In my walkout basement, I removed some old 2x3 walls with very old fibreglass insulation that were built in front of my concrete walls so that I can rebuild new 2x4s with new batt insulation...then I found this. Very old tar paper that appears to be intact but is quite ratty, somewhat brittle and deteriorating on the bottom edges. These edges appear to have been under the bottom plate of the 2x3 stud wall which was covered it poly. Do I keep the tar paper? I feel like some of the bottom edges make contact the new stud wall. Or do I simply remove the tar paper? And if so, what can I replace it with? Or can I leave it bare? There will be a bare minimum half inch gap between the new stud walls and the concrete wall. The spaces above the tar paper is house wrap covering studs on top of the foundation wall, which has fibreboard sheathing. Any help would be very appreciated!
If it was my home I would remove it and apply foundation coating to the concrete wall, terminating at grade level (as required by Code IF interior dampproofing is applied).
The Code does not recognize tarpaper as a foundation dampproofing. Note: poly is required between wood members and concrete below grade (the bottom plates) unless using pressure treated.
Hello,
1-Rebuild 2 by 6 as the insulation for outside walls should be R21 and this R value needs 5.5 inch space.
2-Keep the black plastic barrier over the concrete.
3-staple a vapor barrier on your new wall.
You can call us anytime between 12pm to 2 pm if you need any more description
Good luck
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