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PROSOCO's

Guide to Blower Door Testing

Blower door tests are becoming more common and are even mandated by code in some parts of the country. 

Blower-Door-illustration

10 Steps for Conducting a Blower Door Test

Blower door testing is crucial to preserving indoor air quality (IAQ) and avoiding issues like mold, static electricity and energy waste. If you're ready to begin but not sure where to start, read our practical step-by-step guide of instructions.

what you need to know

 

Sean Harris, building science consultant and home performance tester for Positive Energy in Austin, Texas, shares how and when you should get a blower door test to measure leakage and maximize your building enclosure's energy efficiency.

Ask the Expert: How do I pass a blower door test?

Part of Denali Jones's job is conducting blower door tests for clients and helping project teams achieve their energy goals on buildings. He has completed hundreds over his career and he knows what it takes to meet the energy-based standards of airtightness in a building envelope.

Blower door tests: learn the basics

Are you just beginning the process of measuring airflow with a blower door test? We've got the basics you need.

Blower door test passed on the first try

 

Rainy weather was rendered a non-factor for Oregon’s Karuna House, causing zero delays as the crew used a fluid-applied air barrier on damp plywood. The air barrier installation on this Passive House residential project went faster than planned and took less manpower than expected.

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The system you need for the best results.

Natalie demos how to install the R-Guard system from start to finish

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Spray Wrap MVP application

Air & Water Barriers

Looking for a fluid-applied air barrier on a VE project?

Lots of folks know us for R-Guard Cat 5, our silyl-terminated polymer (STP) air barrier that covers the entire field of the wall. And that makes sense, because we talk about it a lot! For the most severe conditions and highest level of performance in any building envelope, our premium[…]

Air & Water Barriers

Air-sealing the world’s largest affordable Passive House

A project with 34 stories and a goal of Passive House certification has to pay special attention to air-sealing their building envelope in order to hit the PH air-tightness target of 0.6 ACH50. We recently got to take a look inside the in-progress construction of Sendero Verde's tower, dubbed Sendero[…]

Air & Water Barriers

The Accidental Passive House

A 260,000+ square-foot high school in Washington is performing at Passive House levels of energy efficiency -- despite the owner never having aspired for it to do so. Passive House was not a stated goal for the architect and owner of Sehome High School in Bellingham, Wash., but the choice[…]

Daniel Levy built this Passive House-certified structure with Autoclaved Aerated Concrete.

Air & Water Barriers

Autoclaved Aerated Concrete: One Passive House builder’s perspective

Daniel Levy acknowledges the adoption of autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) is lagging in the U.S. But that's not stopping him from using it to build Passive House-certified homes. Years ago, Levy taught woodworking technology at the University of Maryland and calls himself a "teacher at heart," but he's also a[…]

helical beaming job

Anchor Systems

Creative problem-solving on a Helical Masonry Beaming job

Any one of our Anchoring Specialists in the field on any given anchoring project will always say you need 20 inches of wall on each side of an opening in order for helical beaming (also known as helical masonry beaming) to work.  On a recent job with John Montecalvo, one[…]

New Orleans Lakefront Airport

Hard Surface Care

Cleaned for landing

At the beginning of 2025, a project team cleaned the historic New Orleans Lakefront Terminal Building just in time for it to welcome private jets full of Super Bowl LIX attendees. When it opened in 1934, Shushan Airport was much more than an airport. Touted at the time as the[…]

Air & Water Barriers

What to use when replacing windows and/or siding

When replacing windows or siding, there are innumerable variables of window types, sheathing types and transition materials you might encounter. One thing is sure, and that's the best products to seal each transition to reduce draftiness, increase indoor air quality, eliminate the chance for mold, and maximize energy savings. Replacing[…]

Guy Mazza (left) and Natalie Daleney (center) arrived on site to assist Robert Donahue on a beach bungalow restoration | photo courtesy Guy Mazza

Air & Water Barriers

Fixing a hole

On a New Jersey lagoon, homeowners thought they were floodproofing their vacation homes by building them up in soil. Instead, they were sinking them into holes and worsening damage from flood events. Architect Robert Donahue knew exactly how he wanted to fix his. In April 2024, when Robert Donahue closed[…]

Iowa DOT garage floor

Concrete Flooring

Rescuing 25,000 square feet of concrete

Above & Beyond Wash and Seal recently shared these photos with us of a 25,000-square-foot garage floor for the Iowa Department of Transportation that was in pretty rough shape. The in-floor heated concrete had deteriorated to such a condition that tearing it out and replacing it was an option, albeit[…]

Bridge to Crafts in New York City

Hard Surface Care

A bridge to crafts and trades in NYC

In New York City, a dedicated group of volunteers is working to educate young people about the opportunities available in specialized construction trades. One of those groups is Bridge to Crafts Careers, a pre-apprentice initiative from the World Monuments Fund and the International Masonry Institute. It started humbly in 2015 with a pilot[…]