ENERGY BOOMER

Review How and When to Use Rope Caulking

Rope caulking is a good product for you to use to save money on your heating and air conditioning bills. Rope caulking is an item that most folks don’t know about or use. When I first heard about it, my mind pictured the oakum fiber rope used to caulk seams between the planks of wood boats.

Finger tip rope caulking is not like that at all. It is not really big enough to call rope; it is more like the size of 3/16” cord. I think the finger tip part of its name comes from its small size. I other sizes are available. It looks and feels like putty or gray modeling clay.

It comes in a box rolled up like a ribbon. Each “rope” of caulking needs to be separated from its neighbors when you use it. I suggest that you keep the rope caulk inside your house so it will be warm and pliable when you use it.

One of the best places to use it is between window frames and the siding on your house. Sealing a gap around your windows will stop cold air drafts and save on your heating bill. It is a two-season winner because it will also save on air conditioning. Sealing moisture out will prevent wood rot also.

How to use it

Clean the areas where the cracks and gaps are around the window. If you skip this step, the rope caulk may not stick to the crack you are trying to fill. By clean I mean no loose material no oil on the material the caulk is to seal.

I use a stiff bristle brush to remove any loose stuff. Most of the time a good brushing is all the cleaning you will need.

If the surfaces are slippery, I wash the area using a spray bottle filled with alcohol. If you wash the area, you have to take a break while it dries.

The alcohol does not stain; it dissolves oil and dries fast. You can use rubbing alcohol from a drug store or shellac thinner alcohol available at a paint supply store.

Remove the rope caulk from the box. Measure the length of crack where the draft is coming from on your window. Rip off a piece of rope caulk to match this length. I never seem to get the length right, so I have to add a piece or trim off the extra. To be honest I work with it in lengths of about 6 inches at a time. I find a long string of it gets in the way too much.

Use your finger to work the rope caulk into the cracks or gaps around all four sides of your windows. You fingers are a good tool for this job. Another reason it is called finger tip rope caulk.

I found some places where mortar was falling out between the front door frame and the brick facing on our home. So, I filled these gaps with rope caulking. My fat fingers were too big to get in between the bricks and the door.

I dug a 25-cent coin out of the bottom of my pocket to use as a tool. It worked OK, but my fingers got tired using it. A big straight blade screwdriver is a better tool for this job and may keep you from getting a splinter in your finger.

If you don’t like gray, you can paint over it, but it blended right in with the mortar. For big cracks, you may need to push in more than one layer of rope caulk to fill it.

Less of a Mess

It works good and for me it is less of a mess than squeeze tube or caulking gun stuff. I cannot keep my fingers out of the caulk as I try to push it into cracks and smooth the surface.

With gooey caulk, I get it all over me. Then my wife yells at me when I get it on my clothes.

For me, rope caulking does a neater job. No clean up needed, after the job.

Now He Tells Me!

With this product, it is easier to do a good job while the weather is warm. When the caulk and the window frame are cold, you have to work harder to fill the cracks with rope caulking. Working outdoors on a 50-degree day I found it works better if you roll a short piece between you hands to warm it up a little before pushing it into a crack.

 

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Air Leaks Waste Money on Your Home Energy Bills

Cracks and air leaks can lead to energy loss and waste money on your heating and cooling bills. Air sealing is one of the best energy efficiency improvements you can make to your home.

Air sealing will not just reduce energy costs; it will also improve your home's comfort and keep its value. Keeping moist air out helps to

prevent mold, corrosion and wood rot problems.

Finding Air Leaks

Look at areas where different materials meet, such as between brick and wood siding, between the foundation and walls, and between the chimney and siding.

Here is a list of places to look for air leaks:

• Door frames
• Window frames
• Mail chutes
• Electrical service entrances
• Natural gas or propane pipes
• Cable TV and phone lines
• Outdoor water faucets
• Places where dryer vents pass through walls
• Bricks, siding, stucco, and foundation
• Air conditioners
• Vents and fans

For a thorough and accurate measurement of air leakage in your home, hire a qualified technician to conduct an energy audit. Be sure they use a blower door test. A blower door test, which depressurizes a home, can reveal the location of many leaks.

