Scusi! Excuse me, where is the underground station? Underground?… ah, the Metro. 

Yes, yes the Metro. Go straight along this street.

Turn right after the bus stopand the Metro station is at the end of the street on the left. 

Thank you...  Sorry, I’m late.

No taxis! No problem.

Giovanna and I are talking about insulatingthe foundations. 

Any decisions? 

Well, there’s a full basement below grade level with theservice rooms, on the same level as the garages… 

So we need to avoid condensation problems caused by thedifference in temperature between the basement interiorand the soil around the foundation. 

Yes, due to the type of soil of this lot, the foundations needgood insulation to avoid moisture and water seepageproblems. 

So, what do you intend to do? 

We want to damp-proof the basement walls with a bituminous membrane from the footing to grade. 

And also construct a drainage channel around all the 

foundations to help airflow and to keep the walls dry. 

Is a vapour barrier necessary? 

Yes, we intend to use a vapour barrier on the inside surfaceof the insulation.

The exterior is damp-proofed and incontact with soil, so the excess moisture  escapes to theinside as the concrete cures. 

But this can delay work. 

Yes, but the early installation of a vapour barrier can trapwater vapour allowing it to condense on the inside wall.

The interior foundation insulation is normally installed latein the construction process to allow the concrete to cure. 

And the internal walls? 

There’s extruded polystyrene insulation on the internalwalls and the basement floors are in loose stone. 

It’s cold and it’s raining!

Does it often rain in Milan? No, not often.

You need some thermal insulation!

Would you like a cup of hot coffee? Haha! Yes, please! 

We need to talk about insulation slabs. 

What type of slabs? 

Well, we need thermal insulation slabs between thebasement and the ground floor and acoustic insulationslabs for the separating floors between the apartments. 

Are they made of different materials? 

Well, I’ve got this brochure from a new supplier about avery versatile product.

There’s a general purpose insulationslab for thermal and acoustic insulation.

It’s got a flexibleedge on all 4 sides - for easy installation and excellentacoustic absorption. How much does it cost? € 4.53 per square metre. They come in packs of 10.  

Oneslab is 1200mm long, 600mm wide and 50mm thick. Interesting. 

And they offer next-day delivery... it says all products aredelivered to the kerb side of the delivery address... and…“Where our next-day delivery service is available, it appliesto 'standard' products that are ordered Monday to Thursdaybefore 6 p.m.

For orders placed on a Friday before 6 p.m.,we will try to deliver 'standard' products the following Monday.

For orders placed between 6 p.m. on a Friday and6 p.m. on a Sunday, we will try to deliver 'standard'products the following Tuesday. Saturday delivery isavailable for only 10 euros extra.” That sounds good!