# cold air draft in wall



## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

Check the area above the foundation where the sill and rim joist are. You might need to insulate this area.
Ron


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## Chemist1961 (Dec 13, 2008)

Ron has a good idea about the rim and sill but it`s trickey on a finished wall. I used expansion foam to creap into the gaps and pulled and replaced all the fibreglass around my basement windows with foam. I did my whole basement , sill rim joist and tops and sides of adjoining joist bays last fall and my gas bill seemd to drop about 10% when adjusted for temp so time well spent. 
However unless you have a large gap there I would look at the patio door area and window opening as well for that draft. I can feel a draft area around the header in my garage entrance door. I susupect it is leaking up through the vertical 2 X 10`s and into the joist area above. I`m replacing the door so will fix it then.
If you only seal the draft at the panel you are still trapping the cold behind your drywall


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## JMD (Mar 11, 2009)

*Energy Audit*

Check with your utility company to see if they offer discounted or free energy audits. They should be able to use their equiptment to show you areas where you are losing energy not only in your basement but everywhere in your home. Some companies make you use specific auditors and some require you to use the same company to fix the problem but most offer some sort of program. If it's free take advantage of it.


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## rob williams (Mar 13, 2009)

Thanks for the replies guys!! I ended up cutting an access hole through the drywall soffit above this area to see if I could find anything. It turns out that that the bottom of the chase for my gas fireplace is right here. On the bottom of it ,which is outside,they had only put aluminum soffit panels on the bottom,no osb or insulation. The chase was 3' wide ,so I then filled the 3 joist cavities with insulation and caulked around the aluminum on the outside. On the inside I sealed off the joist cavities with insulation as well and no more draft. The drywalled soffit was easily repaired because it had a light knock-down texture on it. I found a good quality knock-down spray pre-mixed in a aerosol can which blended in perfectly. Thanks again!!


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