A good way of finding leaks yourself is to follow these steps:

1. Close all doors and windows
2. Shut off your furnace or air conditioner
3. Turn on your clothes dryer in the tumble dry mode so it pushes air out the vent
4. Turn on kitchen and bathroom vent fans
5. Now go around inside the house hunting for air sneaking in

You can use smoke from a cigarette or incense stick to see the airflow. Another trick is to use a candle and watch how the flame moves as you move it around windows and doors. Please be careful with fire.

If there is a big temperature difference between indoor air and outdoor air, an infrared thermometer can be used to scan for air leaks. INSERT ADVERT

In industrial situations, I have used spray foam shaving cream to find small air and vacuum leaks. But, the mess makes this a poor idea at home.

Air Sealing Techniques

Once you have located air leaks, you can then apply air-sealing materials as needed. Two common materials include caulking and weather stripping. Most experts agree that caulking and weather stripping will pay for themselves in energy savings within one year.

Caulking

Caulk forms a flexible seal for cracks, gaps, or joints less than ¼" wide. You can use a caulking compound to seal air leaks in a variety of places throughout your home, including around windows and door frames.

Most caulking compounds come in disposable cartridges. When deciding how much caulking to purchase, consider that you will probably need a half-cartridge per window or door. You may need as many as four cartridges for the foundation sill.

Before applying caulk remove any old caulking and clean the area that you are working on. For best performance, follow all manufacturers' instructions. For more information on caulking HOW TO CAULK AROUND THE HOUSE

Weather stripping

Weather stripping can be applied to seal air leaks around movable objects, such as doors and windows. To determine how much weather stripping you will need, add up the perimeter lengths of all windows and doors to be weather stripped, and then add 5% to 10% to accommodate any waste.

Weather stripping comes in varying depths and widths, and there is a variety of weather stripping materials available: foam, felt, vinyl, aluminum, and bronze. You need to choose a type of weather stripping that will withstand the friction, weather, temperature changes, and wear and tear associated with its location. IN LINK

For example, when applied to a door bottom or threshold, weather stripping could drag on carpet or erode because of foot traffic. Here is a link about door sweeps and thresholds HOW TO SAVE ENERGY WITH A DOOR SWEEP

When applying, consult the instructions on the weather stripping package. In general, weather stripping should be applied to clean, dry surfaces at temperatures above 20°F.

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CAULKING TIPS TO SAVE YOUR MONEY THIS HEATING SEASON

Caulking originates from the days of wooden ships. Each seam between the wood planks of a boat’s hull had to be caulked to make the vessel watertight. Dry wood shrinks and wet wood swells making it hard to keep the seam leak free. Materials were developed that would keep the water out even when the wood moved by shrinking and swelling.

The seams in the construction joints of many homes work the same way. Modern building materials don’t shrink and swell as much as the planking of wooden boats, but they do shrink and swell with temperature changes.

For general outdoor and indoor use, I recommend polyurethane caulking. It is available in, easy to use, caulking gun tubes. It lasts the longest before it needs to be re-done. Buy a couple of tubes in any color you want as long as it is white. White works with most jobs.

If you are like me, you need a good rag or several paper towels handy while you work with this stuff. I always expect to spend a day or two digging the caulking out from under my fingernails. You can cheat and wear a pair of gloves that you plan on throwing away when the job is done. This stuff doesn’t harden but it sticks real good.

The traditional way of applying it is to squeeze a small bead of it along the crack that you are sealing. Then smooth it out, at the same time you are pushing it into the crack, by running a finger or rounded tool along it.

A bare finger, wet with water, makes a smooth looking job. But, you need to have some band-aids ready for splinters or cuts to your finger. A Popsicle stick is a safer tool to use. That way you have to take a break every so often to cool off with another Popsicle.

If you put too much caulk on to begin with it can get messy. Go slow a little at a time for a neater job.

Polyurethane caulk works like a combination of long lasting glue and stretchy rubber to flex with the material that it is sealing. Do not use it where you might want to remove it next season.

Temporary Caulking

If you need to seal a door or window for the winter and unseal it in the spring, use Seal ‘N’ Peel caulking. It only comes in one color and that is clear. You can paint it if you need to. When it is time to take it off just pry it up with a screwdriver until you can grab hold of it and pull it off. Any of it that doesn’t peel off will rub off with very little effort.

