Finally, after many years, an Australian produced video on the topic of air-tightness!! Over 40 years ago, Canadian builders started using these building techniques and called it the ADA technique, or Airtight Drywall Approach. Efficiency Matrix is ,in my mind, one of Australia's best educators of the 'building as a system' . I am looking forward to more of the same. Well done!
Gotta love that cost is no barrier to air-tightness. They are simple solutions using cheap, basic everyday products. No up-selling is what Efficiency Matrix seem to stand for. You may qualify as a Charity in some parts of the world. 👍
This is so true. However, I have to emphasize that using the plasterboard as the air barrier may not be applicable in climate other than National Construction Code (NCC) climate zone 6 and warmer part of zone 7 (which is the majority of Victoria, AUS). The mild temperate climate of Melbourne has only a low risk of in-cavity condensation as the new construction code requires vapour permeable membrane as the weather barrier (conventionally called sharking, locally). A dedicated vapour barrier is required in the colder part of climate zone 7 and the alpine region to mitigate in- cavity condensation.
The return box fix was most beneficial in all the DP I did. Removing dirty wall cavity air entering our home and conditioned air leakage. I capped it off with coreflute board and expanding foam. Thanks to a previous video on return leakage. Another great video that will give people knowledge to demand a higher level of craftsmanship from tradies and the industry that has ultimately delivered sub standard homes for decades.
Thanks for the air-tightness video, noticed however that the plaster was caulked to underlay, not the floor. This was obviously as it was a mock up to show the detail and the plaster should be caulked to the floor then any underlay etc after the fact. Hope that makes sense to anyone looking to achieve an air-tight seal from plaster to floor!!
Yes, the cement sheet is supposed to represent the concrete slab. 👍🏻. For these demos we didn’t want to put caulk on the floor finish. Sorry about the confusion.
The plaster needs to be caulked to concrete slab not any underlay. We used cement sheet so that we didn’t mess up the concrete slab where the mock up was made.
An energy efficient home is more comfortable and saves money in the long run. Added insulation, triple glaze windows, energy efficient doors, energy efficient heating and cooling systems, energy efficient appliances, LED lighting, solar panels combined with battery storage and a electric vehicle charger in the garage or car park. People are too focused on the short term costs and miss out on long term savings.
This is a great video. If all the plaster and floors are sealed according to this video and any penetrations to it are sealed appropriately, what's the hurdle stopping the air tightness measure from going well below 6ACH (assuming good quality windows and doors)?
Wouldn't it be better not to let external air into internal wall cavities in the first place, given that it still robs the house of heat even if it never makes it into the room? Why not plaster the external walls and ceilings and then somehow seal through the junctions where they meet internal walls (and floors, in a double storey house), then you wouldn't need to worry about internal walls at all. Then the airtightness envelope would truly abut the insulation envelope everywhere, as it should. Less surface area to seal should also make it possible to get better results in blower door tests. I would like to see more videos that explore the possibilities in regards to this.
