Aerosol air tightnes

[Miek]

Hi folks. I'm not quite sure if this is the correct section of the forum for this, but there are sooooo many sections ! 

 

I stumbled upon this air tightness testing and sealing system on YouTube and thought it worth a mention here..

 

http://aerobarrier.net/

 

It's an American system of sealing gaps in a new build using a high pressure door blower set up and an aerosol sealant which is misted into the rooms. The sealant migrates to gaps in the building fabric and seals them up. Allegedly.... 

 

I thought it was a novel approach to air tightness testing anyway

 

Any thoughts from the forum? 

 

Mike 

[MikeSharp01]

Thanks for posting this very interesting - not sure I buy the 'it only goes to the leaks' completely but it looks like it might be a runner.

[willbish]

I've just stumbled across this product; saw a passive house in Vancouver where they brought the air tightness score down from 0.83ACH to 0.16 in 90 minutes. As @MikeSharp01 suggests, I wonder what effect the sealant has when it lands all over the window and door seals because it must travel to all leaking areas indiscriminately.

 

If anything it could be a fall back product if the airtightness level is greater than anticipated/hoped

[Andehh]

Has anyone heard of this in the UK?

[Simplysimon]

2 hours ago, Andehh said:

Has anyone heard of this in the UK?

https://ductsealuk.co.uk/sealing-process/ used for sealing duct work but can't see why it shouldn't be used in a house

[Ommm]

Seems there's now an Aerobarrier franchise in the UK:
https://www.aerobarrieruk.co.uk/

 

Run by Oakwrights from Hereford.  Be interested to know if anyone tries them out.

 

[Russell griffiths]

I’ve been aware of this system for a while, I can only see it being good to fill up small holes rather than 50mm gaps left by your standard builder. 

[Nickfromwales]

44 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

I’ve been aware of this system for a while, I can only see it being good to fill up small holes rather than 50mm gaps left by your standard builder. 

One such builder recently overlooked the AT of the roof, after spending ££££ on the walls etc. So that hole was 140m2 lol.

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, Ommm said:

Seems there's now an Aerobarrier franchise in the UK:
https://www.aerobarrieruk.co.uk/

 

Run by Oakwrights from Hereford.  Be interested to know if anyone tries them out.

 

As above, surely this is just way too indiscriminate? Door-locks would be the first victim, unless it states you have to mitigate against these things before letting it penetrate every last nook and cranny? Can't argue with the stated results in that timeframe.

 

Persimmon homes probably be the first people to give this a whirl    

 

:Phone rings:

 

"Hi, does your product block holes and fill uninsulated voids with sheet insulation?"

"No, sir, why do you ask?".

"It's fine. Just asking for a friend, thanks anyways, bye" 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales lady turns up to then palm off the offending house to another victim, and says, "WTF? I can't get the bloody key in the lock!"

 

[ProDave]

So you have a bit of a leak through a poor window or door seal.  Does that get "fixed" and the door or window now won't open?

[Ommm]

I think part of the service is they tape up windows and doors, as well as other openings like fireplaces or ventilation ducts (and protective stuff on floor coverings). So it only goes in the places where there aren’t supposed to be leaks, as opposed to things that are supposed to open.

 

You’d likely do this once you have an airtight shell but before internal finishing (in the US that’s studs but no drywall). Not sure how that would translate in a typical UK masonry house.

On one of the US videos the sales guy suggested it  could work when a property changes hands, which would be more expensive in terms of prep.

[Nickfromwales]

What about painted surfaces, like reveals around windows etc which would attract the "overspray"?

Is this stuff water-based? Needs a bit more info before I would jump on it, but sounds like a no-brainer if the horse has bolted.

[Iceverge]

Watched my man Matt do it. He explains it all. 

