Air Seal Attic Top Plate

Check out this short energy saving tip with stuart keith from today s home remodeler and brian auman from.

Air seal attic top plate.

The photo at left shows a typical one flush drywall on one side and a big gap on the other. What does air sealing top plates in an attic mean. A big culprit for air leakage in a home is through holes in the floor of the attic. Save money by adding blown in insulation to your attic.

Air sealing the attic perimeter. These are often found in the top plate drop soffits and chases and the volume of conditioned air that escapes through them is equivalent to leaving a window wide open the year round. Think about the rooms right below the attic. The nailer above the crack is not airtight so the nailer doesn t prevent air which is under positive pressure with respect to the attic from entering the attic.

With air chutes in each rafter space you can fill the void between the rigid foam and air chute for an airtight high r assembly. Before installing drywall install caulk or other sealant or a foam gasket to the face of the top plate then install the drywall. Install drywall then seal the seam from the attic side with caulk foam or drywall adhesive but not other construction adhesives. We seal the gap between the top plate and the drywall installed on the partition wall because air can leak between the drywall on the wall and the top plate.

It s usually the hardest place to air seal because the cramped space underneath the eaves where the roof rafters rest on the outer wall makes it hard to move your hands and head. Probably the simplest and easiest is just a really good high quality caulking. The room most likely has drywall walls and ceiling that meet flush together. Between the drywall and the top plate of the wall we ve got a few different choices of materials we can use to seal up.

To fix it you just fill the gap with caulk or spray foam. I have used rigid foam tightly fit over the top plate between the ceiling joists and extending in a bit over the drywall. Air seal drywall to top plates at all attic wall interfaces to minimize air leakage. You want something that s elastomeric which means that it s stretchy after it seals up.

Top plates are where a variety of building materials come together. Top plates are a focal point in almost every energy audit and air sealing job we perform. Just go up in the attic pull back the insulation and find the top plates. If your home has this kind of air leakage it s easy to find.