I have an old 1941 brick Cape Cod house that has never been insulated
properly. I've replaced the incredibly drafty multi-pane lead sash weight
windows with double-paned Andersens and have been generally pleased with the
results, energy $ wise.

But now I want to figure out how best to plug up the incredibly drafty
spots. We pulled down the basement paneling to redo the electrical and
found the beginnings of what looked like one of the old East-to-West Berlin
tunnels and old termite damage. We also found lots of places where the
joists rest on the cinderblocks where bugs have been getting in. We figured
that out by the number of spider balls and webs surrounding areas where it
looks like there's just crushed stone filling the gaps above the
cinderblocks.

So, two questions. When there aren't any tell-tale signs like spider webs,
how do you determine where the leaks are?

Second, is the blown-in insulation that I've read about for old brick homes
with plaster and lathe walls worth the effort? How disruptive is it? Will
insulation leak down the walls and into the basement (don't laugh - house
was built during the WWII paper shortage so there's no building paper
between floors and as vibration and age cause the plaster to disintegrate,
it all falls through the cracks in the flooring and into the basement as a
very gritty dirt that covers everything.

We first discovered this pulling ceiling tiles down. There was several
pounds of the stuff on top of every tile! Anyway, I don't want to shove
anything in the walls that's going to make that problem worse. It's about
as hard to retrofit building paper as it is to add 1/4" to the stud you cut
too short, if you get my drift.

Thanks!

--
Bobby G.

On Nov 3, 7:57*am, "Robert Green" wrote:
I have an old 1941 brick Cape Cod house that has never been insulated
properly. *I've replaced the incredibly drafty multi-pane lead sash weight
windows with double-paned Andersens and have been generally pleased with the
results, energy $ wise.

But now I want to figure out how best to plug up the incredibly drafty
spots. *We pulled down the basement paneling to redo the electrical and
found the beginnings of what looked like one of the old East-to-West Berlin
tunnels and old termite damage. *We also found lots of places where the
joists rest on the cinderblocks where bugs have been getting in. *We figured
that out by the number of spider balls and webs surrounding areas where it
looks like there's just crushed stone filling the gaps above the
cinderblocks.

So, two questions. *When there aren't any tell-tale signs like spider webs,
how do you determine where the leaks are?

Second, is the blown-in insulation that I've read about for old brick homes
with plaster and lathe walls worth the effort? *How disruptive is it? *Will
insulation leak down the walls and into the basement (don't laugh - house
was built during the WWII paper shortage so there's no building paper
between floors and as vibration and age cause the plaster to disintegrate,
it all falls through the cracks in the flooring and into the basement as a
very gritty dirt that covers everything.

We first discovered this pulling ceiling tiles down. *There was several
pounds of the stuff on top of every tile! *Anyway, I don't want to shove
anything in the walls that's going to make that problem worse. *It's about
as hard to retrofit building paper as it is to add 1/4" to the stud you cut
too short, if you get my drift.

Thanks!

--
Bobby G.

Get someone to do Blower Door Test, a pro uses a fan in a special
enclosure that he puts in a door, there are gauges montoring airflow
and its hooked to a computer. He will tell you how many air exchanges
you have per hour, how many you should have and go through the house
with a smoke stick pinpointing the leaks. It helped me alot. It should
be around 300$

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:57:40 -0500, Robert Green wrote:
We also found lots of places where the
joists rest on the cinderblocks where bugs have been getting in. We figured
that out by the number of spider balls and webs surrounding areas where it
looks like there's just crushed stone filling the gaps above the
cinderblocks.

Our basement is a bit like that, too - although the walls are poured
concrete, but it's a bit rough at the top where the joists meet. The gaps
aren't particularly large, but the roughness will make it a time-consuming
job to caulk or use foam (plus I don't like foam for anything except as a
last resort).

I'm thinking some form of sealer that I can brush on would be best, but
I've not looked into what's out there yet.

So, two questions. When there aren't any tell-tale signs like spider
webs, how do you determine where the leaks are?

I could feel 'em on the back of my hand. But I'm just going to seal around
the whole lot anyway, just to be sure.

Jules wrote:
On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:57:40 -0500, Robert Green wrote:
We also found lots of places where the
joists rest on the cinderblocks where bugs have been getting in. We figured
that out by the number of spider balls and webs surrounding areas where it
looks like there's just crushed stone filling the gaps above the
cinderblocks.

Our basement is a bit like that, too - although the walls are poured
concrete, but it's a bit rough at the top where the joists meet. The gaps
aren't particularly large, but the roughness will make it a time-consuming
job to caulk or use foam (plus I don't like foam for anything except as a
last resort).

I'm thinking some form of sealer that I can brush on would be best, but
I've not looked into what's out there yet.

