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Posted by Oren on November 6, 2009, 4:57 pm
On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 16:16:09 -0500, "Robert Green"
>> On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:38:44 -0500, "Robert Green"
>> >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.
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Posted by Robert Green on November 8, 2009, 1:38 am
> On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 16:16:09 -0500, "Robert Green"
> >> On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:38:44 -0500, "Robert Green"
> >> >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.
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Posted by Jules on November 3, 2009, 10:57 am
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.
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Posted by norminn@earthlink.net on November 3, 2009, 11:09 am
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.
>
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Posted by Jules on November 3, 2009, 3:30 pm
On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:09:15 -0500, norminn@earthlink.net 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
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