How To Seal A Floor Register

How to block the heat register openings in a floor.

How to seal a floor register.

The 2018 iecc irc fixed this provision to include sealing the supply and return register boots duct system provisions. If sealing from the attic or crawlspace side remove insulation as needed to access areas to be sealed. Use your putty knife to generously coat the aluminum tape with duct sealer. These registers are connected to ducting that channels air from the central heating cooling unit throughout your home.

The small vents that are cut into the floor are heating and cooling registers and in some rooms of your house there may also be some near or on the ceiling. The homeowner can greatly reduce his or her heating costs by sealing these joints. Measuring for a replacement or new vent cover hvac register or air return is easy. Seal the seam between the duct boot and the flooring or sealing framing and finish material.

Make sure the sealer extends below the bottom of the tape but do not put any on your floor. It was time to fix the problem. That is where the duct sealer comes in. Even if the hole was cut perfect the tabs or the flange the extends into the cut hole don t make a perfect seal.

When you use a forced air heating system in your home you re bound to have heat registers too. A significant amount of air escaped into the subfloor and the crawlspace. The installers did not take much care to create an airtight seal. I requested that the contractor seal each register between the metal and cut ceiling with caulk or silicone.

If sealing from within the house remove the register grille. Many of the metal boxes tabs were not very straight and the attic floor is very dirty and uneven. The floor vents in my house were particularly bad. Hvac supply and return register boots that penetrate the building thermal envelope shall be sealed to the subfloor wall covering or ceiling penetrated by the boot.

To order correctly please measure the size of the duct. The tape does a great job sealing but as the metal expands and contracts with seasons it can begin to come loose.