One of the most important repairs homeowners should make this time of year is air sealing the home. The U.S. Department of Energy reports that 30 to 50 percent of all home energy use is due to air leakage. Thus, air sealing acts as one of the best ways to conserve energy and save money.Other advantages to air sealing the home include enhancing comfort, keeping pests outside, controlling dust, minimizing allergy irritants, decreasing noise pollution and reducing condensation.
While caulk was once the material of choice for this task, increasingly foam sealants, such as Great Stuff, are taking its place.
The advantages of foam over caulk include greater expansion properties that allow it to fully fill gaps or holes. Foam assumes the shape of the cavity and does not shrink. Also, foam sticks to most surfaces including wood, metal, masonry, glass and most plastics. It is also compatible with polystyrene and polyurethane foam insulation board.
Great Stuff is an economical all-purpose, polyurethane foam sealant that insulates and air-seals cracks and holes around window and door frames, plumbing and wiring penetrations, cracks in walls and air/heating vents. One 12-ounce can yields about 250 feet of cured foam. This is equivalent to about 20 tubes of caulk.
The Great Stuff home fix-up specialists offer these tips to help with home repairs.
- Avoid trying to tackle every job in a day or weekend. Better to pace yourself and select one or two repair jobs to avoid frustration and burn-out.
- Enlist the help of neighbors and friends. It's likely their homes are equally ravaged by the weather. Helping out with their repairs, or even trading tasks you're each better equipped to tackle is a great way to socialize while getting the job done.
- Use the right materials. Pity the laborer who tries to cut corners by substituting cheaper materials or not completing a critical rewiring job. These shortcuts will come back to haunt you in the end.
