These benefits make insulated vinyl seem like an easy worthwhile upgrade to.
Fill gap under siding with insulation.
First fill the void with a backing material.
One source of cold air seems to come from under the bottom of the siding where it meets the foundation.
Step 9 plug up larger gaps with pieces of copper scrubbing pad from the hardware store.
Put the batt in place and use a scissors to snip around the box.
Cut it about 1 2 in.
Maybe for moisture reasons or something if not what should i fill this with.
Then fill the space around it with expanding foam.
Remove the loose pieces of insulation in the gap before foaming.
Pick a day when the attic temperature isn t extremely high or low.
Would like to do it once but do it right.
A good diy approach is to cut rigid foam insulation to fit between the joists.
That creates gaps and air convection routes around the box.
Look for minimal expanding foam on the can s label for a cleaner job.
The cold air can then be felt coming out of the outlets and where there are gaps between the baseboard and wood floors.
To help keep air from escaping through the attic seal the gap between the attic hatch door frame and the ceiling joists.
Undersized so it s easy to fit in.
If there aren t large gaps perhaps focusing on attic insulation air sealing around doors and windows etc may more effective.
Shim the rigid foam in place with little chunks of foam.
Later on if you replace the siding you can put on a vapor barrier seal holes add rigid insulation and at that point perhaps seal around the cladding where it meets up to the foundation if you decide to as part of.
In order to fill a gap properly you want to go with a 3 step process.
Don t wrap fiberglass batts around electrical boxes or stuff full batts behind them.
There is what looks like ripped plastic paper but then just a large gap into my basement around the entire house.
The walls do not have insulation and so are hollow spaces cavities.
Fill gaps large and small with expanding foam just spray it into the gap.
The insulation also adds some r value or insulating quality to the siding.
Then enmesh an exclusion material into the foam.
Don t forget to caulk or foam the joint between the sill plate and the foundation too.
Is there supposed to be a direct entrance into my basement under the siding.
Tuck the snipped out plug of insulation behind the box.
Fill in the space between the four sides of the attic hatch door frame and the ceiling joists.
Rodents can chew through spray foam.
By filling the voids behind the siding s stepped profile the insulation makes the complete material stiffer and more resistant to warping and movement than conventional vinyl siding.