I don't know about anyone else, but before I made the single largest purchase in my life, I would want to know what I was buying. Pre-purchase home inspections and appraisals are cheap compared to what it could cost to fix any problems. If you were buying a used car and didn't know anything about them, wouldn't you take it to a mechanic first? If I'm not mistaken, isn't it required by most mortgage companies? Sorry, dude. A leaky house can be a bummer, but it can be fixed. I'm a general contractor, and when I have the time, I also do home inspections. Over the years, I've witnessed a lot of buyer's remorse, believe me. If a homeowner suspects a lack of insulation, I can drill a small hole in the wall (with their permission) and feed a small fiber-optic camera into it. During winter, leaking doors and windows are more noticeable, whereas in summer, it's inadequate attic insulation. With blown-in attic insulation, you need to make sure the under-eave, or "soffit" vents aren't blocked, because the attic needs to "breathe", even in winter. If you seal up your attic, you're asking for condensation and mildew problems. Crawl space insulation with a plastic vapor barrier is a good idea, especially in colder climates. I could go on and on, but I gotta feed the dogs before they drive me crazy. Good luck!

 

same here....hard to get that sarcasm to come through the key board though.

 

something like: If someone shot a cannonball through your bedroom wall, first you would staple some plastic over the hole, next you might nail some plywood, then some insulation, but 95% of your air leak was solved by that first step. I've seen people buying new windows and doors when you could see daylight through cracks in the basement. Fix the obvious air leaks first.

 

Maybe your utilities provider has a web-site for any of that info.

Mine happens to be P.G.& E. (Pacific Gas & Electric)

This house was built in 1902 +/- a few years.

Got a fireplace with no damper. Gonna have to seal it off.

Single pane windows and air leaks everywhere. And non-insulated.

And don't have a lice or louse problem .

Just a few rats in the garage, though.

 

[QUOTE=Greg 79 f150]House Losing Louse

nice

i left you some reputation points for that one. Click user cp to read them up in the corner.

 

Houses built around 1973 usually have rolled insulation in the walls, not much and sometimes it settled a little. I've only seen one house in this area from the mid 70's that had no wall insulation - and it should have had it. Someone did a lousy job... Most of the problems are the window frames.

If you still have the dark stained 70's era wood trim, it's easy to check. Take a window in a spare bedroom or the laundryroom and carefully pry off one side of the window trim, (inside). There will be a finish nail in each corner that pulls the 45 together, so be careful there. I bet you'll see a gap and if the wind is blowing, you'll feel air. Spray foam fix.

Another weak point is the floors. The sub floor can be 2x12 with an expansion gap between. Sometimes they would lay tarpaper over this with fiberboard on top. Even if done right, it's not the best and if they didn't paper it well..... Insulating under the floor and laying plastic down on the soil makes a big difference, even if it's not the funnest job in the world.

Around that time they started using blow in insulation in the attic. Over the years that stuff can settle and it doesn't hurt to have some more brought in or roll some out yourself.

A lot of this stuff (poor insulation) was common back then. Wasn't too much earier when no insulation, single pane windows and just a little tarpaper, halfway thrown under the siding for a vapor barrier, was just normal building practice.

 

You just described "this old house" (my house, circa 1902), except no tarpaper under the siding.

Just wood, wood and wood.

But I do live in a moderate climate.

 

But, somtimes you have to tell them what they are referring to. Maybe he had the house reworked and needed the test...???

That test is the fan door or blower door test.

It is true that a house that's over 30 yrs old is in need of help, insulation-wise, that is, if it's not been re-done.

 

caulk(good silicone) around all windows & doors. also, expanding foam around all the outlets & wall switches. don't scrimp. if you see a window w/ haze,( broken seal) replace asap. if you can't foam the boxes, at least go to ace,true value, or someplace and buy some foam cover insulators. any insulation is better than none