Before Basement Development

[ThePenIsMightier]

And before the SPRAY FOAM MEGA THREAD OF MEGA ALPHAS gets split from this basement reno thread, here is the order of spray foam contractors you should call:

1.) Ener-Spray
2.) Anyone else who does spray foam, at all, whose name isn't Midgaard.
3.) At least one more contractor from [2]
4.) A random 10-digit phone number.
5.) Corky from the television show, Life Goes On.
6.) A deceased cat.
Threeve.) Midgaard.

[sabad66]

If you don’t already have a water softener maybe consider adding one or roughing in. I wanted to add one at my house when I moved in, but after realizing I had to run bypasses for my outdoor bibs and having my water line almost opposite side of my utility room, it was a bigger job than I thought so didn’t end up doing it.

- - - Updated - - -

Speaking of outdoor bibs, I always thought it would be useful to have a hot water bib outside. Should be a lot easier to do in an undeveloped basement

[roopi]

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Speaking of outdoor bibs, I always thought it would be useful to have a hot water bib outside. Should be a lot easier to do in an undeveloped basement

I thought this would be useful as well but honestly I've only used it to fill my hot tub so it doesn't take as long to warm up. Other then that it's been useless for me. (Disclaimer: I don't have kids and if I did I would probably hose them off with hot water bib).

[killramos]

Rough in for irrigation comes to mind with this talk about bibs.

[sabad66]

Haha kids is exactly the reason. I’m too poor for a hot tub so filling up our kiddie pool sucks when I’m lugging big pots of hot water from the kitchen sink to warm it up. I think it would be good for cleaning too I.e pressure washing the deck

[ExtraSlow]

Hot water bib would be great. Good in spring for melting ice dams too. Washing the kids or a dawg, or even windows.

[G]

Pull hot into your garage. Washing our cars with warm water is a game changer for me.

[duaner]

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Once everything is done, spray foam all the things.

Never, ever use spray foam. It is not only terrible environmentally, it will eventually dry out and pull away. Not to mention if there is a fire, it is about the worst thing you can have in your home.

[jwslam]

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Pull hot into your garage. Washing our cars with warm water is a game changer for me.

Where does that drain to? I don't have a garage drain
Garage hot water sounds great with a full out laundry sink w/ drain...

[ThePenIsMightier]

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Never, ever use spray foam. It is not only terrible environmentally, it will eventually dry out and pull away. Not to mention if there is a fire, it is about the worst thing you can have in your home.

It's flammable and that's why it doesn't meet building code unless it's covered by sheathing (like fire resistant drywall? Like people in houses have?) Where's the video of a car crash with no seatbelts and a couple jerry cans & propane cylinders in the front seats?


Edit.
And it must be environmentally friendly, because the NDP used your tax dollars to pay for mine! LoL. There's no dichotomy of values in environmentally responsible things. My dishwasher and clothes washer use hardly any water, so they're good. Their cycles run 2.5x longer, consuming more electricity and I'll need to throw out about 7 of them during my life because they are poorly made shit, but that's the price of progress.

[duaner]

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It's flammable and that's why it doesn't meet building code unless it's covered by sheathing (like fire resistant drywall? Like people in houses have?) Where's the video of a car crash with no seatbelts and a couple jerry cans & propane cylinders in the front seats?

Your comment suggests that you either didn’t actually watch the video or you didn’t understand it. It also seems you don’t understand that fire resistant does not equal fireproof, nor that it takes heat to start fire, not flames. Drywall eventually burns and it is likely that even before it does, if it gets hot enough on the other side of it, fire can start.

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Edit.
And it must be environmentally friendly, because the NDP used your tax dollars to pay for mine! LoL. There's no dichotomy of values in environmentally responsible things. My dishwasher and clothes washer use hardly any water, so they're good. Their cycles run 2.5x longer, consuming more electricity and I'll need to throw out about 7 of them during my life because they are poorly made shit, but that's the price of progress.

