I replaced the windows in my newborns room (from louver to Vinyl), insulated the exterior walls with R-13 with the kraft paper overlapping, foamed the window and inside of jams, metal taped and sealed the hvac register, and the room is as drafty as ever. The insulation above is rock wool 6-8 inches thick, the floor below is original ¾ hardwood, over Kraft paper, and 2×6 t&G subflooring. I thinking the only way air can be getting in is between the flooring and the 1×6 baseboard. I have always resisted caulking baseboards to flooring (shows wows in floors, and the maintenance issue). Is there any easy way of checking to find draft? Am I thinking right on this?
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Maybe Csnow will chime in here. He often suggests using a smoke source to follow air flow (Cigarette, insence, etc.).
Do you have recessed lights in the room? AC ducts?
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
I have one ceiling light, new style with factory insulation gasket, one single gang outlet for smoke detector (I could seal between sheetrock and box, hadn't thought of that), one air register with mastic style duct seal inside of can, and thick metal tape from can wrapped around to the sheetrock. That is all the ceiling penetrations.
The two windows are cased and jammed with painted wood with all joints caulked, so I don’t think I’m getting air infatuation in these areas.
How do you go about testing with incense?
I haven't actually done it, but you would use the incense - or anything that produces a steady whisp of smoke - as JMO suggests for the tissue. Just hold the smoke stream near possible sources of the draft and watch where the smoke goes.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
My place is so drafty that you have to use paper towels for the test.
Martha; The space between the BARS needs sealing up.
LOL, I had to check the name to see if Sphere had written that.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I think he just has to look for sunlight coming in during the day.
me too...sounded about right for me.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
I always use the tissue paper test first. Peel a square of tissue until it is one ply only. Hold it between you thumb and forefinger at the top of the square. Now dangle it over any part of the window or wall that you think is leaking.
The paper should stay straight down unless there is a draft. I don't have good luck with cigarettes or incense.
I'll give it a try, and write back with the outcome. Thanks.
Just remember to watch that tissue...it should be hanging straight down from your thumb and finger. If it pushes out a little on the bottom or sucks back to the wall or window, you have an airleak either way.
Good luck!
Green-
Hold the tissue on a needle or a toothpick instead.
When I did a room a few years ago and was curious just how well I had sealed it up, I took an ordinary box fan and put it in the doorway, with plastic cut to seal up the doorway and provide a hole for the box fan (like a cheap blower door). I was appalled at what I discovered. Air was being sucked through the oak strip flooring, through all the exterior wall outlets (I hadn't opened the wall, just redid the windows), and the toughest one of all -- I have 1x6 diagonal plank subflooring and air was being drawn in along the gaps between the flooring where they terminated under the bottom plate to teh exterior wall.
In a room that small, the box fan really accentuated the problems.
MERC.
OK, all the rest of the respondants have told you how and where to find leaks. Please, let's go back to the beginning.
You installed R19 into the walls. Did you use an appropriate vapour barrier?
When you had the electrical installed, did the electrician install the proper boots to the studs to stop drafts, or did the person doing the vapour barrier seal behind the boxes?
If it was only the windows you replaced, why would you expect the change of windows to affect the level of draftiness in the room? Did you check the overall situation in the room before the window change?
Quality repairs for your home.
Aaron the Handyman
Vancouver, Canada
The windows I replaced were the louver type you would see in hawaii, not northern california , so that alone I expected huge dividends. The electrician (me) only used plastic boxes with romex, and no special air barrier. The insulation is R13 Kraft faced to the inside of the house with the tabs overlapping and stapled. No other air/moisture barrier was installed. I expect some energy loss from the 6-8 inches of rock wool above, and the crawl space below has no insulation. When you stand in the room you can feel a breeze. The zoned thermostat sits within ten feet of the door in the hall, and when it reads 69 degrees you feel very cold in the room. The door to the room is always open.
Edited 12/12/2004 12:52 am ET by Green
Think like hot air.
Consider where the air is going out before being concerned with where it is coming in. Cold air will not come in there is no escaping warm air to displace. Sounds like you may have a big hole in the attic plane.
I'm guessing this is a one story, or a room on a lower level, otherwise the air would probably be headed out (positive pressure) instead of headed in (negative pressure).
Do the drafts stop noticibly when the door is closed? That would imply that the big outgoing leaks are elsewhere.
On the incoming side, if it's as drafty as all that, you can probably find the incoming air with a wet finger, or better yet (if possible) your lips. If not, on a cold day, you can just light a match or a candle, and blow it out. You will have a few seconds of smoke to observe the incoming air currents.
Excellent ideas, I wasn’t thinking along those lines. I will try taping closed outlets and the windows too. As far as air escaping I have a two sided fireplace that the damper is left open since it is used off and on during the week; a 1100 cfm hood vent, two bathroom fans 80 cfm each, and a bosch dryer with a 2” round make-up air/drian next to it.
The house is a ranch style single story 2300 sq ft with a two zoned force air unit in the attic space.
"The house is a ranch style single story 2300 sq ft with a two zoned force air unit in the attic space."
Carefully check the ductwork for leaks. Seal with mastic or foil tape (not duct tape). Also, check around the air outlets. Often these are not sealed at all.
That fireplace is going to be a massive consumer of conditioned air, and will create cold drafts by itself.. Look into the type of damper that seals at the top of the flue. Throat dampers are usually not great at air sealing.
I installed the hvac system myself and used flex pipe with the clear plastic duct tape and zip ties, I also used mastic to seal all metal cans, transitions, and plenum. Lastly I used the thick metal tape to seal register cans to the sheetrock. This was the first and last hvac install I’ll ever do.
Any electrical boxes in the outside walls are supposed to be sealed when they have wires coming into or out of them. This means caulking the holes at the back of the boxes where the holes were opened for the wire. Also, caulk the gaps around the boxes. All of them, recepticles and switches. Remove any fixtures on the ceiling and seal around the boxes there, too. If the house is balloon construction, the interior wall boxes probably leak, too. Make sure there are no doors, windows or attic access panels open anywhere in the house when you test for leaks. Speaking of attic access, make sure this seals well, too. I do home theater systems and am amazed by the gaps around the attic doors and ladders. No wonder these people complain about their heating and cooling bills.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Outlets on the outside wall can leak a surprising amount. Cover them with squares of plastic taped to the walls, to see if that helps.
Similarly, you can cover the windows with plastic, taped to the walls. If the windows (or surrounding framing) are leaky then the plastic will billow out or be sucked against the window.
You could probably even do this with strips of plastic taped over the baseboard.