Cutting open a bag of insulation - GIF

[nova_robotics]

Did you stop your basement insulation 16 inches from the floor?

Reasons why:

Flood damages. Will not wick water up. Most basement floods are 12 inches or less.
No gain on the insulation effects below frost level. If you are on the east coast there is not very deep frost. Prairie provinces a different story but even there the building code calls for 16" above the floor. As it also calls for vapor barrier on the exterior and the interior of the basement walls. That was a recommendation in my code which is about 18 years old. I think that became part of the national building code.

Nope. I insulated with foam right down to the concrete. My house is built into the side of a hill with very little chance of flooding. You're probably right about the frost line though. Ground temperature here considered to be 9 - 10C (for geothermal calculations). Insulating that far down probably prevents heat from entering in the winter.