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Air sealing an old Victorian

Qschultz | Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on

Current siding on my Victorian is bad and needs to be replaced. We did a blower door test and it came back at 17ACH. Was wondering what my ACH would drop down to after doing Tyvek + new vinyl siding. Also wanted to know how much more it would drop if I added rigid foam board? How much would it change if I added tape on the seams of the foam board? Just trying to weigh all of my options and get the best bang for my buck.

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Replies

  1. GBA Editor
    Patrick Mccombe | | #1

    You really need blower door directed air-sealing in addition to the test to find out where the house is leaking. Once you know that, seal big and easy leaks first. Vinyl siding alone, because it's ventilated will not improve hour houses' airtightness.

    1. Qschultz | | #9

      My biggest issue is I can’t find anyone around here who does blower door tests. I got the original one through my utility company but they had somebody come from 2+ hours away

  2. bpontolilo | | #2

    I agree with Patrick, a good energy auditor can help you prioritize your air sealing efforts so that you are putting your time and money to the best use. Here's an article on Blower Door Directed Air Sealing.

    That said, if you are not going to do that, you have a lot of options when replacing siding. You can tape the sheathing seams or use a peel-and stick WRB (the new housewrap alone won't do too much for air sealing, even if it provides a good water control layer), tape the sheathing to the foundation, seal all penetrations, etc. Gaskets and fluid-applied flashing products may be helpful too. That work will help a lot with air sealing.

    And just a hunch, but then you probably need to get up in your attic to find and seal leaks. check out this article: Air Sealing an Attic. It's a pretty thorough look at this work.

    But, get a good energy audit! Here's a deep dive into two energy audits that is a great example of all you will learn, if you can find the right person to do it.

    1. Qschultz | | #8

      My biggest issue is I can’t find anyone around here who does blower door tests. I got the original one through my utility company but they had somebody come from 2+ hours away

  3. paulmagnuscalabro | | #3

    Qschultz,

    If it makes you feel any better, I recently had a blower door test done on my 1880 house in Montana and it clocked in at 17.4 ACH50. Welcome to the club! It's like camping out in a tent all day, every day, I love it so much!

    If you're open to replacing siding, it's a great time to replace windows as well. That would add up real fast, though. I'm doing my house in sections as time and money allow; rip siding, rip building paper, add peel-and-stick WRB for a water and air control layer, where possible liquid flash where the sill sits on the rubble foundation, exterior insulation, new siding & windows. I'd second Brian's thought that air sealing in the attic is probably a pretty big low-hanging fruit.

    From an aesthetic standpoint, and maybe it's because I was a carpenter in New England for a while, it makes me die a little inside when an old Victorian gets covered in vinyl siding. Victorians tend to have so many cool, intricate details that are impossible to truly replicate in vinyl.

    1. Qschultz | | #7

      I was gonna mention since we got the blower door test done, we did replace a majority of the windows. The vinyl siding is going to look very very similar to the wood siding that’s currently on it. Also houses in my area are $200,000 and under so can’t go super high end around here. You’ll never see that money again if you do

  4. walta100 | | #4

    Vinyl siding on a Victorian! NO! NO! NO!

    You should be burned at the stake for having such a thought.

    Consider selling the house to someone that will love it for what it is. My guess is the house would lose 50% of its value covered in cheap vinyl siding.

    Now I am thinking I have been trolled.

    Start with an energy audit and note the audit is worth what you pay for it. In short, a free audit is worth nothing is most likely it is a fake tool used by bad salesmen.

    What you need is blower door directed air sealing with a before and after test.

    If the rooms on the top floor have sloped ceilings consider opening up the rafters filling the cavity with spray foam from peak to gutter. This brings many of the impossible to seal air leaks inside the thermal envelope and sealing them inside.

    Consider you are more the current caretaker for this bit of history than the owner.

    Walta

    1. Qschultz | | #6

      Yeah the company that came out for the blower door test was tying to upsell me on $300 worth of insulation and air sealing the whole house for $7,500 lol. Since the blower door test was done my carpenter and I replaced most of the windows from the 20’s, insulated the rim joists, caulked all of the windows, and insulated the attic. Also I just bought a thermal imaging camera off of amazon to find some more of the leaks. I’m gonna get another company to come out to do another blower door test soon to see how much it has improved

  5. Expert Member
    KOHTA UENO | | #5

    Out of curiosity, have you already checked out the "Queen of Zero" series at Journal of Light Construction? Retrofit of a Queen Anne Victorian.

    Queen of Zero: A JLC Case Study Home
    This Queen Anne Victorian merges historic architecture with a net-zero standard of high performance.
    https://www.jlconline.com/projects/queen-of-zero-a-jlc-case-study-home_o

    1. paulmagnuscalabro | | #10

      Great recommendation, Kohta - thanks for mentioning that.

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