tks everyone for info will look into this and the tax return too for next year!, thanks!

Where I live an unfinished basement does not need to be insulated . They could have left it unfinished until they got their occupancy permit and then put up the drywall. It does seem a bit daft as insulation costs next to nothing compared to the overall cost of finishing a basement.

You do hear stories of dodgy builders taking the drywall down and removing the insulation after an inspector leaves. Usually from one contractor trying to put off a potential client from dealing with another, cheaper, contractor. I think it is BS. The cost of taking down the drywall, removing the insulation, and putting the drywall back up again will far outweigh the value of the insulation recovered.

As someone said Nikki, look into sprayfoam and the difference in your heating bills will surprise you. I work installing in floor and forced air heating systems and the most effective insulation anyone reccomends is sprayfoam

Are the external walls concrete? If so, there could be 2 inch styrofoam between the concrete and the soil (outside).

X

Maybe if its a new build, and even then thats some way beyond basic code I suspect...

Just trying to throw out ideas on what could have happened. When our house fell apart and they took all the drywall down - we didn't have any insulation..always thought it was cold in here

Well Insulated are a relatively new idea, as is insulation the outside, old school was just butumen the crap out of the outside of the foundation to keep the water out (until it cracked) and maybe put in a drain / weeping tile at the bottom of the wall to help with drainage...


Now there are fancy membranes and insulation and the rest, but its a pain to retrofit, lots of digging Doing the inside is a more attractive proposition, but only if its dry I guess. If its not dry then you have to address the leaking before you do anything else.