After 12 28oz tubes of acoustical caulk, was tape a better performing option?
Hey there,
So I did a lot of acoustical caulking in my small addition after reading about it here. Maybe overkill. Overall cost wasn’t a concern and neither was time at night doing it with the kiddos in bed. Caulked all sheathing/studs, double stacked studs, top and bottom plates.
Looking back, was tape an option? Is it possible tape would perform better in the long wrong?
Thanks for the thoughts.
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Replies
Ryan_SLC,
Perhaps a better question might be: would your efforts have been better directed elsewhere? If your primary air-barrier is the sheathing, and you diligently seal it on the outside at the perimeter and in the field, there isn't much to be gained sealing each stud bay, or between doubled up structural members.
Locating the primary air-barrier at the exterior takes care of the problem of air-leakage from the conditioned space, but in most cases you still want a secondary interior air-barrier to stop moist interior air from moving through the wall to the exterior sheathing. After completing the primary air-barrier, that's what I would concentrate on detailing effectively, not the space between the two.
Are 12 28oz tubes of caulk a lot for a small addition? Yeah, that's crazy.
hahaha, to be fair, they did a ton of studs.