So I'm still trying to attack all means of air leakage into the attic space and started to wonder about my pocket doors in the house. We have 3 pocket doors all on interior walls. From what I can tell by their construction that pocket would let warm air get into my wall cavities and then find any cracks in the framing to get into the attic. Would this be correct? Should I pull back the insulation in the space above and seal the seams around the top plate?
Pocket doors and air leakage?
- Thread starter Ctreefer
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hj
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You are being paranoid. The top plate should be tight to the drywall on either side, UNLESS it has wires or pipes passing through it, and those should have been sealed when they were installed.
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LLigetfa
DIYer, not in the trades
Best building practice here is to sandwich a strip of poly between the two top plates and then to use acoustical sealant to seal it to the rest of the poly. Of course, other penetrations get sealed as hj described.
Dry contact of the poly to the top plate alone does not assure a good seal. My spec build former home used that method on interior partitions into a cathedral ceiling and had problems with condensation dripping from those rafter bays that had partition walls. An attic would not suffer the same problem.
Depending on the type and colour of insulation in your attic, you may be able to see if/where there are air leaks by the insulation discolouring. Smoke pencil tests around the edges of the doors may suggest leakage into the attic or may be room-to-room air movement.
Dry contact of the poly to the top plate alone does not assure a good seal. My spec build former home used that method on interior partitions into a cathedral ceiling and had problems with condensation dripping from those rafter bays that had partition walls. An attic would not suffer the same problem.
Depending on the type and colour of insulation in your attic, you may be able to see if/where there are air leaks by the insulation discolouring. Smoke pencil tests around the edges of the doors may suggest leakage into the attic or may be room-to-room air movement.
Windows on Washington
In the Trades
Great post.
You nailed it 100%.
Google Air sealing and insulation and you will be overcome with information.
