Is the cold air being felt at the base of the interior walls as well as the perimeter walls? Is it worse at ground floor level than 2nd floor level?

 

Thanks for your response. Cold air is only coming through at the ground level on the perimeter walls where the floor meets the bottom of the wall. There is no cold air coming in on the second floor.

 

Following your reply to SS,
With today's knowledge of air sealing it would be expected that they at least sealed the bottom plate to the concrete. In addition, they should have sealed the drywall to that plate and added a case of caulking to the rest of the exterior framing. Impossible for any home builder today to not know how important air sealing is. Unfortunately it is too late for 90% of what should have been done.

At this point I would have them pull all exterior baseboards off and caulk between the drywall and the floor.

Other areas that should have been automatically upgraded would have been air tight recessed lights (AT and IC rated), foam around all windows and doors behind that trim, all penetrations into the attic, drop ceilings, and more in this link.
https://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/bldrs_lenders_raters/downloads/TBC_Guide_062507.pdf

Good luck,
Bud

 

If you have ever seen a house where the carpet is dirty all along the edge --- that is from a situation like yours.

Question for the pros ---- Isn't it code to have gasket and/or caulking between bottom plate and floor? I would think that would be very obvious during inspection.

 

The foam gasket is there but is depends on the smoothness of the concrete. Our houses are built on the foundation and the slab is poured inside that so the troweling can be pretty iffy. Our houses have a 6mil poly vapour barrier sealed to the floor and around outlets. House wrap is never sealed to the concrete and if it what is expected to stop the air you can see a problem there.

The wood burning fireplace also has a draft and is pulling air from any available hole.

 

As stated the seal below that bottom plate is never perfect thus they should seal the bottom plate to the foundation as well. In addition, the paper thin gaps between the sheathing and the framing plus the same between the drywall and the framing easily allows air to pour right through. Add in the many holes drilled for electrical, plumbing, and heating and the house looks like a block of swiss cheese.

Lots of information everywhere about building an air tight home, that's why I'm surprised these leaks exist.

Bud

 

Thank you all for your posts. I really appreciate it. I want to be as prepared and knowledgeable as possible when I approach the builder. I recently found out that they fired the original framers after they were done with the first level of my house. I'm not sure if it was the framers that would be sealing up that area or another trade. However, I will be approaching the builder about this. I'll let you guys know what I find out thanks again

 

The framers would have been responsible for the sill shield under the bottom plate, it is needed for moisture isolation, termites (?), and air sealing. If you or they were to remove the baseboard trim and possibly door trim on that side you might be able to see if anything was installed. If not, I don't know how it could be retrofitted.

Framers in my area would also install the sheathing which was an opportunity to seal the outside air barrier (that sheathing) to the framing.

There are standards for air leakage and i don't know if your area is required to test to meet some maximum amount of leakage, but energy auditors routinely run blower doors tests to check this.

In addition, especially now that it is getting colder, an infrared inspection while the blower door is depressurizing the house will spot many of the leak areas.

Bud

 

If your house is so drafty, I'd recommend that you also check your fireplace. Mine had a 3/4" gap all around the upper part which basically sucked the warm house air right up the chimney. I got that fixed using angle iron and high temperature caulk, and then decided to build an insulated fireplace draft stopper, using the link below as a guide. The result of these two jobs is a much warmer below grade family room.

https://www.prettyhandygirl.com/build-fireplace-insert-draft-stopper/

 

Have you involved the builder in this matter? Most jurisdictions require the builder to warrant the house for 1 yr. He should be the one to fix it.

 

One more tip, but one of the difficulties in the building industry is that the rules and code requirements are often under local control. In some states all construction falls under state guidelines while in others those guidelines may not exist at all. For your discussion with the builder you need to know what the governing rules are and add that to your contract (hopefully you have a signed contract).

What state are you in?

Bud

 

If draft seal was required but skipped, you need evidence other than the "feel". Any insulation is not perfect. It slows the heat loss/gain, and never stops it totally. Draft will be always there. If you want the builder to honor the warranty, you will need location by location evidence that sealing the house was sub standard.

 

It is my understanding that Tyvek or similar products are used to prevent the air infiltration problem being discussed. Was there none used in the construction of this house?

 

I have the same issue, and in my case it's because whoever installed the vapour barrier back in the 60's did not bother to tape any seams! I had a spot near my patio door that also had a big gap in the insulation and the baseboards and drywall used to get frost on it. I replaced the patio door and fixed up that general area and it's been good since, but I'd have to do the whole main floor one day.

You could maybe caulk everything as a basic fix, but drywall is porous so it's not going to block the air, but it may still help.