ER Project House: Basement Pressure Test Results

As I mentioned in the pressure test results, the basement was especially bad. There was tons of air leaking under my basement door as I did the test. So bad, in fact, that I decided to dedicate a separate article for it.

As you see the pictures, keep in mind that the basement is not insulated. So, any cold air that can get in to the basement, and then into the first or second floor is not a good thing. Add to the fact that the basement ceiling isn’t all insulated either, and the problem just gets worse.

This is one of the first sights you see as you come down the stairs. The other two windows in the basement are in roughly the same shape. They could really use some attention.

Next, at the bottom of the stairs, you see this against the wall. It looks like some insulation was stuffed into the gap there. However, sealing against the sill plate in the basement is a huge deal according to many articles. I can guarantee this has not been done on my house.

This is another typical sight, electrical connections just being run through gaping holes. The one actually is right behind the basement door and leads up to the second floor.

Around the electrical box we actually do have insulation in the ceiling, but still gaping holes all around the field stone walls.

Here we can see plumbing going up through the basement ceiling into a wet wall. The gap next to the 2×4 runs the length of half the basement allowing air circulation up through the walls of the house.

Again, we have problems with plumbing being run to the first floor. This time its a huge hole that needs to be filled in.

Lastly, we are looking at the joists running out over the field stone basement walls. I’ll have to find a way to seal this up to prevent air infiltration too.

So, the basement really needs a lot of work. I’ll have to work on every thing mentioned here and more as I go along. I imagine that I am loosing quite a bit of heat to it in the winter. Along with those big losses, I’ll see large gains in taking care of the problems.