Vapor barriers and drafty wall outlets.

[kevins_news]

Two questions here.

#1. I was hanging a curtain rod outside wall in our living room. Drilled a hole in the drywall so I could put in an anchor for the screw.. In the process i drilled a bit to far and punctured the vapor barier. I tested by poking a long nail through the hole in the drywall and there is definetly a thick plastic sheet back there with a hole where i drilled. Is a single small hole like this a problem at all?

#2. We were painting an inside wall (it connects perpendicularly to an outside wall) and I noticed a slight draft (cold air coming through the outlet into the room) when i was putting the faceplate back on an electrical outlet. The outlet is about 10 feet from the outside wall. Is this expected? If i can do something to help fix this... what?

In my constant quest for energy efficiency I'm never sure if the things i worry about ar extremely minor little things that really won't help even if i fix them.

Background: House is new, built in 2002. Near Toronto Ontario Canada.

Our basement is unfinished. The walls consist of studs with pink insulation between them. Then a thick plastic sheet has been screwed into the studs from floor to ceiling. I assume that same type of vapor barrier is upstairs in my question #1 even though i've never seen inside the wall to know.

Any thought appreciated. Kevin

[SQLit]

There are foam pieces made for weather proof boxes. Your going to play heck finding just them for a bargain. I believe I saw some in an Ace a while back. My googled got this

Air movement is common in walls. My interior walls do the same thing when it goes warm down here 40+C.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, If the house is that new, the outlet boxes should have plastic sheet shroud installed before drywall went up. That hole you punctured can be sealed by sqeezing in a dap of sealant. Foam pads to go behind the switch or duplex plate does help. They're cheap. Is the vapour barrier joint are pasted together with sealant? Tony Calgary

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