. It was the recommended tape in the articles I read but I doubt it will hold up long term.