I've seen the gasket trick work pretty well, but honestly, in older homes especially, moisture issues usually come down to airflow more than sealing. If you seal it too tight, sometimes you're just trapping moisture inside the wall cavity itself. Had a client once who went gasket-crazy and ended up with mold behind the keypad after a year or so. I'd say leave a tiny bit of breathing room or make sure your wall cavity has decent ventilation...just my two cents from experience.
That's exactly what I ran into about two years ago when we upgraded to keyless at our place—a 1920s craftsman bungalow. At first, sealing up the keypad seemed logical (I mean, who wants drafts around their electronics?), but after about six months, I noticed condensation building up on colder mornings. Didn't think much of it at first, but eventually, it started causing weird glitches with the keypad itself.
When I finally pulled it off to troubleshoot, there was definitely moisture trapped behind there, and yeah... some mold spots too. It wasn't a huge disaster, but enough to make me rethink my whole approach. I remember thinking, "Here I am trying to improve things, and I'm actually creating more issues."
So after cleaning it up and letting everything dry out thoroughly, I backed off on the sealing and left a very slight gap—not enough to feel drafty or anything, but just a tiny bit of breathing room. It's been almost a year now since making that adjustment, and honestly, no issues at all. Sometimes I think older homes just weren't meant to be airtight...they need a little space to breathe.
It's funny how counterintuitive home maintenance can be sometimes. You'd think tighter seals are automatically better for efficiency, but in reality, especially in historic houses like ours, balancing airflow is crucial. Otherwise, you end up fighting moisture battles you never saw coming.
Anyway, glad someone else noticed this too—I was starting to wonder if I'd just botched the installation!
"Sometimes I think older homes just weren't meant to be airtight...they need a little space to breathe."
Couldn't agree more. Learned that the hard way flipping a 1930s Tudor—tried sealing everything tight, ended up with moisture issues behind fixtures. Older houses definitely have their quirks... gotta respect 'em.
Totally get what you're saying about older homes needing some breathing room. But I'm curious, did you add any sort of ventilation when you sealed things up? I've found that adding a bit of controlled airflow—like vents or even a small exhaust fan—can really help tackle moisture issues without undoing all the sealing work. It's definitely a balancing act, though...too tight and you've got moisture trapped, too loose and you're back to drafts and energy loss.
When we renovated our 1920s bungalow, we tried sealing everything at first and ran into similar issues. Eventually, we installed a humidity-controlled ventilation fan in the bathroom and kitchen areas. Made a huge difference—no more mystery moisture behind cabinets or fixtures. Older houses sure teach you patience, don't they?
Funny you mention the humidity-controlled fans—I had a pretty similar experience when renovating my old farmhouse. It's from around 1910, and let me tell you, sealing it up tight was a learning curve. At first, I thought I was being smart by caulking every crack and crevice I could find. It felt great initially—no more drafts, heating bills went down—but then came the moisture issues.
I started noticing condensation on windows and even some mold spots behind furniture. Not exactly what I had in mind after all that hard work. So, I did some research and ended up installing a couple of humidity-sensing exhaust fans—one in the bathroom and another near the kitchen. Like you said, it really helped balance things out.
But here's something interesting I discovered along the way: adding keyless entry actually made me rethink ventilation again. Hear me out... Before switching to keyless entry, we had an old-school door lock with a slight gap around the frame (typical old-house charm). That tiny gap unintentionally provided some airflow, believe it or not. After upgrading to the new keypad lock system, everything sealed up perfectly tight. Great for security and energy efficiency, but suddenly I noticed moisture creeping back in again—especially near entryways.
So, I ended up adding a small passive vent near the front door area to compensate. Nothing fancy, just a subtle vent tucked away in the wall that allows a little airflow without letting in cold drafts. It seems counterintuitive at first—sealing everything tight only to intentionally add vents later—but it really does work.
Older homes definitely have their quirks. Every upgrade seems to reveal another puzzle piece you didn't know existed. But honestly, that's part of the fun...or at least that's what I keep telling myself when I'm crawling around in the attic for the tenth time!
