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Our dining room has a wall that adjoins the outside. The wall is drywall (I think) and the floor is fitted wood squares. At least one of the squares is pulling up away from the floor. At the base of the floor, I can feel a draft. I have not been able to locate my pre-marriage incense sticks (my wife hates the stuff) to do a proper smoke test, but I think it's blowing in from the inside. Would that just be regular caulk? Is there a good way to ensure that it doesn't look too bad?

Due to recent masonry work, I have learned that there is a passage that at least leads to where the wall is, as I started to get brick dust coming into the house until I laid blankets out across the base of the wall.

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  • what material is on the other side of the wall?
    – DMoore
    Commented Jan 10, 2015 at 0:34
  • It's brick on the outside. Studs and insulation between them.
    – Sean Duggan
    Commented Jan 10, 2015 at 0:34
  • You just came back to edit your question, so 5 years later this is still an issue? Are you on a slab or do you have a basement/crawl space? If you're not on a slab, can you look at the problem area from below to see what it looks like? Some pictures from above and below (if possible) will help people understand what's going on so they can provide some suggestions.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jul 6, 2020 at 15:33
  • @FreeMan Ah, yes, it turns out I still have a problem. This is on the first floor, with a garage below. I cannot see where this is from below, as I think it's right behind the brickwork over the garage lintel. I'll see if I can post some pictures after lunch.
    – Sean Duggan
    Commented Jul 6, 2020 at 15:47
  • This is impossible to answer without pictures (as the 5-year lapse might suggest.)
    – gnicko
    Commented Jul 6, 2020 at 17:45

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If there is a draft, it is 99% chance it is coming from outside.

Uh, yeah you can caulk it. You can caulk anything. I have seen boats with so much caulk on the windows that there was more caulk than window.

If it were me, I would (A) find out how air is getting into the wall and stop that from happening, then (B) remove the baseboard and properly build the wall all the way to the floor using joint compound (drywall wall) or plaster (plaster wall), then reattach the baseboard.

Here is a basic principle: when building walls, the wall is supposed to go COMPLETELY to each of the 4 edges.

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