No wonder its draughty!

[TheMitchells]

For ages I have felt quite cold sitting next to our patio doors🥶, but I love sitting there to watch the birds outside.  However, i finally really looked today and after feeling a cold breeze/draught in the corners, i got out the thermal camera and found in the actual corner, it was down to 1oC, its minus 5oC outside.  So I pulled back the carpet and trim and found large gaps at the side.  I watched the guys instal the doors in 2019 and saw them spraying in expanding foam around the frame itself so thought that should be okay.  But it must have left some gaps. 

 

I have been out and bought some Polyfilla expanding foam and sprayed it into the gaps.  I shall let you know how much of a change it is, after it dries and I get it all trimmed, ready for the carpet and trim. 😁If it works, i may have to look for more areas to fill - dont want to waste the majority of the can and I hate draughts!

[TheMitchells]

I love my current house but every winter we suffer from cold rooms and draughts.  Most of it come from behind fitted units in the kitchen and other places where there is obviously penetrations. But the OH refuses to remove the cupboards so we can insulate (I agree it would be difficult so understand his reluctance).  The heating is blown warm air and it is quick to warm up but also quick to lose heat.  The build is timber, with some (not much) insulation, membrane then plasterboard on the inside, brick facade on the outside. 

I have watched the YouTube videos of Mindsparx, and it looks very similar to how he builds his place, but without the second layer of insulation.  It was built by Americans for their Air force personal with good sized rooms, but I wish they had added the extra insulation and taped the joins. 

 

[TheMitchells]

Edited Saturday at 12:01 by TheMitchells

[TerryE]

Good catch.

 

If you have an imaging camera like yours, then you really should have a systematic explore around house, especially around all fenestration edges and corners, so you know where you bridges and air leaks are.  Fixing them can often be simple and cheap -- just tedious; this can save a lot on your heating bills as well as addressing mould and damp issues. 

 

Don't forget to wrap up and do the same from the outside looking at the fabric.  This will sometimes catch thermal leaks / bridges that aren't too visible from the interior check.

[MikeGrahamT21]

I’ve been doing exactly the same this winter, decided to buy a very similar model of camera to you. Be warned…it becomes rather addictive! 😂 

 

I’ve found a few air leaks I didn’t know were there, and a few areas where I’d not settled the insulation quite right leaving thin areas, all really easily sorted with the thermal camera 

[JamesP]

@TheMitchells @MikeGrahamT21

Is this the kit you are using or similar?

[MikeGrahamT21]

3 hours ago, JamesP said:

@TheMitchells @MikeGrahamT21

Is this the kit you are using or similar?

I’ve got the B01 model, same manufacturer 

[Nickfromwales]

Just a heads-up, if going around squirting foam into every nook and cranny you should really be using a closed cell foam which won't bridge damp or wick moisture  

 

Illbruck 330 is my favoured product, which is also rated as air tight too. Completely different beast when cured also, and cures much hardier and more resilient imo.

 

Random grab:

 

https://www.fixingsstore.com/illbruck-fm330-pro-expanding-foam-air-seal/p/5519?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyoi8BhDvARIsAO_CDsDsUOSd1ufBQNY2aiJoovQP-mt6AUDHFNJm0pC2UxkeJ-7QR_AXukIaAvhFEALw_wcB

 

My window guy was actually refusing to foam around my new windows as he had issues previously and had seen many jobs where foam was a culprit for damp issues around the openings.

 

I showed him the 330 and I proceeded to fill every last god-damned mm of every void we found...... "on my head be it, said he" as he was a lovely guy but no industry expert so to speak and didn't really understand the difference.

[Mike]

4 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Illbruck 330 is my favoured product, which is also rated as air tight too

+1; a very good product.

[saveasteading]

Carelessly used expanding foam has cost me £thousands.

It once expanded out of a metal clad  wall and stuck to the outsides. Replacement required.

It was Mr Nobody as usual.

 

I would worry about it doing the same to windows.  

Can it be controlled?

 

Also it is used excessively as a bodge to hide poor work, and  that can't be removed to do it properly.

[SBMS]

Question - how could someone incorporate this into their self build at say first fix phase (so Wind and watertight but pre

plaster)?

 

would be great to catch anything at this stage by going round with a thermal camera, but with no heating source in the building what would people recommend? An electric radiator in each room?!

[TheMitchells]

15 hours ago, JamesP said:

@TheMitchells @MikeGrahamT21

Is this the kit you are using or similar?

thats the one.  small screen but otherwise, no complaints. 

[TheMitchells]

12 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Just a heads-up, if going around squirting foam into every nook and cranny you should really be using a closed cell foam which won't bridge damp or wick moisture  

 

Illbruck 330 is my favoured product, which is also rated as air tight too. Completely different beast when cured also, and cures much hardier and more resilient imo.

thanks, will get some of that for all future work.  i used Polycell expanding foam polyfilla, as I didnt know any different.  Did try to find something that didn't expand too much but there was not much choice locally.  As usual, the description sounded like it would be ideal.

[MikeGrahamT21]

Soudal flexi foam is another product in the same category as IB330

[TheMitchells]

1 hour ago, MikeGrahamT21 said:

Soudal flexi foam is another product in the same category as IB330

i think thats the one the window installers used.  they left me some when they'd finished. but i used it up on our renovation. 

[TheMitchells]

Success!  after trimming the foam, there were hardly any draughts and the temp was much better.  I still need to add sealant to the very fine gap alongside the vertical trim. But happy with result. 😁

 

 

 

And it was this cold! Our gorgeous Lab still enjoying her walks at aged 13 1/2!

 

[SteamyTea]

I had an annoying draught from the door cill. 

Kept putting off repairing it for years.

Lady year I got around to it, took 2 minutes, was a couple of loose screws.

[Sparrowhawk]

23 hours ago, TheMitchells said:

I love my current house but every winter we suffer from cold rooms and draughts.  Most of it come from behind fitted units in the kitchen and other places where there is obviously penetrations. But the OH refuses to remove the cupboards so we can insulate (I agree it would be difficult so understand his reluctance).

If you remove the baseboards, have a look along the wall-floor joint with your thermal camera. You may find there's a little draught coming up there which you can fix without removing the cupboards. Also if you know where the penetrations are, a multitool will let you cut an access hatch in the back of the cupboards to get to them. The damage can be hidden by gluing a new hardboard back over the existing one (trimmed to size) so future buyers won't know there's any damage.

[TheMitchells]

25 minutes ago, Sparrowhawk said:

If you remove the baseboards, have a look along the wall-floor joint with your thermal camera. You may find there's a little draught coming up there which you can fix without removing the cupboards. Also if you know where the penetrations are, a multitool will let you cut an access hatch in the back of the cupboards to get to them. The damage can be hidden by gluing a new hardboard back over the existing one (trimmed to size) so future buyers won't know there's any damage.

Good ideas.  have been putting up with the cold from the kitchen cupboards for over 20 years and now we hope to move in a couple of months so I will not bother here.  😀 But i shall certainly look at do this at the next place if needed.  The draught from the patio doors was worth doing as we still have 2 months of winter weather to put up with.  Its only with the thermal camera that i realised how much of a draught there was.  Typically, as soon as I stop the draught, the temperatures are going up! 😁