How to Insulate Your Rim Joists in a Finished Basement

If your finished basement is cooler and draftier than you'd like, it's possible that the rim joists weren't insulated when the basement was finished. It's easy to overlook this step, especially if the person who finished the basement was a first-time do-it-yourselfer. If your basement has a suspended ceiling, it's easy to check by lifting the panels on the edges of the room and looking at the top of the wall. If the board resting on top of the concrete foundation wall is uncovered, your rim joist is not insulated.

Tape measure
Stepladder
Dust mask
Work gloves
Fiberglass batt insulation
Utility knife
Staple gun

Instructions

- 1
  Remove the panels from the drop ceiling around the circumference of the room. Place a stepladder at one corner of the room. The ceiling joists will attach to the rim joist on two sides of the room, so measure down the side where the ceiling joists attach until you reach the first ceiling joist.
- 2
  Cut a length of fiberglass insulation to match the length. Place it against the rim joist, paper side out, and staple the edges of the paper onto the subfloor above and the wooden header below.
- 3
  Move the ladder to the next section between ceiling joists. Measure, cut and install your next piece of fiberglass.
- 4
  On sides without ceiling joists, measure the entire length of the joist, and cut a long length of fiberglass to cover the joist. Staple as before.
- 5
  Continue until the entire rim joist has been covered, and then replace the ceiling panels.

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