Sealing Your House

Although some may argue against well sealed homes, the fact is that a tightly sealed house helps prevent leaks, drafts, and unwanted guests such as rodents in the home. Preventing these gaps can greatly reduce energy costs as well as help decrease the possibility of rot due to moisture that can get between areas of your home. The largest waste of money in all of this comes from air rising into the attic. Although many people assume the most air escapes from windows or doors, warm air that rises into the attic and escapes through the roof is the largest source of inefficiency. Even if you have enough insulation in the attic, sealing around air leaks will help prevent warm air from escaping and can help make your home much more comfortable.

Before getting started, it is important to look at the situation and make sure you can actually perform these tasks yourself. Some areas that you might need professional help include: a leaky roof, moldy or rotting rafters, any sort of vent from a kitchen or dryer that pumps moisture into an open space instead of outside the home, major ice dams, and exposed wiring. Once you have concluded you have these areas under control, get a good idea of where your problem exists from below the attic. A basic drawing of the home can help give you a visual of where you need to be when you are searching for the problem. It is also very important to have the correct materials before attempting to fix the issue. There is nothing worse than finding the problem, only to realize you can not correct it with out running to the hardware store again. Some of the main items needed are: fiberglass roll insulation, garbage bags for stuffing, foil insulation, caulk and gun, expanding spray foam, flashing, safety goggles, gloves and a flashlight.

To begin the job, it makes sense to seal the large holes first. These will be the easiest to spot once in the attic and will also be the largest source of heat loss. Most of these problems will be from inner and outer walls, dropped areas in the actual ceiling, and dropped soffits where insulation might be hiding the actual problem. To insulate along open areas, such as stud cavities, fill a 13 gallon garbage bag with the fiberglass insulation roll and stuff it in the open space. One the bag is in place, cover the soffit with loose insulation to provide an extra layer of protection.

Knee walls can also be areas where a lot of heat gets out because the gaps between where they stop and the floor. To seal them, cut a large piece of the fiberglass insulation that will plug the hole and place it in the gap. Cover with loose insulation when finished.

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