How can I effectively insulate a 70s house wall with water entry along the floor corner and no space to work with?
Asked by David Jean-Baptiste 
3 months ago
Last Updated: August 26, 2024
Hey there, folks! So, I’m looking to insulate this room that used to be pretty chilly. It’s an older house from the 70s and the insulation was never installed properly. The only issue is that the water entry point is right in the corner of the floor and runs along the wall without any space to work with. Any suggestions on how I should go about insulating this wall? Thanks a bunch!
Following…
If you don’t have any moisture issues and want it to look nice, you can secure 2×4’s flat against the wall with glue and tapcon screws, then fill the gaps with foam board and cover it with sheetrock. But if appearance isn’t a concern, simply glue the foam board directly to the wall
Create a closet around the water main frame and insulate the remaining walls.
If you’re wondering how to insulate the walls, just follow the advice Rodney gave earlier.
Now, if you’re wondering how to deal with the plumbing, here’s what you can do:
Start by centering a stud space around the meter.
Next, add two pieces of horizontal blocking – one above and one below the meter. You’ll have to make notches to accommodate the pipes.
Once that’s done, proceed to insulate and cover the top and bottom sections just like you would the rest of the wall, leaving a space for the meter.
The final step will depend on how good you want the result to look.
You could go the DIY route by cutting a piece of plywood larger than the opening and attaching it to the wall with velcro.
Alternatively, you could purchase a pre-made hinged access panel (as shown in the picture) from your local home center. These panels come in various sizes, so position your blocking accordingly.
For a more creative approach, leave a square hole that’s just big enough to access the meter, and disguise it with a framed picture, poster, etc. This way, it won’t even look like an access panel.
Thank you so much for getting back to me. The problem is that the copper pipe is touching the brick foundation in the basement, which is above ground level, causing the brick to freeze over during winter. I was thinking that adding insulation around it might prevent the pipe from freezing. I’ve heard that I could either construct a wall and insulate it like a typical basement or use rigid foam insulation boards to create space for insulation behind the pipe. However, this would involve opening up the ceiling a bit to see where the pipe leads.