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Frank

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I had to do some sheetrock work beneath my window and when I pulled the baseboard off I noticed that there were different size gaps in the flooring of the wood and I can feel cold air coming through different spots from underneath the house which is a crawl space.

I was wondering what could I do to fill these gaps. Should I try some type of caulk since the baseboard will cover up that part of the floor and nothing will be seen?

I definitely do not want to make many different cuts but I thought about it and I would have to use some type of RotoZip or really fast reciprocating tool but then again what do I do about the cold air coming through.

Thank you
 

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Is your floor insulated on the crawlspace side? It should be insulated to an R-19 factor. If it is not then I would get it insulated ASAP.

If it is insulated and you just want to fill in these gaps at the base plate, that can be done with pieces of fiberglass insulation stuffed into the cracks.

The trick here is to stop the air movement.
 
No it's not. The wind is coming in from under the rim joist I believe
 
Can you cut some foamboard to fill the holes?
 
Either pack those gaps tightly with tufts of fiberglass insulation, jammed in with a tool like a paint stirrer or putty knife.
Or carefully fill with minimal expanding spray foam.
After it dries, shave off the extra.
Put blue painters tape down to protect the flooring and wall.
And go underneath and insulate the crawl space.
You can install fiberglass in the joist spaces, and support it with little pieces of stiff wire made just for that purpose.
 
Either pack those gaps tightly with tufts of fiberglass insulation, jammed in with a tool like a paint stirrer or putty knife.
Or carefully fill with minimal expanding spray foam.
After it dries, shave off the extra.
Put blue painters tape down to protect the flooring and wall.
And go underneath and insulate the crawl space.
You can install fiberglass in the joist spaces, and support it with little pieces of stiff wire made just for that purpose.
Yea I was thinking about something like that.

I'm thinking insulation (batts) will be much more clean because the foam will rip apart when I pull up the blue tape.
 
Spray foam (in a can) will work just fine and will expand to seal the gap. Jamming finerglass in there offers no insulation at all.
 
Spray foam (in a can) will work just fine and will expand to seal the gap. Jamming finerglass in there offers no insulation at all.
The OP is trying to physically block cold drafty air blowing in.
Not trying to insulate those little gaps.
So highly compressed fiberglass would work, and does not need the trapped air effect that fiberglass normally provides.
Meanwhile, I agree that minimal expanding spray foam, carefully and neatly applied, would be better.
The OP does not properly grasp the concept of applying blue painters tape to the surrounding wall and floor board surfaces.
After shaving off excess, the tape can be pulled off, which will leave clean flooring, and smooth walls to replace the baseboards.

I had suggested he insulate from below, with fiberglass batts suspended up in the joist spaces
 
I hate to be obvious here. Until that floor is insulated, filling in the cracks will have little effect. It's like filling those cracks with the windows and doors left open.

The floor needs to be insulated from the crawlspace side and those cracks at the sill plate need to be stuffed with insulation to stop the air movement. This can all be done at the same time.

Insulation is just not that expensive and it will pay for itself in reduced energy costs.

The OP's situation can be fixed for a few hundred dollars. That is money well spent.
 
I hate to be obvious here. Until that floor is insulated, filling in the cracks will have little effect. It's like filling those cracks with the windows and doors left open.

The floor needs to be insulated from the crawlspace side and those cracks at the sill plate need to be stuffed with insulation to stop the air movement. This can all be done at the same time.

Insulation is just not that expensive and it will pay for itself in reduced energy costs.

The OP's situation can be fixed for a few hundred dollars. That is money well spent.
You're the first person to address the issue head on but I was just curious on what responses I could get. The se al joist. I mean the rim joist needs to be sealed at the source of the problem so if we can stop that then we can slow down a lot of the air but the main problem is how. It can be done with fiberglass insulation or insulation bats or foam. The best thing to do is use 2-in foam as a thermal bridge or a thermal break but the problem is I have to get my foundation fixed before I do any insulation and I already know this but the problem is thrasher which is a basement and foundation company want every bit of $30,000 and I can't cough up that type of money.

So I will have to try and fix everything myself with the help of some people and after the foundation is fixed because it is cracked then I will see about insulating the foundation walls with 2-in foam and sealing the rim joists with foam and 2-in foam board
 
What's stopping you from installing R-19 fiberglass batts between the floor joists now?
Because it can lead to a moisture problem and then it could be like a wet blanket and then mold will set up
 
Because it can lead to a moisture problem and then it could be like a wet blanket and then mold will set up

The insulation should not be getting wet unless you have a leak from above. Occasional water running though the crawlspace , although not desirable, will not affect the insulation if the vapor barrier is installed properly.

I take it that you are living in the house at the present time.

I had a friend that didn't want to insulate his floor about 10 years ago because he was getting ready to move and sell his house. It would have cost him about $300 at that time to insulate the floor. Today he still lives in the house and the floor is still not insulated and he complains that his gas bill is sky high and wants to move to a more energy efficient home.
 
The insulation should not be getting wet unless you have a leak from above. Occasional water running though the crawlspace , although not desirable, will not affect the insulation if the vapor barrier is installed properly.

I take it that you are living in the house at the present time.

I had a friend that didn't want to insulate his floor about 10 years ago because he was getting ready to move and sell his house. It would have cost him about $300 at that time to insulate the floor. Today he still lives in the house and the floor is still not insulated and he complains that his gas bill is sky high and wants to move to a more energy efficient home.
Yea what I REALLY WANT is closed cell down spray but it's $$$$$ and what you install it you cannot see if there's any problem structurally with a joist or anything in the floor
 
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