When building your dream home or building your unique builds for others, it is key that you construct the build as air tight as possible. This would benefit the builds environmental footprint, as well as save bills. The main reason for air test failure is poor workmanship, that aren’t following procedures and cutting corners just to make an easy pay day, or they just don’t understand the regulations for building efficiency homes. But don’t panic too much, as you can follow the brief description below to help you identify the common causes and also ensure that you have a builder that understands this process. As there are various ways uncontrolled air can travel through a build.
It is also vital to understand the basic concept of an air pressure test, so that you can save time for yourself and others working on site. It would be difficult to examine where air leakages can come from without having an engineer on site performing an air pressure test. But there are common causes of multiple areas of air leakages that do present itself. Below will be a list of these common causes:
These lights will have some air leakages coming through, but it is important that they are placed and sealed correctly, otherwise a lot of air will leak through.
The leaks will be around doors and windows, which are easy to find, as you will experience draughts and drops in the temperature in this part of the build.
Kitchen and bathroom pipes
Most common to a build will be work done by the plumber, who hasn’t sealed around pips our joints and has left it open, letting air seem through into the build. These leakages can cause a problem if the pipe work is penetrated.
Electricians can also leave gaps through drywall. Based on the workmanship, they could leave loads of gaps and not bother cleaning their work up.
This is important, as most of the air will travel from the chimney into the house if not sealed when an engineer tests. All you need to do is either fill the gap with insulation or we will cover the gap with a balloon. Also, make sure the air brick is also sealed off.