Sealing your dwelling against airborne/outside contagions

[The Stig]

Are you prepared to seal your house against airborne or outside contagions?

While we can't go totally military grade NBC can you at least keep heavy smoke, or general irritants from getting into your house?

If so, how are you going to go about it? What sort of supplies do you have on hand? Any resources you can share?

[bacpacker]

Good question. I have a small start on this for our place. I have several rolls of plastic, duck tape, 100 mph tape, tacs, & staples. These will be used as need to seal all doors and windows. Starting with our safe room.
Along with this I am in the planning stages of getting wood to put up over all our doors and windows. I plan to have all that material cut, drilled, and ready to put up on short notice. Just stored awaiting the need.

[Gunfixr]

Putting up all this Lexan against further burglaries has got me thinking.
It'll take time, but I may start buying pieces of this that fit over the whole window frame on the outside, in at least 1/4" or better thickness. Then, they could be just screwed to the frame after running a bead of sealant around the edge. Totally non-permeable, and you can see through it.
I don't know, though. Here in the city it might just be best to leave. Still thinking on it. I'm thinking on pulling down what I have now in the spring, cleaning all the windows, and putting it back up with sealant.
At that point, all I'd have to do is seal the window frame seams and I'd be pretty good. Just have to do the doors.

Don't forget the attic eaves and the crawlspace vents and opening. If you have a kitchen or bathroom vent fan.

[bacpacker]

Glad you mentioned the vents. I have 2 attic fans that would let whatever in.

[LUNCHBOX]

I have the plastic rolls, staple gun and tape. Since we had to rip all the interior walls out of this place before moving in, I have a half dozen cans of spray foam that will come in handy. This stuff is not very expensive and might work for others also.

[RedJohn]

Any of you has seen the last Mythbuster?

There was a myth about bed liner. That thing took a C4 blast on wood and concrete walls like it was nothing. I am pretty sure that it would also work for bacterias. This way, you just have to worry about windows and doors.

I just may cover my BOL with that thing. Check that episode out.

[ravensgrove]

We always have greenhouse grade plastic here and duct tape. That's my plan. I thought using staples was a no, no as it creates break in the seal and allows for the "bad juju" to get in?

[mollypup]

I'm wondering if just putting on a thick coat or two of paint around the window sashes, where the windows touch each other, and any other places where there might be air flow would be enough to keep any airborne pathogen outside. Most of our windows are nearly impossible to open anyway because they are painted together. Hubby has to get the rubber hammer out to beat them apart before opening.

[bacpacker]

Staples would if used by themselves. My plan is to put out the plastic and secure it with staples, then come back and tape over them to seal them off. One layer off tape over the staples, then another layer on wither side of the 1st piece of tape.

[Twitchy]

Staples would if used by themselves. My plan is to put out the plastic and secure it with staples, then come back and tape over them to seal them off. One layer off tape over the staples, then another layer on wither side of the 1st piece of tape.

Pretty much the most effective method of sealing off a room... The stables are strong yet the tape provides the gaseous / vapor barrier...

[Evolver]

If your apposed to using staples a double sided tape would come in handy as a third hand, second seal and a strain relief for the outer tape . Start out by making a border around the entire window with the double sided tape, attach your plastic then duct/ 2" masking tape the outer edge of the plastic.

[bacpacker]

Excellent idea Evolver. We use that DS tape at work for various stuff. The 2" wide stuff will hold a fair amount of weight. It'll do great for plastic. I never gave it a thought before.

[Sniper-T]

Another way to seal whilst using staples, is to put a light bead of caulking or accustiseal around the window first, then stick the plastic up to that, then either staple right through the bead, or on the outside of the bead so it makes the seal. Basically the same way you would seal an outside wall when insulating from the inside.

I'm not too sure about sealing the soffits and roof vents though. you still want/need your home to breathe. Unless you have a functionable attic (ie living quarters), there should be no air exchange between that and the rest of the house... only heat/cold. If you don't allow your home to vent... you will run into some serious moisture problems in short order.

As to the plumbing stacks... as long as your plumbing is usable, these do not need to be sealed, and actually cannot be sealed off, if you expect your plumbing to continue working. all plumbing stacks have an S bend in the bottom, which, with water creates an trap, that doesn't allow odors or anything else into your home. If they are plugged, your toilet will stop flushing, your sinks will stop draining, and same with showers/tubs/etc.

Something to think about though is the fan vents... these usually go out through the walls, and have plastic flapper covers over them to keep critters out. These would be off the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry rooms. (think dryer, range hood, etc) The covers that are on are usually just a press on item. meaning you can pull it off, put a piece of plastic over the hole and press it back in to jam the plastic into place.

A couple other things to think about are the fresh air intakes for your furnace and/or wood stoves. Keep in mind that neither will function properly without adequate venting. If you have gas appliences, the flame will go out, and the gas will continue to leak into your home, and if you do get them lit/running they will not exhaust properly. A chimney needs adequate airflow from inside at the bottom to allow the rising heat to suck the smoke up and out.

IMO, masks and suits would be a more feasible method of dealing with anything airborn, especially if you need to run things in your house like heat (or cooling), and/or plumbing.

[Twitchy]

Another way to seal whilst using staples, is to put a light bead of caulking or accustiseal around the window first, then stick the plastic up to that, then either staple right through the bead, or on the outside of the bead so it makes the seal. Basically the same way you would seal an outside wall when insulating from the inside.

I'm not too sure about sealing the soffits and roof vents though. you still want/need your home to breathe. Unless you have a functionable attic (ie living quarters), there should be no air exchange between that and the rest of the house... only heat/cold. If you don't allow your home to vent... you will run into some serious moisture problems in short order.

As to the plumbing stacks... as long as your plumbing is usable, these do not need to be sealed, and actually cannot be sealed off, if you expect your plumbing to continue working. all plumbing stacks have an S bend in the bottom, which, with water creates an trap, that doesn't allow odors or anything else into your home. If they are plugged, your toilet will stop flushing, your sinks will stop draining, and same with showers/tubs/etc.

Something to think about though is the fan vents... these usually go out through the walls, and have plastic flapper covers over them to keep critters out. These would be off the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry rooms. (think dryer, range hood, etc) The covers that are on are usually just a press on item. meaning you can pull it off, put a piece of plastic over the hole and press it back in to jam the plastic into place.

A couple other things to think about are the fresh air intakes for your furnace and/or wood stoves. Keep in mind that neither will function properly without adequate venting. If you have gas appliences, the flame will go out, and the gas will continue to leak into your home, and if you do get them lit/running they will not exhaust properly. A chimney needs adequate airflow from inside at the bottom to allow the rising heat to suck the smoke up and out.

IMO, masks and suits would be a more feasible method of dealing with anything airborn, especially if you need to run things in your house like heat (or cooling), and/or plumbing.

Good idea on the caulking... Also agree on masks and suit to an extent... a room sized HVAC system with CBRNE filters would also work in the event you had to hole up... They are however, not cheap...