The switch plate gap that taught me about spray foam

Went to fix a drafty outlet in a house we're finishing near Boise and found the gap behind the plate was letting in cold air from the crawl space. Took me 30 minutes to realize the real fix wasn't caulk or a gasket, it was foaming that interior wall cavity before drywall goes up. Anyone else ever catch a thermal leak at the trim stage that you could've stopped way earlier?

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grant_allen851d agoTop Commenter

Drafty outlets are annoying but theres like a 5 dollar foam gasket you can throw behind the plate that fixes it in 2 minutes. Youre telling me you found this at trim stage and now youre gonna rip apart finished walls to spray foam a cavity that might not even be the real problem? Half the time its the wiring hole in the top plate not sealed or the sill plate not caulked. Foam in the wall stud bays helps but its not the magic bullet everyone acts like it is. Also houses near Boise get dry cold air that finds every little path, so chasing one gap is a losing game unless you do a blower door test. Just saying, you probably couldve gasketed that outlet and moved on with your life.