Insulating the floors with rigid insulation.

With the extra day off due to the Labor Day weekend, I had some extra time to Labor J Also, my order of studs and trusses was delivered this morning!

Roof trusses being delivered.

Trusses and studs ready for building.

As you recall, I was on the fence about insulating the floor. On the one hand, I was told it wasn’t necessary and personally didn’t want to spend more money on things I didn’t need. However, my biggest fear was that I’d have a sauna that’s not quite hot enough. While gathering more info on saunas from the web, I stumbled on this website:

www.jarredsadowski.com/diy-outdoor-sauna/

I really liked the lighting he used. After emailing back and forth, he confirmed my fear of a cold floors, so I went ahead and opted to insulate.

I learned all I needed to know about insulating the floor from this great video:

http://www.askthebuilder.com/how-to-foam-insulation-board-video/

One piece of advice is to make sure the rigid insulation you purchase is acceptable in an outdoor environment- not all of them will stand up to the elements. I went with Owens Corning FOAMULAR 150 2 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. R-10. I believe the 250 one is acceptable to be buried in the ground, but since we don’t need to do that—saved a few bucks.

There was 2 of us working, and surprisingly, it took a lot of time to finish—still not sure why. We worked from about 12p-8p and got it done. As we were running out of time, 1 thing we did differently from what the video recommended is instead of nailing wood blocks to hold the insulation in place, we nailed 2 galvanized nails in each place that needed the support. They were nailed 2” from the top of the joist—the thickness of the insulation. It seemed fast, easy, and I think will serve the same purpose just as well.

Nails used to hold the rigid insulation in place.

View of floor rigid insulation in place from underneath.

It was late when we finished placing and bracing the insulation, so we would attach the plywood the next day.