An Air-Sealing Guide from California – GreenBuildingAdvisor

By Martin Holladay | July 4, 2025

A California building contractor named Terry Nordbye has written a new book, Air Sealing Wood Frame Buildings, that is chockful of useful tips. While most air-sealing guides are written for weatherization contractors—that is, people who seal leaks in older buildings—Nordbye’s book focuses on both new construction and weatherization.

Nordbye has been involved with Passive House construction projects for at least 16 years. (Back in 2009, Nordbye appeared on the GBA website a few times: He was quoted in a news article about a Passive House retrofit in California, and he sought GBA advice on the best way to install insulation above a recessed can light. He was also quoted in a GBA news story from 2010 about a new construction project in California.

We need more contractors like Terry Nordbye, who is passionate about air-sealing. He knows a lot of air-sealing tricks, several of which aren’t particularly intuitive. After years of experimentation, he has developed a few new ways to seal air leaks, including “puddle sealing” (a technique for sealing electrical cable holes) and the use of sprayed-on roof coating to seal building cracks, especially in older buildings.

The book’s best feature is the photos, which convey a lot of information at a glance.

A few caveats

Builders from New England will notice that Nordbye’s book has a few quirks. For example, Nordbye seems unaware that New England contractors have been sealing air leaks for longer than he realizes.

Nordbye writes, “If the house is older than 20 years you can assume there has been little attempt to make it more airtight.” He also writes (on p. 53), “Oriented Strand Board (OSB), introduced in the 1970s, came in as an alternative to plywood. Using plywood or OSB wrapped buildings was the most significant leap in air sealing…