October 13, 2026 – PRESSADVANTAGE –

Big Easy Renovations, a licensed renovation contractor serving homeowners across Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Tammany parishes, has published a new homeowner guide explaining how to seal drafty rooms from the outside of a home, releasing the resource as area residents contend with humid storm seasons, wide temperature swings, and rising heating and cooling costs.

The guide, titled “Drafty Rooms? Here’s How to Seal Them from the Outside” reframes a problem many homeowners misdiagnose. According to the resource, drafty rooms are caused by air leaks throughout the building envelope rather than by windows alone, with common entry points including door and window frames, cracked or shifting siding panels, utility and pipe penetrations, and the rim joist that sits along the top of the foundation. The company states that sealing these gaps from the exterior addresses infiltration at its source, before outside air reaches interior walls.

The publication cites figures from ENERGY STAR indicating that air leakage accounts for 25 to 40 percent of the energy used for heating and cooling in a typical residence, a share that can climb higher in older wood-frame homes common throughout the region. It also references a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimate that homeowners save an average of 15 percent on heating and cooling costs by air sealing their homes and adding insulation in attics, floors over crawl spaces, and basements.

Much of the guide focuses on practical exterior sealing methods. It explains why silicone caulk is recommended for exterior air sealing because it resists moisture and stays flexible through temperature changes, and it describes when low-expansion spray foam should fill wider gaps before a finishing bead of caulk is applied. The resource also covers replacing worn door sweeps and thresholds, upgrading weatherstripping along door jambs, and sealing utility penetrations with a two-stage approach designed to hold up against humidity.

“Most homeowners assume a cold room means they need new windows, but the leaks are usually spread across the entire exterior shell,” said a spokesperson of Big Easy Renovations. “Sealing from the outside stops air before it ever enters the wall cavity, which is faster and more durable than chasing individual drafts room by room. Our goal with this guide is to help residents understand where their energy is actually escaping.”

The new resource continues a series of educational publications from the company. It arrives a few months after Big Easy Renovations released its guide on flooring upgrades that improve residential property value, part of an ongoing effort to give area homeowners practical information on renovation decisions before they commit to major projects.

The guide notes that certain warning signs point to problems beyond surface gaps. Drafts that return after caulking and weatherstripping, multiple rooms affected at the same time, climbing energy bills with no clear cause, and moisture or musty odors near exterior walls are identified as indicators that air leaks originate deeper in the wall assembly or along the foundation. Homes built before the 1980s are flagged as particularly likely to lack continuous exterior air barriers.

Big Easy Renovations provides exterior renovation services that include siding assessment and repair for properties where panels have cracked, buckled, or shifted away from the framing. The company states that repairing these issues at the surface prevents deeper wall damage and helps maintain an airtight building envelope through the region’s hot summers and storm seasons.

The company continues to offer free estimates for homeowners who suspect their homes are losing conditioned air through the exterior envelope. The full guide is available on the Big Easy Renovations website alongside the company’s other homeowner resources.

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For more information about Big Easy Renovations, contact the company here:

Big Easy Renovations
Ruby Fugate
504-470-0455
info@bigeasyrenovations.com
New Orleans, LA

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