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What to Do About Thermal Tracking, Building Air Leaks, & Heat Loss InteriorAPedia © Enter your search terms Submit search form   Search This Website - InspectAPedia.com

• What to do when thermal tracking stains are identified on building interior surfaces
• How to recognize poorly insulated building walls or ceilings and how to pinpoint building air leaks

This article describes what to do about interior wall and ceiling thermal tracking stains, thermal bridging stains, building air leaks, and building insulation defects. © Copyright 2008 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

What to Do About Thermal Tracking & Other Wall or Ceiling Stains, & Air Movement in Buildings

1. Identify the cause of thermal tracking: review the other sections of this article. Visual inspection of attics, wall cavities, or other building areas can tell you if the building is uninsulated or has openings where air is bypassing insulation. Be alert also for building cavities where insulation has become wet and possibly moldy as such would need to be removed before continuing to improve the insulation and air tightness of the home.
2. Add insulation to uninsulated building cavities such as uninsulated attics (first priority) or walls (second priority) and pay attention to areas of air bypass leaks where insulation has been omitted, removed, or imperfectly installed. Air Bypass Leaks Marks on Insulation shows how to recognize where air is moving past poorly installed building insulation.
3. Seal significant building leaks against unwanted air movement such as openings at exterior trim, window perimeters, or at the floor/wall or ceiling wall juncture.
4. Review the building indoor moisture levels: since even a reasonably well insulated building may develop thermal tracking marks if interior humidity is excessive. If the building has unwanted wet conditions such as a wet crawl space or basement or other areas of leaks, those conditions need to be corrected.
5. Review sources of indoor soot or debris such as an oil or gas fired heating system that is not working properly, since those conditions need to be corrected for safety and economy of building heating as well. Since excessive use of most types of candles can also produce unwanted levels of indoor soot, if those are a principal source of indoor stains their use should be reduced or eliminated.

Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

Technical Reviewers

Particular thanks are due to experts and also consumers who read these articles and suggest corrections, changes, and additions to the material. Content suggestions, technical corrections and content critique are invited for any of the content at our website.

• Daniel Friedman - InspectAPedia.com ^TM Website Author/Editor
• Thanks to Alan Carson, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for technical critique and content suggestions regarding thermal tracking.
• Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution.
• Thanks to Stacy O. for asking for clarification on the causes, spacing, and what to do about thermal tracking Sept Nov 2007

More Information on Finding and Identifying Mold in Buildings and Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

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The Mold Information Center: What to Do About Mold in Buildings, When and How to Inspect for Mold, Clean Up Mold, or Avoid Mold Problems

Use this simple, economical mold test kit by following our instructions on how to collect and mail mold samples to our lab

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