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Rim Joist Sealing

Kimball_house | Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on November 22, 2008 05:22am

I have a hundred year old house.  I am in the midst of sealing the interior of the rim joist area with sealant, foam board and expanding foam.  There are some regions where there is a lot of air infiltration, and I believe one cause is gaps between the exterior siding and the mudsill.

See photos.  What would you folks do to seal the outside in this space?  Caulk?  It is pretty cold now so I may have to wait on this step so the caulk or sealant will set.  Specific reccomendations for products appreciated!

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  1. Piffin | Nov 22, 2008 05:50pm | #1

    Don't try top seal the whole edge there, just squirt some foam in where the big holes like in third photo show.

    if you try to seal that horizontal sea, totally , then any water that gets behind the siding on the whole wall can be trapped and re-diverted to run in instead of down.

    You are dealing with most of the infiltration problem from the inside.

     

     

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  2. Clewless1 | Nov 22, 2008 06:20pm | #2

    Not sure what the two pics are ... from underneath looking straight up? What is the large gouge we see in the one pic? A chunk of mudsill missing?

    Generally, though I would tend to say ... don't seal it ... you are providing air sealing on the inside. You don't want to create a condition that might trap water in some fashion. The only place you might consider sealing would be the actual joint of the mudsill w/ the foundation (did I see a foam mud sill sealant in the pic?).

    Based on your description of your work on the inside ... your work should be largely complete. Unless you have other specific issues, I wouldn't put a lot more effort into it.

    One thought might be to run a piece of flashing up under the siding and then seal/secure it to the mud sill if you are having bulk water issues.

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