01-20-2011, 01:59 PM
I lived on elevated wood floors in Miami for about 12 years - loved them. Some thoughts:
- insulation under the floors is possible, but rarely done in warm climates. Common wisdom I have heard is to put your insulation effort into the ceiling first, then walls.
- the cheaper forms of insulation are a great home for rats and bugs, not as much of a problem in an attic as under a floor.
- if you do manage to create a condensing situation between your insulation and your sub-floor, that has the potential to grow... things.
I'd look to other floor insulation experiences in your neighborhood before taking the plunge. The "breathing" plywood sub-floor has been around for as long as plywood, and it seems to work well. My floor was 65 years old when I moved out and it hadn't aged a bit, except where people had let it get moist and stay that way - mostly around the leaky back door.
I got the dew all over the floor phenomenon a few days a year, it didn't seem to hurt anything. I like the vents in the floor idea - based on my experience, I'd add a layer of stronger wire mesh to the insect screen. Are there opossums in Puna?
- insulation under the floors is possible, but rarely done in warm climates. Common wisdom I have heard is to put your insulation effort into the ceiling first, then walls.
- the cheaper forms of insulation are a great home for rats and bugs, not as much of a problem in an attic as under a floor.
- if you do manage to create a condensing situation between your insulation and your sub-floor, that has the potential to grow... things.
I'd look to other floor insulation experiences in your neighborhood before taking the plunge. The "breathing" plywood sub-floor has been around for as long as plywood, and it seems to work well. My floor was 65 years old when I moved out and it hadn't aged a bit, except where people had let it get moist and stay that way - mostly around the leaky back door.
I got the dew all over the floor phenomenon a few days a year, it didn't seem to hurt anything. I like the vents in the floor idea - based on my experience, I'd add a layer of stronger wire mesh to the insect screen. Are there opossums in Puna?