 

https://youtu.be/JYugiSwWoPk

 

I think it's a good product and can make a good score an excellent one. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ommm]

Not sure, but I think the idea is that it precipitates out of the air when the suspension experiences a pressure drop - ie when there’s a route to outside air, the fluid flows through the gap and deposits its load of sealant as it does so.  So it’s targeted at gaps rather than just coating every surface. Since not every sealant drop is going to flow through a gap (especially once the house is now sealed) you have to cover any finished horizontal surface that the sealant could land on (floors, windowsills etc) but not completely cover every wall in plastic. Not sure I’d want to do this on a finished house though. And I don’t know how big gaps it can do (one demo had half inch and a bigger one with gauze across it: think it would take a very long time to seal an open 50mm.

[Miek]

It's water based acrylic and can be cleaned off surfaces easily enough. 

 

Holes upto 12mm can be filled or larger if the hole is meshed first. 

 

I think this has a real potential to improve old housing stock but I expect it is an expensive service currently.  One to watch.

 

 

[Thorfun]

5 hours ago, Iceverge said:

Watched my man Matt do it. He explains it all. 

 

https://youtu.be/JYugiSwWoPk

 

I think it's a good product and can make a good score an excellent one. 

 

 

 

 

 

that definitely looks amazing! but at host dollar prices it'd cost me north of $6000 which, considering how shafted we are in this country with prices, will probably be around £6000. way to steep for me.

[MMcGill]

Just had a quote for a 4000sqft house for this which was quite reasonable… very tempted but would like to find people on here who have already had it done..

[Thorfun]

1 hour ago, MMcGill said:

Just had a quote for a 4000sqft house for this which was quite reasonable… very tempted but would like to find people on here who have already had it done..

Are you with give an indication as to what ‘quite reasonable’ is?

 

I do t remember reading anyone on here using this. Maybe you can be the Buildhub pioneer! 

[MMcGill]

Maybe - think I’ll do a parge coat and air test at first fix, see where I am and decide the ..

[Kelvin]

I’m quite interested in this too. I doubt they cover Scotland though. 

[saveasteading]

It reminds me of the additive they used to sell for leaking car radiators. Some fibrous stuff that filled the holes when the water leaked through the holes. 

Gunked up the rest of the system too.

I think the other problem was that it just sealed the gap but had little thickness or strength.

Same for this airtightness Snibbo?

 

I am so dubious of the merits, apart from making a leaky house pass a test temorarily, that I won't even read up about it.

Let me know if I am wrong!

[ProDave]

53 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

It reminds me of the additive they used to sell for leaking car radiators. Some fibrous stuff that filled the holes when the water leaked through the holes. 

Gunked up the rest of the system too.

It worked for us.  We had an old VW Golf that was leaking where a plastic flange bolted onto a cast iron block for a heater hose.  One look at the two rusty studs and nuts holding it on and I thought there is no whay that is going to undo, and I don't want to be drilling and tapping new holes.  So Radweld did it and stopped the leak for the rest of the time we owned the car and didn't upset anything else.

[SteamyTea]

There is a fair bit on emulsion polymers here, I say a fair bit, I cannot be bothered to read it.

[Ommm]

1 hour ago, saveasteading said:

It reminds me of the additive they used to sell for leaking car radiators. Some fibrous stuff that filled the holes when the water leaked through the holes. 

Gunked up the rest of the system too.

I think the other problem was that it just sealed the gap but had little thickness or strength.

Same for this airtightness Snibbo?

 

I am so dubious of the merits, apart from making a leaky house pass a test temorarily, that I won't even read up about it.

Let me know if I am wrong!

What I would be tempted to do is look for the telltale white gunk that's collected around a leak, and then go over it with something stronger.  The gunk is just acrylic sealant, so for example filling a void with expanding foam and then putting sealant on top might be sturdier than just the sealant itself.  You might also want to think about using something that can flex based on movement, given the spray is only happening at one temperature and it's not clear how well the acrylic sealant will flex with expansion and contraction.

 

Following the radiator leak example, I wonder if they could put UV dye into it so the gunk can be seen more easily? :-)

[saveasteading]

1 minute ago, Ommm said:

UV dye into it so the gunk can be seen more easily? 🙂

Patent that. Not a permanent seal, but an indicator.

Otherwise it sounds a bit like putting masking tape over the leaks.