I finished the crawlspace today and replaced all the old pipe insulation with 1″ thick K-Flex R-7 insulation from Supply House. This insulation is a Greenguard certified product for its low VOC and mold resistance. There is over $275 of pipe insulation on all the exposed radiator pipes and the hot water pipes in the crawlspace, including the hot water return pipe. (So far I have purchased $845 worth, about 360 ft., of this R-7 pipe insulation for the house–although I still have to insulate some of the exposed radiant pipes near the boiler) All the hot water pipe under the slab and to the bathroom in the crawlspace was also insulated with R-7 during construction.)
It took about 15 6′ lengths to cover all the pipes. Where the pipe was too close to the joist or was attached with a pipe hanger, I left a gap in the long pipes then went back and cut extra pieces to cover most of the pipe that could not be encircled and then taped the seams. I cut the elbow ends at 45 degrees and fit them together then taped them to cover the entire bend.
This is a photo of two of the wrapped pipes next to the caulked edge of the vinyl barrier.
Insulated Pipes
Here is where the three pipes enter the closet slab–two radiators and the hot water return pipe.
Pipes insulated to closet slab entry
The new pipe insulation goes into the fiberglass layer and all the way up to the floor.
Radiator Pipe insulated to floor
To complete the vinyl ground cover, the two corners on the west end needed some special treatment because the ground extended past the slab around a metal support post. This had to be covered and sealed too. The old wire was a sensor wire that was under the slab at the closet. The sensor was cut off on the other side during the prep for the new slab and now cut off on this crawlspace side too.
Difficult corner
The patch was cut around the post and caulked to the walls then taped around the post and to the vinyl that was caulked to the slab at the stair edge where there was a gap between some spray foam and the slab top. More evidence of the sinking of the original slab.
Spray foam gap under stairs
Here is the final patch sealed all around the post and to the vinyl barrier.
Patch caulked and taped
Another view shows that the pipe is wrapped with tape and the barrier caulked to the short area of wall around it.
Pipe is fully wrapped with barrier
This was a big job and I have the bruises to show for it. The grandkids came over and thought crawling in the crawlspace was great. It was fun to have this secret place below the floor. They were game to crawl around and enjoyed tunneling from the hatch in the bedroom to the hole in the wall of the master bedroom. I’m glad they enjoyed it and very happy to have this job checked off the to do list.