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I'm removing one of the ancient crawl-space vents from my house in order to put in a wiring pass-thru plate. The old vent only had a couple screws on it and the new plate has a lot more holes... So, looks like I can't just reuse the couple screws I had.

Is there standard type and size of screw used for this application?

Also, should I put a bead of caulk around the opening before placing the plate?

Doresoom
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Brian Knoblauch
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    A photo might help. Into what does the vent screw? – Jeremy McGee Aug 18 '10 at 18:17
  • The one I had looked at closely before (because it was loose) was screwed right into the wood of the side of the house (and I had tightened that one up). This other one that I'm looking at is the same design, but no screws! Didn't notice that until right now! Looks like they just glued it to the siding with caulk. Hmmm. – Brian Knoblauch Aug 18 '10 at 22:36
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    Construction adhesive. It's almost as good as duct tape. – Tester101 Aug 19 '10 at 16:19

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Doesn't look like there is anything special here.. The vent itself is not sealed, so not sure why you would need to seal the edges with caulk, but it won't hurt if you do.

I don't really see any reason any special screws are needed if it's just wood around the outside. I would just probably put in some #8, 1 1/4" to 2" screws.

gregmac
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  • Interestingly, it wasn't possible to screw in that particular section. The hole was cut bigger than the vent and it was just caulked into place. Ended up screwing my replacement panel to it, cutting holes through the vent as needed, and re-caulking the whole assembly right back into place. If I can get the pics from the guy that had the camera, I'll post up. – Brian Knoblauch Sep 22 '10 at 17:08