Air vent causing draft to come out of sockets

Arann K

I’ve noticed air blowing out of the electrical sockets in my house (built around 1980). After looking at the room vents it seems the air is passing down between the plasterboard and cavity blocks (see red circle in picture, the gap is filled with cob webs so it's hard to see fully).

Can I use insulation foam to seal around plasterboard gaps, or does this need to remain open for ventilation purposes? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Photos attached for reference.

IMG_20241226_170846~2.jpg

IMG_20241226_170835.jpg

Comhrá

You might do better posting in a more appropriate sub forum:

https://www.boards.ie/categories/topics-home-garden

Calahonda52

You need to fully sleeve the wall vent all the way in to the outside face of the plaster board, both ends need to be airtight

post a pic of the vent from outside

Can be done easily enough

one idea below which will solve the outside piece.

for the inside you cut the pipe flush with the plasterboard, ensuring the pipe is a snug fit in the plasterboard and then use small pieces of airtight tape to tape inside face of pipe to outside of pb

if you cut the pieces too long they will be visible outside the line of the room wall vent

once the A/T tape is stuck on, it doesn't come off

Don't use duct/gaffer /brown tape, it won't last

https://mybuildingsupplies.ie/shop/building-supplies/air-tightness/air-tightness-tape-tescon/?attribute_pa_type-2=tescon-vana&utm_source=googleads&utm_campaign=21093189553&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=693232598381&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADo7XTxsVQkqR83mKl6aBp9KKF7R8&gclid=CjwKCAiApsm7BhBZEiwAvIu2X3RR83RPT4L6Ueh5Q6UkkfIyX8Wp5jeXZxK5bLbfFv7UqIpkBNbUghoCZ9kQAvD_BwE

https://buildstore.ie/rytons-125mm-baffled-controllable-vent-kit-airflow-7500mm2.html

Calahonda52

ps, this is very common issue, back in the day I taught residents associations to do the above and they showed the rest of the estate, must have been 700 houses

Arann K

Thanks for the advice Calahonda52 and the link. Here's a picture of the vent from outside. I have a number of vent to replace.