by Sandy aka Mom

Created on: July 02, 2007   Last Updated: November 16, 2008

With a tub of wood putty and plaster repair, and a can Great Stuff - HEAD OUT! My Father taught me many years ago the importance of sealing up your home. Every year your house settles and shifts. Every year new cracks appear. Even rain (or ice and snow), wind and bugs can create small holes and all of this ends up with you having a higher heating bill. However, one weekend project (at a comfortable pace) can solve a lot of the problem. This is an inside and outside project so if you have a very large, or very old, home it may take more time.

In 2007 my family was in the middle of some home improvements to create space for my son to move back in. That alone was one heck of a project and I've learned a new respect for insulation and how much a home really does settle. As we were gutting the room (ceiling, roof, floor, walls and everything) one of the things I did was seal up the cracks and holes. It was an opportunity to get at areas of exterior walls and foundation I couldn't before. I'm not suggesting that you gut your rooms (ha, ha), but seeing these, normally hidden, areas did remind me of how important sealing up the house truly is.

Inside Your Main Living Area

You will need a stick candle (a normal household candle will do) along with your plaster repair, wood putty and Great Stuff. If you have old windows you can also buy kits of clear (shrink wrap) plastic for sealing them up. It's best to do this on a windy day outside. Close up one room at a time. Make sure and turn off your air conditioner or heater for this step. Stand in the middle of the room and light your candle (be careful that you don't drip wax on yourself or furniture). Watch the flame of the candle, it could tell you a lot. If the flame is reasonably stable (all flames flicker) you'll know the room is pretty good. If the flame constantly leans to one or more sides (flickers a lot) you'll know you have a problem.

After a general check of the room, check around each window with your candle - windows are usually the source of most drafts. If you see a draft (by the flickering of the candle) that window will need to be sealed with plastic. After you've checked and sealed the windows check close to the electric outlets. Most of the window sealing' kits have little cut outs of insulation that you can easily install. Finally, with plaster repair, you'll want to seal up any obvious cracks in the walls. NOTE: If you're going to do this keep in mind that you will need to paint over the repairs after they've

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