How to Add Insulation to Cinder Block Walls

Measure the height and width of your wall. Copy these measurements onto a vapor barrier and cut it to size with scissors. Attach the vapor barrier to the wall by taping the seams with duct tape. Use a tape measure to measure the width of your wall. Mark your wall every 4 feet across with your pencil. These points indicate where your 2-by-4 boards are installed.

Measure the height of the wall with a tape measure. Copy these measurements on the 2-by-4 boards and on your sheet of rigid insulation with a pencil. Cut the 2-by-4 boards and your sheets of insulation along these measurements with a circular saw

Position one 2-by-4 board over each mark previously made on the wall with the pencil. Use a nail gun to drive ramset nails into the boards. Space each nail 2 feet apart. Repeat this technique until you have secured a 2-by-4 board over each mark.

Use a utility knife to slice off the end of a tube filled with construction adhesive. Insert the tube into a caulking gun and depress the gun's trigger. Apply the adhesive across the backside of the cut rigid insulation sheet.

Position the insulation sheet between the first two boards on the cinder-block wall. Use pressure with your hand to press the sheet against the cinder blocks. Repeat the insulation sheet attachments until the entire wall is covered.