Our floors are freezing!
Our home is 2 years old. It was built on a concrete slab. We have an open floor plan with rolled vinyl in the kitchen, entryway and half bath. The living room has builder grade carpet. Our windows are also builder grade and it shows. burrr.
We plan to redo the floors and windows on the main floor to reduce the bitter cold we experience every winter. I am hoping to get some real answers on how to insulate this floor properly so that we can were socks on the floor in the winter. We would like an engineered wood floor but we are open to a better floor if it helps our heating bill and general comfort. I am also looking for best solution for new windows. Fiberx by Anderson, vinyl or wood windows?
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Where is the home located and what type windows do you have at present ? 2 year old windows being torn out and replaced is quite probably not a good investment , especially if you're thinking of replacing them with Andersen's . A good american window is still a terrible wall .
Hi Richard, we live in southeast Michigan. The house is newer but we can feel air coming through gaps where the top and bottom window meet. we are using unattractive plastic and clay to seal those leaky windows.
Cold floors are often a sign of a leaky house, the cold air comes in and sinks. The floors themselves may not be poorly insulated. Often air sealing the house can be done rather inexpensively. In the winter an incense stick can be used to detect drafts and see where they're coming from.
Read everything you can on "Air Sealing" a house.
Look at your electrical panel to see if you have a sticker with a bunch of energy efficiency information which may (if it is there) include the results of the blower door test done on your house. Consider having your own blower door done as a baseline.
Start air sealing. You can do ALOT of this yourself. Start around the windows - you might be able to seal the leaks around the windows with caulking that you apply yourself. Other common sources of leaks are around electrical outlets, etc. You can make a huge improvement doing these things.
Often it is not the windows themselves - it is how the windows are installed. You wrote you can feel air where the top and bottom of the window meet - do you mean you have single or double hung windows and the air is coming through where the two sashes meet? If so, are you sure the windows are properly closed? Look up the type of window they are - make a model - and see if you can get information on the infiltration rating of the window, or if you can get the mfg rep to come out and take a look at the window. It might be something as simple as the weather stripping was removed or damaged during construction....