Floor to Wall air infiltration

[Jeff Thies]

I've pulled up the corner molding to lay down the new laminate flooring and have noticed that there is a nice gap between the floor and the sill. This in both '29 part of the house and the 70's addition. I'm guessing that is deliberate and is the way hardwood was laid.

Since I have the molding off here, it seems like thing to do is fill it with some of that low expansion foam. I've pushed the underlayment vapor barrier into the cracks. But I wonder what to do with the rest of the house. Is this a significant air leak? Should I stuff fiberglass up to the sill from underneath, or is there another course of action?

Jeff

[Bill who putters]

My home is circa 1970. Insulation was the way to go especially in an all electric house. Remember gas lines ? Well the electric rebate went away ( .08 to .14 per KWH) and we ended up with a wood stove then a gas furnace. But the gift that kept on giving was too much insulation near the soffit and not enough air which resulted in much wood rot that you would think resulted from clogged gutters not the case. Still working on this via aluminum replacement soffit etc. BTW the basement was insulted too but the vapor barrier reversed. I'd guess similar is happening today.

[Jeff Thies]

Oh yeah!

Well the electric rebate went

Argh. Insulation in the wrong place is a problem.

I didn't put one in. It's a bit hard here to tell which way the moisture is moving in Atlanta!

I bought a bunch of unfaced R30 a while back when the despot had it on super sale (cheaper than R11). It is so thick you can split it in half and make twice as much R15. But I like the overinsulated floors. I'm electric space heaters here and solar. If need be I've got a cord or so for the wood stove.

Jeff

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