Cold floors and air leaking from the bottom of baseboards - Levittown home
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Have you ever actually used Great Stuff? It expands ridiculously! It should never even be used around window framing because eventually it will warp the frame. Not to mention the gawdawful mess the stuff makes.
The way I read the OP's post -- and maybe I misinterpreted this -- was that he/she is talking about "heating baseboard", because otherwise he would have said "floor moulding" or "base moulding."
In either case a better solution is to use backer rod (sometimes called filler rope) to fill any gap. Backer rod looks like spaghetti that's made of foam (the kind they make pipe insulation from) and comes in diameters ranging from 1/4" to 1" typically. It is used to fill gaps in areas that need to be caulked but have open spaces or gaps. Here's a good video that applies to using it for purposes like the OP's:
If being used underneath heating baseboard you don't need to caulk it, the backer rod will stay in place once wedged between the bottom of the baseboard backplate and the floor. Some brands of heating baseboard have a built-in flange at the bottom but most do not (including the typical brands like Slant/Fin and Embassy.)
If the OP is talking about spaces under baseboard moulding, backer rod can still be used in sections where there are gaps, and then apply the caulk. Uneven flooring can often cause such gaps. I have a room with this situation and along one wall I had to use 1/2" backer rod along most of its length but the rest of it needed only 1/4" backer rod and then at the righthand corner there was no moulding/floor gap at all.
The backer rod itself will insulate; the caulking is only for cosmetics. I have a gap along one outside garage wall that I just filled with 1/2" backer rod, no caulking; the backer rod is gray and so is the garage floor, so it matches perfectly. No muss, no fuss, and the backer rod expands and compresses along with the slight seasonal movement that occurs at any drywall/floor joint. Easy peasy.
Backer rod is sold at Lowes and Home Depot but if you need a lot of it, it's more cost effective to buy it on Amazon where you can get it in 100-ft rolls. The packages in the local stores only have like 10 or 20 ft at most. Also the size sold at Lowes etc is, I believe, 3/8" instead of 1/2"; and that 1/8" can make a difference in fitment.
But for Pete's sake don't use Great Stuff along either kind of baseboard.
Hi BBCJunkie,
Sorry, I should have been more clear in my original post. The issue is been with the small gaps between floor and floor moulding. The house has centralized heating, so dont have heating baseboard.
Energy auditor suggested caulking around the exterior facing walls. We have not seen any major improvement with it.
Posting few IR images for example.
I read about the backer rod. I will try it in rooms where there is carpet. Backer rod could fit there. I am worried about living room where the gap between floor and floor molding is so small that neither "great stuff" nor backer rod could fit.
In that case, is removing the floor moulding my only option? Do I need to do anything on the exterior of my building?
It is a slab foundation. No crawl space. The issue is with all exterior facing walls.
Thanks, that is informative (and what I thought, but wanted to ask rather than assume.)
Part of the problem is that any slab foundation (footing) that didn't originally incorporate slab edge insulation when it was built/poured (and if it's a Levitt-era home it probably didn't) is going to be cold along the outer edge and about 2 feet or so inward from that. It is the nature of the un-insulated beast in cold-winter climates.
Can the situation be fixed? Yes. This Dept of Energy page shows how.
Will it be a cheap fix? Not really. At least not if done by someone who knows what they are doing.
I am surprised that the energy audit person, knowing that you are on a slab foundation, didn't bring this up. Foundation/slab insulation, moisture control, etc etc is (or should be) part of "Construction 101."
The upside to the fix is that if during the excavation process it's found that there are any areas of the footing that are deteriorating, they can be reinforced and repaired.
Thanks, that is informative (and what I thought, but wanted to ask rather than assume.)
Part of the problem is that any slab foundation (footing) that didn't originally incorporate slab edge insulation when it was built/poured (and if it's a Levitt-era home it probably didn't) is going to be cold along the outer edge and about 2 feet or so inward from that. It is the nature of the un-insulated beast in cold-winter climates.
Can the situation be fixed? Yes. This Dept of Energy page shows how.
Will it be a cheap fix? Not really. At least not if done by someone who knows what they are doing.
I am surprised that the energy audit person, knowing that you are on a slab foundation, didn't bring this up. Foundation/slab insulation, moisture control, etc etc is (or should be) part of "Construction 101."
The upside to the fix is that if during the excavation process it's found that there are any areas of the footing that are deteriorating, they can be reinforced and repaired.
I thought the same thing when seeing the IR images, it is very consistent all around. I think air leaks would be a bit random and you would see some variation on the IR. My home is on a slab and I have the same issue with heat in the summer. When temps range between 80 and 115 for weeks that big rock my house sits on heats up and it makes it very hard for my AC to keep it below 77.
If you get it dug up and insulated and you live in area where termites are an issue you should get some Termidor and do a super easy treatment on the perimeter when the soil is almost fully backfilled.
Disturbing the perimeter soil that much might even make it absolutely necessary to redo termite protection.
How much was the energy auditor or how did you get someone to come in to check? Was it PSEGLI? Was it free?
My 1st Floor was changed to an open concept which lacks additional heating units causing the space to be extremely difficult to keep warm so we use space heaters all the time and my energy bills are sky-high in the winter.
Additionally, it seems my steam heat radiators on the second floor aren't strong enough in the wintertime to keep my rooms warm.
Curious if an energy auditor can help to determine why my house is so cold all the time. Wintertime is rough since we crank the heater to 72 for 4 hours just to get it close to temp to stay warm. And I have to warm up the second floor for 2 hours before it gets to temp.
How much was the energy auditor or how did you get someone to come in to check? Was it PSEGLI? Was it free?
My 1st Floor was changed to an open concept which lacks additional heating units causing the space to be extremely difficult to keep warm so we use space heaters all the time and my energy bills are sky-high in the winter.
Additionally, it seems my steam heat radiators on the second floor aren't strong enough in the wintertime to keep my rooms warm.
Curious if an energy auditor can help to determine why my house is so cold all the time. Wintertime is rough since we crank the heater to 72 for 4 hours just to get it close to temp to stay warm. And I have to warm up the second floor for 2 hours before it gets to temp.
Ideas or opinions?
Hi,
To answer a few questions..
Energy audit was free. You can go through the PSEG website, select the contractor. They will come, do the audit and provide you with suggestions on potential improvements.
I went with Green home logic. They provided accurate energy report but the suggestions they provided to fix the air leak issues were not helpful. They even charged me $500 to caulk the house.
Last winter we pretty much used space heaters.
A very helpful gentleman from this forum (Rich - KB inspections) came over to evaluate. Great person and extremely knowledgeable. He provided some temporary fixes. He also recommend a HVAC guy (Total mechanical system). I plan to contact him soon.
You need to get a good hydronic heating contractor in and see if adding radiant heating would be feasible or not. Seems like the only fix with slab on grade homes. Just don’t know if your slab can be utilized for it or if a thin slab could be poured over top of existing ?
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