WTH are you doing, Eric? You're on the mend....well, you were on the mend. Now, you done and broke it again. Stop it. Right now. Go sit in a chair for a few weeks.
I'm on a slab as well and it has aluminum threshold with a ~1x4 underneath.....just no porch protection. I guess the rain splashing off the brick stoop & some bugs finally rotted it out
I used a piece of 2x2 under the threshold on the shop door. Gave it a couple coats of primer, then a couple coats of very good exterior paint. Been there for 8 years and still in good shape. Gets a lot of eave splash too.
So, since putting in the windows/door, I've spent several days tracking down and sealing dinky little air leaks. Each time I do, the house feels a little better. I'm temping some fin flashing until spring, when the plan may be to redo some of the siding. I'll do a better job then. So, it's been a little colder, and the house is easier to get warm and keep it that way. The "real feel" temp last night was -1, but I had no problem keeping the house warm. Woke up this morning to OAT of about 31, and the house was almost 70. OAT has dropped to about 26 about 5.5 hours later, and all I did was pull the coals up this morning, add a chunk of Ash (I think) on top, and let it go. Added a couple medium splits of Maple on after a couple hours and we're still at 72 in the house. This is nuts. A couple years ago, I would have had to refill the stove with a few more splits about 3 hours after the initial morning small load, and the house would have been down to 67-68 by that time. Still a lot more insulating and sealing to do, but it's so nice to see all the work actually having such a positive effect. Another positive effect..........much lower wood use. I'm still working on Red Maple that should have been gone by now. 1/3 cord of it. This also,...is nuts. At this rate, I'll be 1/2 way into January before that's gone. Unbewiebable, yet twue.
Ok, need to clarify........quite a bit of the reduced wood use is due to the warmer than normal weather. I can tell however, that these improvements I'm making are also having a very nice effect on wood use. Win, Win. If I could just pinpoint where the cold air in this corner of the living room is coming from, then seal it up, I'd be much more comfortable. However, my wife would strangle me if I tore up any more of the house.
Sounds like you're making good headway. My wife was nice enough to point out an air leak last night when the wind was howling. I knew something wasn't quite right when I heard whistling and the curtain was moving a bit. One of these days I need to pop off the inside trim and take a look at how good of a job the window installers didn't do when they replaced that window on the east side of the house. I've already taken care of a few less than stellar installation items they left behind.
This, in a nutshell, is my whole house. I should really just stop working on it. What's that saying..............Ignorance is bliss? I.....just......can't.......
Based on past history, it's a 30 minute fix. When the replacement windows were installed, the installers tucked fiberglass insulation between the existing framing and the bottom of the Windows. It must have been expensive then, because they didn't use enough. On a couple others I took care of, I popped off the trim, removed the fiberglass, shot some low expanding foam in, waiting until it set up, reinstalled the trim and job done. The reason I haven't dealt with this one is I have to move a dresser, bed and a bunch of other stuff so I can work on it. Bad excuse, I know. I see a project in the near future.
We had two large windows in our living room we used the plastic film on. It worked quite well for a while. A little odd to see it move in and out when we had a big SE wind. Eventually we got rid of one window and replaced the other one. Much nicer in there now.
These results sound very good. Any chance the air you are feeling is the exchange of warm air leaving the room and cooler air lower down entering the room? Sounds like you've done wicked good...
Dave, do you use outside air for combustion, or is your stove using room air? If room air then that will cause a draft. My furnace and my stove both use outside air for combustion so I don't create negative air that is replace by cold air coming in every crack available. My house is so air tight now that I would get very poor combustion if I didn't use outside air.
I put in an outside air kit for primary. No way to do it for the other two intakes. Seems to help a lot.
Here too!! Our main living area is remodeled and pretty tight now, but another 1/3 still needs alot of attention that will be done......at some point.....