FWIW, there are brushable caulks....the contractor used it (Porter
brand) on our concrete block/stucco condo. After pressure washing,
there ended up being a lot of bare stucco, due to extremely poor
previous paint job and lots of mildew and peeling. There were lots of
fine cracks, as well. This was a contractor who did mainly commercial
work, and we could not have gotten better results. After careful prep.,
they primed, used brushable caulk, one coat of semi gl. acryllic/latex
paint. Done in 2001, no cracks reappearing since. Don't recall whether
the caulk went before or after the primer, but it did the trick. As I
recall, the caulk was almost clear, or kind of milky appearing. Clear
when dry?

So, two questions. When there aren't any tell-tale signs like spider
webs, how do you determine where the leaks are?

I could feel 'em on the back of my hand. But I'm just going to seal around
the whole lot anyway, just to be sure.

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:09:15 -0500, wrote:
I'm thinking some form of sealer that I can brush on would be best, but
I've not looked into what's out there yet.

FWIW, there are brushable caulks....

Y'know, thinking about it, I can't see any reason why I can't just dump
the contents of a caulk gun cartridge out into a tub and just brush
that on. So long as it's not done too thickly it should cure OK. It might
kill the brush, but I think I've got some of those crappy HD 'value' ones
laying around somewhere anyway....

As it's not in a location where appearance matters, it's not an issue if
it picks up a bit of dirt via the brush along the way (so long as there's
not so much dirt that it doesn't bind properly)

cheers

Jules

Jules wrote:
On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:09:15 -0500, wrote:
I'm thinking some form of sealer that I can brush on would be best, but
I've not looked into what's out there yet.
FWIW, there are brushable caulks....

Y'know, thinking about it, I can't see any reason why I can't just dump
the contents of a caulk gun cartridge out into a tub and just brush
that on. So long as it's not done too thickly it should cure OK. It might
kill the brush, but I think I've got some of those crappy HD 'value' ones
laying around somewhere anyway....

As it's not in a location where appearance matters, it's not an issue if
it picks up a bit of dirt via the brush along the way (so long as there's
not so much dirt that it doesn't bind properly)

cheers

Jules

That sounds like a mess ) It gets tacky too fast for me to get it
brushed out - perhaps some combo of a gun and a paint roller?

"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Nov 3, 7:57 am, "Robert Green" wrote:
I have an old 1941 brick Cape Cod house that has never been insulated
properly. I've replaced the incredibly drafty multi-pane lead sash weight
windows with double-paned Andersens and have been generally pleased with
the
results, energy $ wise.

But now I want to figure out how best to plug up the incredibly drafty
spots. We pulled down the basement paneling to redo the electrical and
found the beginnings of what looked like one of the old East-to-West
Berlin
tunnels and old termite damage. We also found lots of places where the
joists rest on the cinderblocks where bugs have been getting in. We
figured
that out by the number of spider balls and webs surrounding areas where it
looks like there's just crushed stone filling the gaps above the
cinderblocks.

So, two questions. When there aren't any tell-tale signs like spider webs,
how do you determine where the leaks are?

Second, is the blown-in insulation that I've read about for old brick
homes
with plaster and lathe walls worth the effort? How disruptive is it? Will
insulation leak down the walls and into the basement (don't laugh - house
was built during the WWII paper shortage so there's no building paper
between floors and as vibration and age cause the plaster to disintegrate,
it all falls through the cracks in the flooring and into the basement as a
very gritty dirt that covers everything.

We first discovered this pulling ceiling tiles down. There was several
pounds of the stuff on top of every tile! Anyway, I don't want to shove
anything in the walls that's going to make that problem worse. It's about
as hard to retrofit building paper as it is to add 1/4" to the stud you
cut
too short, if you get my drift.

Thanks!

--
Bobby G.

Get someone to do Blower Door Test, a pro uses a fan in a special
enclosure that he puts in a door, there are gauges montoring airflow
and its hooked to a computer. He will tell you how many air exchanges
you have per hour, how many you should have and go through the house
with a smoke stick pinpointing the leaks. It helped me alot. It should
be around 300$

Tell me more about the smoke stick test. I assume they're pushing air into
the house at a pretty high CFM rate and that they use the smoke stick (is
that what we used to call a "punk" used for lighting fireworks?) to find
where the pressurized air is escaping from the house. I've got several very
high powered window fans that I could use for the test if I can generate the
same sort of airflow. $300 is a lot of dinero for something I could do
myself. I don't need techincal specs about air exchanges as much as I need
to know where to squire the foam and caulk! (-: If you can describe what
they did with the smoke stick I think I can tell whether I am able to
emulate the process.

Thanks for your input!

--
Bobby G.

"Jules" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:57:40 -0500, Robert Green wrote:
We also found lots of places where the
joists rest on the cinderblocks where bugs have been getting in. We
figured
that out by the number of spider balls and webs surrounding areas where
it
looks like there's just crushed stone filling the gaps above the
cinderblocks.

Our basement is a bit like that, too - although the walls are poured
concrete, but it's a bit rough at the top where the joists meet. The gaps
aren't particularly large, but the roughness will make it a time-consuming
job to caulk or use foam (plus I don't like foam for anything except as a
last resort).

