Failed my rough inspection

[wcp0611]

The inspector came by while I was at work and told my wife it all looked fine except I didn't caulk the sill and he said that anywhere two boards are sistered, it needs to be caulked. Where exactly am I supposed to be caulking the sill? This is one large 18x27 addition we're doing to the end of our house.

 

[Firebrick43]

Did you put seal sill foam?

 

[Old Man Roger]

Always always always be there when the inspector comes by. So much easier to know exactly what he wants if you’re there.

 

[larry4406]

Here is an example picture of what the inspector is looking for regarding air sealing.

Note how the sill plate has been caulked to the sub-floor, any ganged studs are caulked together, and the double top plates are caulked.

Normal white latex caulk works fine but DOW makes a specific product for this.

This caulking effort helps greatly to seal homes and make them less drafty.

In this picture the window still needs to be foam sealed.

 

[juddspaintballs]

Thanks for that, Larry. I'm a few weeks out from doing my framing. I'm not sure if I'm required to do this, but now I definitely will anyways. An hour with a caulk gun prevents a lot of headaches.

 

[wcp0611]

Always always always be there when the inspector comes by. So much easier to know exactly what he wants if you’re there.

Would've been there if any notice was given. He showed up while I was at work an hour away.

 

[wcp0611]

Thanks for that, Larry. I'm a few weeks out from doing my framing. I'm not sure if I'm required to do this, but now I definitely will anyways. An hour with a caulk gun prevents a lot of headaches.

Agreed. This is my project for tonight.

 

[wcp0611]

Here is an example picture of what the inspector is looking for regarding air sealing.

Note how the sill plate has been caulked to the sub-floor, any ganged studs are caulked together, and the double top plates are caulked.

Normal white latex caulk works fine but DOW makes a specific product for this.

This caulking effort helps greatly to seal homes and make them less drafty.

In this picture the window still needs to be foam sealed.

Thanks! That's exactly what I'm looking for.

 

[larry4406]

Thanks! That's exactly what I'm looking for.

At your electrical boxes in the walls, your inspector may want spray foam applied to the back side of the box where the Romex comes in. Our crews typically use the orange fire foam here. Sorry no picture.

 

[nadogail]

The builder did not caulk the sill plates when my house was built (1988) and we had a lot of dust soil the edges of the carpet. Later when the carpet was replaced we had the sill plates caulked.

It also makes a difference in the HVAC

 

[Zeke]

That makes no sense at all. 4 trimmers under a 3' window? And solid OSB covering them ostensibly with house wrap over the whole thing? What air leak can you expect there? Building officials need to relax and take a course in reason. @nadogail makes a point about older construction. Wall cavities and intersections at floors, etc., need attention.

4 trimmers and a 5th to the header — give me a friggen break.

 

[PassnThru]

That makes no sense at all. 4 trimmers under a 3' window?

Leaded glass - with extra lead. Very heavy you know......

 

[loganb]

4 trimmers and a 5th to the header — give me a friggen break.

I saw that too...I hope it was due to a blocking required callout in the drawing for grab rail or similar roomside mounted element

 

[Old Man Roger]

That makes no sense at all. 4 trimmers under a 3' window? And solid OSB covering them ostensibly with house wrap over the whole thing? What air leak can you expect there? Building officials need to relax and take a course in reason. @nadogail makes a point about older construction. Wall cavities and intersections at floors, etc., need attention.

4 trimmers and a 5th to the header — give me a friggen break.

I saw that too...I hope it was due to a blocking required callout in the drawing for grab rail or similar roomside mounted element

I’m glad you guys said something, I thought it was waaaay over kill too, but thought I was just not educated enough to say anything.

 

[billconner]

At your electrical boxes in the walls, your inspector may want spray foam applied to the back side of the box where the Romex comes in. Our crews typically use the orange fire foam here. Sorry no picture.

I am planning to use these:

Any reason other than expense not to? Everything is sealed with little fuss.

 

[Old tool guy]

Here is an example picture of what the inspector is looking for regarding air sealing.

No nail plates over romex.

 

[egdede]

4 trimmers and a 5th to the header — give me a friggen break.

That's stupid and a waste of good wood. I remember doing that 30 years ago under kitchen windows when there was a drain in 2X4 framing. About 2003 an inspector called me on 4 notched 2x4s and directed me to one of these:

HSS Galvanized Stud Shoe for Triple 2x Nominal Lumber, with Strong-Drive SDS Screws

 

[loganb]

I’m glad you guys said something, I thought it was waaaay over kill too, but thought I was just not educated enough to say anything.

