awarren82

I have cold air & water entering the basement from where the bottom of the siding meets the foundation. I have leaves in the basement, so I think the gap is large. My guess is that there is a gap under the siding. Has anyone fixed this before? Remove the bottom siding? Fill in the exterior gap with something? Then fill the interior gap with something too? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

nealtw

Welcome to the site.
Most times you will have the wall bolted the foundation, with some sort of gasket between them. The plywood sheeting usually goes down and covers that crack and then the siding is put on to hide it all. If you have leaves blowing in, you may have a bigger problem. Is the inside of the basement finished or can you see what you have there?

awarren82

Thanks. The inside of basement is not finished. Specifically, the leaves, cold air, and water are coming into the crawl space.

nealtw

Crawl spaces are designed to be cold with vents that allow free airflow.

awarren82

Hmm anybody else? I doubt crawl spaces are supposed to let in water, rain, & leaves from the outside! Plus it's only in 1 space. I believe I have a hole or large gaps in between the siding & foundation, but don't know how to take siding off or what to use to fill in the gap.

nealtw

May you could post a photo or two, from the inside of the crawl space.

awarren82

Here is a picture from inside the crawl space. I see a little hole to the outside, but I don't know how to take off the siding or what to fill in the holes / gaps with. Any help?



http://imgur.com/oSMKIUI

nealtw

Polyurethane Caulk between the wood and the concrete on the inside will stop any wind that you have comming in. On the outside you should have 6 to eight inches of concrete showing above ground level and below siding. I can't figure out how you would get leaves coming in what ever holes you have there.

awarren82

Thank you. Do you know how I would get the siding off and back on?

nealtw

Depending on what kind of siding you have maybe. But behind the siding you might find that the plywood sheeting extends down about 1" lower than that gap you are trying to fix.
I'm still a little lost, is this a basement or a crawl space?