DO NOT seal a door or window closed that you might need for an emergency escape route.

Seal 'N' Peel is great for a temporary sealing job. I have used it as a temporary adhesive too. (It is not recommended as such but it has worked OK for me.)

Hardly anyone uses Rope Caulking any more

Rope caulking is a throwback to the wood boat caulking technology. Modern rope caulking is the least messy to use and I like it for that reason.

Think of it as a skinny rope made of a rubbery material that you can push into a gap around a window. You can easily shove rope caulking into place, by hand, with a screwdriver.

Leave an end of the caulking sticking out so you can pull it out in the spring so you can open the window again. It can be used as both a temporary and a long-term caulking.

Thicker rope caulking is used to fill really big cracks before you seal over it with polyurethane caulking.

I suggest that you try rope caulking. It really does a neat job leaving no mess or sticky fingers to clean up.

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HOW TO CAULK AROUND THE HOUSE

While I was watering the rose garden, I noticed that the wasps and other flying bugs were inspecting my house. They were doing their annual search for warm accommodations for the upcoming winter season.

These bugs would love to move into the walls where the expensive heat that I pay for is leaking out. The best time to stop them is before they move in with their friends and relations.

First, I gather my supplies for this battle. A good caulking gun is a must have weapon. Do not go armed with a hard to use cheap one. Load up with a couple of tubes of good quality outdoor caulk.

Remember the golden rule of supply and demand. If you buy one, it will not be enough, if you buy two; one will be more than enough.

I recommend polyurethane caulking. My architect friends specify it for commercial buildings because it lasts a long time. Pick a color that will get you the fewest complaints. Be ready with this line, “But, dear white was the only color they had.”

I take a flashlight, a screwdriver, a rag and a radio to listen to a football game. Being on the short side, I need a stepladder to reach the tops of the windows and such. A cool beverage of your choice is required to keep vital fluid levels up. You can not do a good job with out enough vital fluids.

The flashlight is my most important inspection tool. I do not need it to see. I use it to focus my attention on one small area at a time.

Starting on the front porch, I look all around the electric outlet and dream of plugging in my electric car. I search around the front door inch by inch. I pay close attention to the area above the door. The screwdriver is to push and pry at the old caulk to see if it will come off. After plugging all the holes, I move on.

Next, I check all around the porch light fixture. No problems here. Note to self, replace that light bulb with a CFL. (That is not the Canadian Football League. It is Compact Fluorescent Light.)

Did you notice any bugs flying around looking for a home? We have been working for 7 minutes now so it is time for a break. Step back and look for house hunting bugs. There is a couple inspecting the pillars of the porch now. I watch and see if they find an entry. They move on. Since they found no entry holes, there is no need to climb the ladder and look there. It is great to have some help with the inspection.

On the side of the house is a hose outlet. The hose bib gets jerked around by the hose and sure enough, the caulking around the pipe has broken loose from the siding. A quick prying with the screwdriver knocks off the old caulking so I can seal it with new.

A window is next. After setting up the stepladder, I check the top of the window frame. This area is out of sight, but it gets a full dose of sunshine and weathering. Yup, there is a crack starting to open up. If I leave it, water will sneak in and freeze opening it up more. A little caulking now will prevent wood rot, block the bugs and save energy.

I run the beam of the flashlight down both sides of the window frame. I discipline myself to look only where the light is so I focus on one inch at a time. If I find my focus wandering, I dock my self a swig of vital fluids. Ouch.

Get down low enough to check under the window too. While you are down there check along the foundation. Caulk any cracks in mortar joints in the block or brick work. Ok get up and stretch your backbone.

At the corner, check the downspout. Look where it is attached to the house. If it is working loose, there maybe a hole opening up to be caulked.

Ah yes the dryer vent, there should be caulking around the edges where the vent seal attaches to the house.

We could go on with the tour but your home will be slightly different from mine. You get the idea, check every inch around anything that attaches to or pokes out of the house. Did the cable guy drill through the wall to let the cable in? I’ll bet he did not caulk it. Take it slow and caulk every little hole or crack. Keep at it until the end of halftime.

The second half of the football game is far too exciting to miss. I usually cheer for the defense. I enjoyed playing linebacker in high school.

During the commercials put your tools away and enjoy the day.

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