Is it possible to pressure test the wind shelter when the house is being built?

[Robert20]

the thermography is quite pointless without pressurization.

Certainly. Of course pressurization.

 

[Krux]

Never heard of anyone pressure testing a wind barrier... You check with the naked eye that the installation looks okay. It's very simple, is the wind barrier everywhere? Is the wind barrier securely attached? Are the seams taped with age-resistant tape? So finished, it's absolutely not science. Save pressure testing for when it's needed and make it useful instead. For the vapor barrier.

 

[SNf]

This might be the dumbest thing I've heard! Instead, trust the builder doing the job. It's probably not their first time installing exterior gypsum.
Even on large constructions, we don't "pressure test" the weather/wind protection

What do you mean, if you live in a windy place, you must make sure the air doesn't blow through the insulation, and that can require high precision in installation. You don't want to pay full price for questionable insulation effectiveness, do you??

 

[Installation]

What do you mean, if you live in a windy place, you have to ensure that air doesn't blow through the insulation, and this may require high precision in assembly. You don't want to pay full price for questionable insulation capability, right??

In most cases, there is usually a cladding in the form of plaster, boards, sheet metal, or another suitable surface layer outside the inner wind protection. It has to be quite windy for there to be such violent air movements in the insulation behind the wind protection that it loses its insulating capability.
It's obviously important that the wind protection doesn't look like a chicken wire. It should be intact and not have visible holes. That's more than enough for the purpose. In this case, it is exterior gypsum of unknown manufacture with taped seams. It will do the job as long as no one creates a lot of holes in it.

 

[Matti_75]

I'll try to explain a little. You can't pressure test the wind barrier. It's a wind barrier and is not airtight like plastic wrap. Air should be able to pass through the gypsum but not wind. An exterior wall consists of several layers that together form the building envelope. The panel or whatever facade cladding you have is the first proper wind barrier. Then comes the exterior gypsum which should be taped at the joints and at various penetrations.
What I advise you to do if you feel uncertain about your builder's competence is to turn off all lights inside on a bright day and go around inspecting the gypsum from the inside by looking for slivers of light. If you find any, mark them and ask your builder to tape them.
The exterior gypsum is windproof if the installation instructions have been followed. It's not something that needs or can be pressure tested.

 

[Robert20]

I will try to explain a little. You cannot pressure test the windproofing. It is a windproofing barrier and is not airtight like plastic film. Air should be able to pass through the gypsum but not wind. An exterior wall consists of several layers that together form the building envelope. The panel or whatever facade cladding you have is the first real windproofing barrier. Then comes the exterior gypsum, which should be taped at seams and various penetrations.
What I advise you to do if you are unsure about your builder's competence is to on a bright day, turn off all the interior lights and walk around inspecting the gypsum from the inside by looking for light streaks. If you find any, mark them and ask your builder to tape them.
The exterior gypsum is wind-tight if you have followed the installation instructions. It is something that cannot be or is not needed to be pressure tested

Unfortunately, you cannot see all the seams because the inner frame obscures the view in many places.

 

[Stefan1972]

It should be emphasized that if it is built in the normal way, it will be sufficiently tight. Unless the original poster assumes that those who are building cannot build houses and were picked up from the street in the shadier areas of T-Centralen?

 

[AndersS]

If the original poster is not assuming that those who build do not know how to build houses and are picked up from the sketchier areas of the central station?

And if that's the case, there should be other more serious issues to check on

 

[Robert20]

It should be pointed out that if it's built in the normal way, it will be sufficiently tight. Unless ts assumes that those who build can't build houses and are picked off the street from the shadier areas of the central station?

Everyone can make mistakes, even skilled craftsmen (my builders are really good). There are hundreds of tape sealings. It's not surprising if something would be missed.

 

[Stefan1972]

Everyone can make mistakes, even skilled craftsmen (my builders are great). There are hundreds of tapes. It's no wonder if something would be missed.

Admittedly, but it almost feels like you assume everything will go wrong. A single taping mistake doesn't make everything go awry. It's not the tape itself that makes it airtight. The difference between a well-built untaped house versus a taped one is probably not very significant.

 

[AndersS]

Everyone can make mistakes, even skilled craftsmen (my builders are great). There are hundreds of tapes. It's not surprising if something gets missed.

And it will have a marginal, probably no, impact. As advice, I would let go of the outer shell/weatherproofing and instead focus on ensuring the insulation is done properly and the inner seal. Having led some large projects, one conducts a risk analysis, prioritizes, and puts more focus on what can have the biggest impact. This can also be applied to smaller projects like a house build.

 

[Krux]

Everyone can make mistakes, even skilled craftsmen (my builders are great). There are hundreds of tapings. No wonder if something would be missed.

If some taping has been missed, it's no catastrophe. It doesn't matter much, put effort into more important parts of the construction instead.

 

[SNf]

In applicable cases, it's usually a cladding in the form of plaster, boards, sheet metal, or other suitable surface layer outside the inner wind barrier. It would need to be quite windy to cause such violent air movements in the insulation behind the wind barrier that it loses its insulating ability.
Obviously, the wind barrier shouldn't look like chicken wire. It should be intact without visible holes. That is more than sufficient for the purpose. In this case, it's external gypsum of unknown brand with taped joints. It will do the job as long as no one drills a lot of holes into it.

Yep

 

[Matti_75]

Unfortunately, you can't see all the joints because the inner frame obstructs the view in many places.

But can you see the tape on the outside? If you don't see any streaks of light, it's okay.

 

[Robert20]

I have contacted a company that creates a negative pressure in the house, and then performs leak detection, i.e., feels where there is draft/blowing. This can be done either with smoke (as used by ventilation technicians) or simply by going close and feeling.
It should work.
Thanks for all the opinions and thoughts.