From a framing perspective for the window only...it's exceptional overkill. 1 cripple under that rough sill would've been standard(and overkill) and just toenailing that rough sill to the jackstud would've been perfectly acceptable to most requirements. 4 cripples, done pretty cleanly, under what appears to be a roughly 36 x 18" window make me assume(possibly falsely) that there is another reason for it...such as interior grab rails, towel bars or something else that benefited from the extra framing being there...because that maybe 30 pound window did not need it!

 

[Youngandfree]

Would've been there if any notice was given. He showed up while I was at work an hour away.

At least he showed up, right?

 

[Firebrick43]

I saw that too...I hope it was due to a blocking required callout in the drawing for grab rail or similar roomside mounted element

I am trying to figure out all the horizontal blocking in some places and none in others. It will be tight and strong but no place left for actual insulation. The thermal bridging is horrendous

 

[69gp]

I could be wrong but I don't believe that caulking is not part of the rough framing. Fire caulking would be. I am having a rough inspection next week and only have fire caulking done. Once the rough framing is inspected my insulator is going to be coming in and is doing all the caulking when he spray foams. I then will have an insulation inspection where the inspector can check to make sure everything is sealed.

 

[loganb]

I am trying to figure out all the horizontal blocking in some places and none in others. It will be tight and strong but no place left for actual insulation. The thermal bridging is horrendous

Scratched my head at all that as well... its 2x6 framing and was done cleanly so I'm assuming it has a purpose as otherwise a lot of labor and material for nothing

 

[inphx]

On my build on slab i recall the lower wood was special green pressure treated and there was a thin foam sheet/gasket between the wood and the slab .. i guess that equates to caulk in my town.

 

[Pexto]

That makes no sense at all. 4 trimmers under a 3' window? And solid OSB covering them ostensibly with house wrap over the whole thing? What air leak can you expect there? Building officials need to relax and take a course in reason. @nadogail makes a point about older construction. Wall cavities and intersections at floors, etc., need attention.

4 trimmers and a 5th to the header — give me a friggen break.

Those cripples are needed to support the weight of the four top plates.

 

[billconner]

No nail plates over romex.

Isn't the Romex far enough from face to not require nail plates. 1 1/4" from faces of stud? I guess some jurisdictions require them regardless of how far away from face of stud.

 

[jives]

Okay, let's get past the excessive number of cripples, trimmers, and top plates, and get to the caulking. Perhaps I'm not up on the latest, but I've never heard of caulking between sandwiched cripples and trimmers and top plates. Is that caulk placed on the faces and then squeezes out when the boards are nailed together, or just the joint caulked after the fact? Same with the bottom and top plates. . . and if the bottom plate has a foam underlayment is caulking still necessary?

 

[CraigStu]

Our house was built in 2013-14 in a county that requires a vaccuum test to get the final occupancy permit. Our framing looks exactly like what larry4406 posted. This is the basement door to the outside.

 

[larry4406]

Okay, let's get past the excessive number of cripples, trimmers, and top plates, and get to the caulking. Perhaps I'm not up on the latest, but I've never heard of caulking between sandwiched cripples and trimmers and top plates. Is that caulk placed on the faces and then squeezes out when the boards are nailed together, or just the joint caulked after the fact? Same with the bottom and top plates. . . and if the bottom plate has a foam underlayment is caulking still necessary?

When all rough trades are done, sweep out the unit, then the air seal (caulk) is done.

Rough crowd here. All of the blocking (studs) was for a customer’s wall mounted fold out closet setup post closing. My office couldn’t get a definitive layout so framer went ape **** on blocking.

For those that have never drilled out a house for wiring (from the comments there are a few), when drilling thru ganged studs and another stud is near and in the way, the drill has no choice but to be at an angle relative to the plane of the wall. Thus the first few studs the wire hole was shallow requiring kick plates while the last stud was deep enough and not needed. Drilling started at left and ended at right.

Energy Star and blower door testing drives the need for air sealing. Todays building Codes are requiring “tight” houses as proven by blower door testing at the completion of construction. Finding and fixing leakage paths at the end is a nightmare, so it’s best to be diligent up front and across the board.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Ahh, makes sense.

 

[wcp0611]

That makes no sense at all. 4 trimmers under a 3' window? And solid OSB covering them ostensibly with house wrap over the whole thing? What air leak can you expect there? Building officials need to relax and take a course in reason. @nadogail makes a point about older construction. Wall cavities and intersections at floors, etc., need attention.