Why not? I've used it around doors I've put in with great success. I have
been warned by the window installers never to use it on windows because it
can affect their abililty to glide smoothly but for filling up rough holes
like the joist ends, I would think it would ideal, if terrible looking. (-:

I'm thinking some form of sealer that I can brush on would be best, but
I've not looked into what's out there yet.

So, two questions. When there aren't any tell-tale signs like spider
webs, how do you determine where the leaks are?

I could feel 'em on the back of my hand. But I'm just going to seal around
the whole lot anyway, just to be sure.

I think I might be tempted to try the fan/smoke stick approach. I sure hope
we have one more warm day before winter sets in!

--
Bobby G.

"Jules" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:09:15 -0500, wrote:
I'm thinking some form of sealer that I can brush on would be best, but
I've not looked into what's out there yet.

FWIW, there are brushable caulks....

Y'know, thinking about it, I can't see any reason why I can't just dump
the contents of a caulk gun cartridge out into a tub and just brush
that on.

I can, having tried to work with caulk from a can whose seams broke in the
gun. No brush I know of will work, you'll need a putty knife. The only
nearly brushable stuff I can think of is something like the waterproof
cement I painted the cinderblocks with. Like pancake batter, but you could
use a wallpaper brush to apply it. Maybe there's a similar caulking
product.

--
Bobby G.

On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:38:44 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

Tell me more about the smoke stick test. I assume they're pushing air into
the house at a pretty high CFM rate and that they use the smoke stick (is
that what we used to call a "punk" used for lighting fireworks?) to find
where the pressurized air is escaping from the house. I've got several very
high powered window fans that I could use for the test if I can generate the
same sort of airflow. $300 is a lot of dinero for something I could do
myself. I don't need techincal specs about air exchanges as much as I need
to know where to squire the foam and caulk! (-: If you can describe what
they did with the smoke stick I think I can tell whether I am able to
emulate the process.

Thanks for your input!

You can buy a "smoke pencil" , but cheaper incense works just as well
for finding drafts.*

http://www.eartheasy.com/live_cheapheat.htm

"Oren" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:38:44 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

Tell me more about the smoke stick test. I assume they're pushing air
into
the house at a pretty high CFM rate and that they use the smoke stick (is
that what we used to call a "punk" used for lighting fireworks?) to find
where the pressurized air is escaping from the house. I've got several
very
high powered window fans that I could use for the test if I can generate
the
same sort of airflow. $300 is a lot of dinero for something I could do
myself. I don't need techincal specs about air exchanges as much as I
need
to know where to squire the foam and caulk! (-: If you can describe what
they did with the smoke stick I think I can tell whether I am able to
emulate the process.

Thanks for your input!

You can buy a "smoke pencil" , but cheaper incense works just as well
for finding drafts.*

http://www.eartheasy.com/live_cheapheat.htm

Sounds like a cigarette would work too. Thanks!

--
Bobby G.

On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 16:16:09 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

"Oren" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:38:44 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

Tell me more about the smoke stick test. I assume they're pushing air
into
the house at a pretty high CFM rate and that they use the smoke stick (is
that what we used to call a "punk" used for lighting fireworks?) to find
where the pressurized air is escaping from the house. I've got several
very
high powered window fans that I could use for the test if I can generate
the
same sort of airflow. $300 is a lot of dinero for something I could do
myself. I don't need techincal specs about air exchanges as much as I
need
to know where to squire the foam and caulk! (-: If you can describe what
they did with the smoke stick I think I can tell whether I am able to
emulate the process.

Thanks for your input!

You can buy a "smoke pencil" , but cheaper incense works just as well
for finding drafts.*

http://www.eartheasy.com/live_cheapheat.htm

Sounds like a cigarette would work too. Thanks!

Incense is cheaper.

"Oren" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 16:16:09 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

"Oren" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:38:44 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

Tell me more about the smoke stick test. I assume they're pushing air
into
the house at a pretty high CFM rate and that they use the smoke stick
(is
that what we used to call a "punk" used for lighting fireworks?) to
find
where the pressurized air is escaping from the house. I've got
several
very
high powered window fans that I could use for the test if I can
generate
the
same sort of airflow. $300 is a lot of dinero for something I could
do
myself. I don't need techincal specs about air exchanges as much as I
need
to know where to squire the foam and caulk! (-: If you can describe
what
they did with the smoke stick I think I can tell whether I am able to
emulate the process.

Thanks for your input!

You can buy a "smoke pencil" , but cheaper incense works just as well
for finding drafts.*

http://www.eartheasy.com/live_cheapheat.htm

Sounds like a cigarette would work too. Thanks!

Incense is cheaper.

Not if I bum one from my chain smoking neighbor! (-: And it's a public
service, too. One less cigarette to gum up his lungs.

--
Bobby G.