For the airtightness test, the building’s airtight envelope (floor joists, walls, attic floor) must be complete, the doors and windows installed, and all penetrations finished and sealed (ventilation ducts, range hood, flue ducts for fireplaces and sauna stoves, water and sewer lines, central vacuum cleaner exhaust pipes, pipe penetrations in the floor joists, e.g., cable protection conduits for electricity or geothermal heating).
The measurement can be performed even if the house does not yet have a door or if one of the doors is a temporary door used during construction. In this case, the doorway may be no more than one meter wide and must be equipped with jambs or a frame into which the measurement door can be installed.
If there is a garage attached to the house, the garage door must be installed.
It is advisable to leave the air/vapor barrier visible so that any leaks that are discovered can still be repaired. However, this is not necessary.
The ventilation unit does not need to be installed. It is easier to take the measurement before the ventilation unit is installed.
The following installations must be completed before the measurement:
Exterior doors and windows
- The gaps above doors and windows have been sealed by taping them, at least on the inside.
- The gaps between the frames and the openings around windows and doors have been sealed with tape.
- (Not required: Around windows and doors, the gap between the trim and the framing has been sealed with tape or a suitable sealant.)
Flat on the ground
- The pipe penetrations have been sealed with urethane or a suitable sealant against the floor.
- The sill paper is laid flush against the lumber and concrete, and any gaps have been sealed with urethane underneath the sill paper. (A tried-and-true, though not mandatory, method is to cut the sill paper along the top of the concrete and then apply a suitable sealant to the joint between the wall and the subfloor.)
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- The seams in the vapor barrier film or board on the floor have been taped to ensure there are no gaps. On the timber wall, the vapor barrier film or board has been secured with double-sided tape and fastened with a batten on top.
- The penetration pipes have been sealed against the vapor barrier film or board on the floor using sealing collars and vapor barrier tape.
Attic floor
- The vapor barrier film or board has been sealed to the timber wall with double-sided tape and secured with a batten on top.
- On sloped roofs, the joints between the boards have been sealed with urethane or a suitable sealant.
- The joists for the attic floor have been installed. The measurement is performed under negative pressure, which can damage the attic floor’s air barrier if the joists are missing.
- Pipe penetrations have been sealed with collars and vapor barrier tape against the air barrier film or board.
- The flue of the stove has been sealed against the air barrier film or board.
Walls
- Any grooves for electrical cables that have been milled into the log wall have been sealed with urethane or a suitable sealant, preferably on the outside (so that the groove does not fill with cold air in the winter, which would cool down the wall structure).
- The openings in the exterior wall (the fresh air duct of the ventilation unit, the exhaust pipe of the central vacuum cleaner, cable conduits, etc.) have been sealed with urethane or a suitable sealant.
- Make sure the bolts in the timber frame are tightened before taking measurements.
- The airtightness test should be performed before painting and plastering work, or a few days after such work has been completed.
You give
- The concrete block walls and the chimney have been plastered throughout on the inside (including the basement walls and the walls in the utility room). Unplastered walls allow air to pass through, which affects the accuracy of the measurements.
- You must ensure that the air barrier in the laundry room, sauna, and utility room is continuous.
- Temporary openings created during construction and any other gaps in the building envelope must be sealed.
- The building has electricity.
- In a duplex, the openings between the units must be sealed.
- In buildings with two or more floors: There must be a staircase between the floors, as the person conducting the measurement must be able to move between the floors inside the building.
- The roof safety products must be installed, as the person performing the measurement may need to seal the chimney flue or ventilation ducts on the roof.
Before the measurement:
- Close the windows and doors securely.
- Do not light a fire in the fireplace for about 24 hours before taking the measurement.
- If the house is cold, turn on the heater about 24 hours before taking the measurement.
- To locate a leak, building materials, furniture, and other movable objects that can be moved without undue difficulty should be moved so that they are no closer than approximately one meter from the exterior walls of the house.
- Make sure there is sufficient general lighting in the building so that the measurement can be taken without any problems.
During the measurement:
- Set aside 3–4 hours for the measurement. For most of that time, you can work on other tasks at the same time.
- It’s good to have a carpenter on site who can make the necessary repairs.