As per a previous thread I am in process of insulating my basement. I have taken the advice of TerryB with his great link to insulating. I have run into only a little problem I hope. I installed moisture barrier against the cement foundation, wood studded my walls and installed R-12. This was on Sat. morn. It is Mon. morn. Now and I am ready to put up the vapor barrier, just out of curiosity I reached in behind the insulation and it is very damp behind the moisture barrier and water has actually condensed on the section above grade where there is no moisture barrier behind the insulation. Now can this be because the last few days it has been very cold -6c(20f) and I had not yet put up the vapor barrier. I now have the insulation removed and allowing the wall to dry and waiting for my next step. As I type this the wall is almost completely dried already. PLEASE tell me it was because I did not put up the vapor barrier immediately. My basement walls have never had a moisture problem. Oh yea I do have the basement heated with baseboard heaters set at 20c(68f). Have lived here for three winters with just heaters and now want to insulate to be more efficient

The moisture you mention is common. It was always there but you never had any plastic there to catch it before. It does indicate you have a slight problem with drainage around your foundation but short of actual seepage you should be OK. I would check for a proper membrane or foundation coating on the outside of your foundation. The building code flip flopped a few times, and a few unscrupulous builders have omitted these barriers in the past.

Thanks again TerryB, I will be attacking these walls tomorrow morning complete with vapor barrier this time. Just installed an air exchanger and getting rid of the portable dehumidifier, so hopefully by Christmas this bungalow will be a little more energy efficient. :)