Blower door test cost
Not including the cost of the blower door test itself, I am looking for a ROM materials and labor cost per ft-2 to seal up a conventional 2 x 4 framed house, sheathed, sided, windows, doors, stud bays, lid, etc.....?
If someone that has done it can estimate labor hours to get to 5-7 ACH-@ 50 I can factor my local labor rate. Please include the trail and errors, IR and smoke back and forth, etc. Or if you sealed up some ft-2 home let me know how long it took...
Thanks!
Asked by Terry Lee
Posted Aug 20, 2014 11:07 AM ET
Edited Aug 20, 2014 11:51 AM ET
Posted Aug 20, 2014 11:07 AM ET
Edited Aug 20, 2014 11:51 AM ET
Tags: PassivHaus
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2000sqft home 20--40 hours would get air sealing below 3 ACH.
Materials $500 t0 thousands from low tech to PH supplies.
Example of simple; caulk plates, boot penetrations, tape Zip sheathing, no chimneys.
Posted Aug 20, 2014 11:18 AM ET
Terry,
Don't confuse blower door testing with air sealing.
It's possible to combine the two functions, of course, using a method called blower-door-directed air sealing. But you really shouldn't wait for the end of the project to tackle air sealing.
Air sealing needs to happen at every step of the construction process, and needs to be performed by the framers, window installers, plumbers, electricians, and sometimes the roofers and the drywall crew. If you have to begin thinking about air sealing at the end of the job, it's too late.
Ideally, the blower door test just confirms that you have already done a good job.
Posted Aug 20, 2014 11:48 AM ET
Perhaps I need to clarify. We all read about how monolithic walls and perhaps roof designs such as concrete produce better air sealing simple because of the bond the binder such as high strength portland cement creates to just about anything it comes in contact with especially sharp aggregate, although sealing would still be an effort at penetrations. Compared to stick builds, or layering, with many gaps to seal with sealants that are not as robust as Martin points out may need several iterations of pressurized air sealing, seek and destroy gaps that can get tricky and time consuming in determining what gaps are worth sealing. That is where an experienced crew comes in and pays for themselves. What I am trying to determine is a knock down factor to the cost of blower door test sealing for the monolithic designs. I just have no idea what the baseline is the knock down factor is? Hope that makes sense.
AJ sounds reasonable, 20 hours on average, $500 in material baseline?
Posted Aug 20, 2014 2:42 PM ET
Are you asking for new or existing buildings??
Posted Aug 21, 2014 12:51 PM ET
new, opps forgot to mention.
Posted Aug 22, 2014 7:52 AM ET