The outside of the house eventually will be covered with housewrap and rigid-foam sheathing. We decided to hang drywall in the garage shop in FHB’s Project House using the airtight approach, partly to show you how to do it and partly so that the editors could make me do their dirty work. This is especially important where interior walls join exterior walls at rim joists or in places where chases are run for plumbing or electrical work. The air barrier needs to be continuous along the thermal boundary. The first step to airtight drywall is to identify what building scientists call the thermal boundary-insulation to us regular folks. The process for installing drywall as an air barrier is called the airtight-drywall approach and it relies on caulks, sealants, canned foam, and gaskets to seal the weak spots. The weak spots are the seams between sheets and the holes that you have to cut for windows, doors, electrical boxes, and can lights. If you doubt that, try to blow through it. You can stop air on the outside with plywood, housewrap, and tape, but the best air barrier is a system that incorporates the whole wall or roof assembly.Īs it turns out, drywall is excellent at stopping air. Stopping air leaks is the single most important part of making a house more energy efficient. Ferguson demonstrated his technique at FHB ‘s Project House, and this article includes a drawing that shows the exact locations where he applied caulk, foam, and construction adhesive. Window openings are sealed with caulk and polyurethane construction adhesive, large gaps with canned foam, and small gaps with caulk. He then hangs the ceiling, making sure to seal the holes he cuts out for junction boxes and light fixtures with caulk, and to seal the perimeter between the framing and the drywall with canned foam. Ferguson begins an airtight-drywall job by applying flexible caulk to all gaps in the framing and by sealing electrical boxes. Ferguson, makes use of caulks, sealants, canned foam, and gaskets to seal the seams between sheets and to stop airflow through holes cut in the drywall. This approach, described in this article by contributor Myron R. Because drywall is great at stopping air, it can be part of a house’s air barrier when installed using the airtight-drywall approach. Synopsis: If you want to make your house more energy efficient, the first thing to do is stop air leaks.
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March 2023
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