It isn’t progress when superior materials already exist.

https://foursevenfive.com/blog/foam-fails/

[ThePenIsMightier]

I did watch the video, that's how I'm able to comment on how silly a comparison it is because none of the walls have drywall. It's fear mongering and should come with its own Jump To Conclusions Mat.
When a house catches on fire, it burns down and usually the fire department can save half the damage on either neighbours' house because we're allowed to blanket them in stupid vinyl siding and cram the houses too close together. All you want is enough time to have a chance of getting out alive because the whole thing is going down to the foundation. I think my buddy's impact sockets melted in the Fort Mac fires.
You're right about flame retardant and fire proof and I'm perfectly familiar with the difference. I suppose my point is, that the studs and the foam and all that might as well be made out of acetylene because if you are still in that house by the time the fire gets to there, it's because you're dead.

The rest is just a comment on how no one seems to recognize the give & take that is inherent with environmental protection and spray foam is no different.
"Saves on heating & AC costs - therefore GOOD because carbon footprint."
"Oops... Propellants full of CFC's.... Now confused if good."

[prae]

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It isn’t progress when superior materials already exist.

what materials are those? Genuinely curious.

[duaner]

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I did watch the video, that's how I'm able to comment on how silly a comparison it is because none of the walls have drywall. It's fear mongering and should come with its own Jump To Conclusions Mat.
When a house catches on fire, it burns down and usually the fire department can save half the damage on either neighbours' house because we're allowed to blanket them in stupid vinyl siding and cram the houses too close together. All you want is enough time to have a chance of getting out alive because the whole thing is going down to the foundation. I think my buddy's impact sockets melted in the Fort Mac fires.
You're right about flame retardant and fire proof and I'm perfectly familiar with the difference. I suppose my point is, that the studs and the foam and all that might as well be made out of acetylene because if you are still in that house by the time the fire gets to there, it's because you're dead.

The rest is just a comment on how no one seems to recognize the give & take that is inherent with environmental protection and spray foam is no different.
"Saves on heating & AC costs - therefore GOOD because carbon footprint."
"Oops... Propellants full of CFC's.... Now confused if good."

And fires never start in the walls?

Did you read the link I provided about foam? It’s toxic, it off-gasses, it doesn’t breakdown, and it eventually dries out and pulls away from studs, obviously lowering the R value and removing the vapour barrier. I get it that there is almost always a trade-off with environmental stuff, but i the long run, spray foam is not good.

[duaner]

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what materials are those? Genuinely curious.

Cellulose, rock wool (not great environmentally on the fabrication side), wool, wood fibre. I would use fibreglass before ever using spray foam. Wool is $$$ but is also natural and is naturally fire retardant.

[suntan]

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Cellulose, rock wool (not great environmentally on the fabrication side), wool, wood fibre. I would use fibreglass before ever using spray foam. Wool is $$$ but is also natural and is naturally fire retardant.

Metallurgical coal will be burned until the end of civilization.

You might want to replace all the windows if they're builder's originals.

[71/454]

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And fires never start in the walls?

Did you read the link I provided about foam? It’s toxic, it off-gasses, it doesn’t breakdown, and it eventually dries out and pulls away from studs, obviously lowering the R value and removing the vapour barrier. I get it that there is almost always a trade-off with environmental stuff, but i the long run, spray foam is not good.

I’ve seen a few times where a wall is opened up a few years after spray foam and due to shrinkage or shifting the foam has large cracks and gaps. The gaps are usually big enough that in my opinion you would have been better with batt insulation

[ExtraSlow]

Here's a legit one. Wherever your breaker panel is, make sure you have enough room for a rack or networking equipment RIGHT THERE. Have 2x 120v circuits on the wall there too. We ended up with a skinny closet there, and thought we were putting a media rack elsewhere. That has been a small but persistent annoyance over the years. A rack there would be better.