Shorts

This cold weather has rudely sparked an intense weatherization of our house. Yesterday I foamed the outlet boxes in the walls to cut out some draft. Did exactly like this site: http://www.oneprojectcloser.com/seal...rical-outlets/

I got a bunch of exterior caulk to do around the windows/siding once the temp warms up. Not looking forward to sealing the upstairs windows.

I'm poking around under the cabinets of the sinks today. I plan to foam the holes in the wall where the pipes come in. Looks like some meathead with a hammer "cut" holes for the plumbing. As I'm crawling on the floor I feel a really cold draft from te bottom front end of the cabinet. I press the side of my face to the floor to look underneath and there's a 1" gap between the bottom of the cabinet and the vertical kick plate. The cobwebs are even blowing in the breeze

What the heck is that gap for? Seems like its a housing subsidy for free-loading critters. This gap is present on the kitchen cabinets and all the bathroom cabinets. How should I seal that gap up? I was thinking of some wood trim pieces running the length, then caulking any gaps.

Fronty Owner

probably from the house settling...
pack it with foam or fiberglass insulation and move on.

Lary Ellis (Top)

Ahhhhhhh the old under the cabinet pneumonia hole

Like fronty said I would shove some insulation under there or some foam rubber to seal the gap. Depending on how large it is, some qtr round molding nailed in place or depending on the size of the toe kick it might be easier to glue rubber baseboard to it... just some ideas for you

SIXSLUG

That's a style of cabinet base that allows heat from a duct to travel out across the floor if you have forced air.

What I would do is get under the house and stuff any large holes with steel or bronze wool, then coat them with some expanding foam. Next go to the lumber yard and get a can of contact cement and some 1/8" veneer to match your cabinets and rip strips to fit the toe kick and glue in place.

Shorts

Thanks for the suggestions yall. I think the trim will be the way to take care of it. I just spray foamed around the plumbing and that's helped a good bit. I won't be able to get under the house though. I have a cement slab foundation.

Last thing I need to do is apply new weather stripping to the front and garage entry doors.

Scotty

Just be careful with the expanding foam. Sometimes its better to use the non expanding.
As soon as I feel a draft I have to find the source of the draft...then stop it.
I had a heck of a time stopping one that I thought was coming from the outside wall at the back of the kitchen cupboards. This fall when I was framing the basement walls, I found the hole that was funneling the cold upwards from the floor joists. For some reason this house has a floor joist that sits on the concrete basement walls and then about 3/4" inwards from the concrete there is another double beam. The cold air was seeping in from in between the concrete and wood. When I closed off the 3/4" gap, it forced the cold air up into the kitchen. I tool the framing off the beam and filled the gaps with non expanding foam and then I filled the slot between the two beams with batt insulation.

annabelle

As SIXSLUG said, make sure the gap under the cabinets is not intended for forced air heating, or is a part of a whole house vacuum system. Since you are on a slab on grade, closing off the wall penetrations and sill plate should be sufficient. Only worry about he aesthetic gap under the cabinets if it bothers you.

Shorts

Scotty, good call on the non-expanding foam. I purchased some DAPtex foam.


annabelle, I'm pretty certain the cabinets have nothing to do with the air system. But is there a telltale sign I should look for? Our intake vents are elsewhere in the house and the outlet vents are all known.

ofcmarc

During my pregnant wife's recent illness she swore up and down for a week that our bedroom window had a draft. After checking it out and assuring her that there wasn't one and her assertion that there most definitely was she then noticed that the draft she was noticing was just my breathing......

She's due in May. I'm still holding my breath........

Redleg

I thought you were calling for a beer meeting......

chaikwa

That's along the lines I was thinking too! I thought he was going to tell us he had a keg under the sink.

AkTallPaul

I don't know if I would have foamed where the pipes come in, that might let heat into the wall...anybody that puts water lines in exterior walls should have their head examined...I know not everybody lives in the cold regions...But look at all the damage this week.

annabelle

You would see some type of duct, either it would be supply for the heat or intake for the vacuum.

ofcmarc

That would be the Birchwood subdivision that was part of Ft. Wainwright. Every one of those places has a patch right next to the rear door where they had to fix the frozen lines from the upstairs baths and laundry........Idiots.

Shorts

Can you explain a little more about letting heat into the wall with foam please?

Two of the four sinks have pipes on the ext wall. One is even on the north side Now, I can probably make an assumption about the workers that built this house and it would probably explain why the location of the plumbing in the walls wasn't a consideration House was built in '85.