Sealing Up An Energy Star Home

monticellohomes

I am starting an EnergyStar home and I need to seal up the double top plates and bottom plate to the decking. What is the best product to use? I'm worried caulk would fail and be very labor intensive for installation.

cleveman

sheath with polystyrene or use housewrap.

Milhaus

Housewrap doesn't seal those plates, does it? I could see polystyrene maybe, but I'd still seal them with something. I used caulk on the last house I did, but now that you pose the question, I would think there's something that WOULD last longer. Geocel is the best 'caulk' that I have seen. Check out greenbuildingsupply.com if you want something low VOC (with the Energy Star and all). They do a lot of research on the products they sell. Maybe they have an answer.

mark

buckeyeso2

you can get some real good caulk for $5 bucks a tube. seems like this would be a small price to pay get the rating that you are after. PL sealant or geocel should last a long time, i would think

buildenterprise

Back when I was insulating homes all that was needed for an energy star rating at the plate was a bead of caulk where the plate meets the floor.

monticellohomes

Cleveman, we are already adding DOWs new SIS panel on the exterior for continuous insulation but your studs are still your weak point.

Ill have to check out that website.

neolitic

PL has a low-VOC construction adhesive.
http://www.stickwithpl.com/ProductsL...TION-ADHESIVES

If there is no exposure, deterioration
is minimal.
Not going to be an issue in the life
of the house anyway.

monticellohomes

Im not as worried about the low VOC, the house for the most part will still be airing out so they won't be an issue...and not worth the cost.

scottsanders250

If you're running sheathing on the outside from the bottom of the sill plate to the top of the double top plate, you would only need to run a bead of caulk/sub floor adhesive at the sill plate/sub floor joint after the wall is set. The horizontal joint between the double top plates is sealed by the exterior sheathing.

One place to watch out for and caulk from the inside is if you have joints in the exterior sheathing that don't break over the center of a stud, like where a king and a jack stud are next to each other and the plywood doesn't span the gap for some reason.

It sucks for your back, but it isn't too time intensive to run that bead at the sub floor wall joint since it is only a few continuous beads.

monticellohomes

Good point. We've got spray foam going in the walls so that should help with any of the gaps in the sheathing.

cleveman

I sheathed with polystyrene from the sill plate to the top plate and used sill sealer on the sill plate. I did not use any housewrap or caulk. I put a vapor barrier on the interior. After the infiltration test (blower door), the tester recommended that I have an air exchanger installed or never run the clothes dryer while the water heater was operating. He thought that the house was tight enough that it would cause the clothes dryer to suck the water heater exhaust back down the pipe.

So keep your "caulk" stowed away. You can use it between the window frames and the brick.

Milhaus

cleveman - did you use let-ins for the corners? I've thought about doing that as well.

Did you tape the joints of the polystyrene?

mark

cleveman

I used metal bracing and it was fine. However, it did get a brick veneer and a lot of wall ties as well into the studs, so this doesn't hurt. I used T&G polystyrene, 1", and did NOT tape the joints and did NOT wrap.

cleveman

I thought of something else. I had one exterior door that I wanted to be able to open completely. The other only needed to open at a 90 degree angle because there was a wall close to it.

Anyway, if you use standard door jambs, set the door flush with where the sheetrock will be on the inside. On the exterior, take off the brick moulding and put your extensions on out there, then reapply the brick moulding or put on vinyl moulding. This will save you from having to put extensions on the interior as well as the extension hinges (very expensive) and re-mortise the jamb and door for them.

Morning Wood

I would use a low VOC caulk or subfloor adhesive. I am in the process of building an addition and caulking down the sole plates. You could also check out this site for their building gaskets. I haven't used them, but they look good.
http://www.conservationtechnology.com/
Sill seal works as a capillary break only, not as an air barrier.

sawyerEd

Sometimes we use standard framing techniques for no better reason than "that's the way we always do it". You don't need double top plates in an energy efficient design anyway. We only do this because the framers forgot where the studs were located on the first floor. If you install your vapor retardant layer correctly, inside air never touches the plates. Take a look at an infrared picture of a standard framed wall and you will see why you need to do things a little differently in an energy efficient design.

orson

Here's something to check out both for sill plates and for gluing decking:

http://www.dow.com/PublishedLiteratu...romPage=GetDoc

parts

Most caulks will do they really get no expose in this application. Best to use a battery powered gun though it saves on labor and has very consistent results

Tom Struble

not a good idea to use foam without taping the seams or using house wrap house wrap over the foam.Its very easy for bulk water to pass thru all those seams