4 trimmers and a 5th to the header — give me a friggen break.

I think what you all are forgetting is the possibility that the foundation has crumbled and those are there to keep the subfloor, rim joist, and possible block wall from falling into an endless pit. Genius solution I say!

 

[Innovate1]

My inspector commented "well, you have enough wood..." as I had added a few extra braces and blocking but no where near what is shown. Still had me put a block in one place up in the attic. That's a crazy amount of wood. There had to be a better way to do what was needed.

 

[Innovate1]

We have trouble with rollup bugs on the floor where the walkout basement wall is. Wondering if they did proper sealing there. They seem to appear, dead, all along the wall.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Okay, let's get past the excessive number of cripples, trimmers, and top plates, and get to the caulking. Perhaps I'm not up on the latest, but I've never heard of caulking between sandwiched cripples and trimmers and top plates. Is that caulk placed on the faces and then squeezes out when the boards are nailed together, or just the joint caulked after the fact? Same with the bottom and top plates. . . and if the bottom plate has a foam underlayment is caulking still necessary?

To answer your questions, here the joints are sealed after, and yes caulking is still necessary if using a foam gasket.

As larry4406 mentioned this is all because of stricter air sealing requirements. You get much better air sealing if you do it during construction instead of later.

One interesting thing here is that our building inspectors are rather insistent on using a product called acousti-seal instead of caulking. It seals well since it stays flexible but it's miserable stuff to work with.

 

[Old tool guy]

My experience is the inspector wants nail plates on all pipes and conduit, regardless of depth.

 

[jives]

To answer your questions, here the joints are sealed after, and yes caulking is still necessary if using a foam gasket.

As larry4406 mentioned this is all because of stricter air sealing requirements. You get much better air sealing if you do it during construction instead of later.

One interesting thing here is that our building inspectors are rather insistent on using a product called acousti-seal instead of caulking. It seals well since it stays flexible but it's miserable stuff to work with.

Learn sumpin' new evry'day. Will this code change state to state, or universal in Canada and US?

 

[rancherbill]

https://basc.pnnl.gov/resource-guid... between the sill,concrete and the sill plate.

 

[larry4406]

On any floor that has a roof above, we also caulk seal all ceiling penetrations (recess cans, smoke detector boxes, fan boxes, etc).

We also caulk any hvac returns, transfer grilles, and stack heads on that level with roof above to the drywall to reduce air in leakage (the blower door test will pull air down stud cavities from the attic and into the living space).

Lastly the insulation contractor is supposed to foam seal the drywall penetrations before attic blow from the attic side. Nasty job and I don’t always spot check so we also seal from below before trims are installed; access is easier and I can see it so I know it’s done.

 

[Old tool guy]

You know what the ironic part is? All this sealing creates tight buildings, the air goes stale, and you have to add forced ventilation to maintain air quality.

 

[67CarGuy]

Larry's got it - and with structure (framing), we generally don't question what gets called for /drawn, we just inspect it and call out what still needs to be air sealed (caulk, foam, backer rod and caulk, whatever). You don't have to get too fancy to get a reasonably tight building, but you can't skip the details either.

@billconner make sure those foam gaskets are tight to the drywall. Even then you can still get leakage around them, because if any air can get into the wall cavity (from some other place), it can still find its way out through the box by following the romex into the box. Foam or a putty pad is probably your best bet, but even those can be fussy. I think foaming the back of the box after the wires are all run is the way to go, myself.

@Old tool guy you're right that tighter buildings require forced ventilation, which means greater expense, but you can now control where your "fresh" air comes from, and you can also precondition it with an ERV or HRV. Yes, it's more complicated, and more expensive, but hopefully it creates a better indoor living environment.

 

[larry4406]

You know what the ironic part is? All this sealing creates tight buildings, the air goes stale, and you have to add forced ventilation to maintain air quality.

You are exactly right!

Now our homes have fresh air systems that connect an insulated 6" duct from the furnace cold air return to an exterior wall cap (screen only, no flapper). There is a controller which is programmed to run for X minutes per hour and cycles the air handler regardless of temperature demand and pulls "fresh air" into the home. The fresh air run cycle is based on the volume of the home.

On our homes that also have 400CFM kitchen hood or more, there is also an interlock from the hood pressure switch to activate the same controller which forces an air handler run cycle while the hood is running to draw air in for hood makeup air.