wow, 2", that's not a leak, that is missing trunk! yeah, I would fill the leak with metal first, then seal with some mastic. it forms better than caulk and it's actually much less expensive. John

in looking at your pictures of the basement... see where the band joist/foundation wall that rests on the stone/rubble walls? that is one place to air seal that is worth the time & effort to do so. there are different approaches.. less expensive in materials but more time: would be to caulk tops of joists to floor above and bottom to rubble/stone below. caulk any cracks or penetrations. install 1" or two layres of 1" dow blue board (or corning pink board). use roofing nails, button cap nails ..something with large head to hold foam sheathing in place. use construction adhesive to hold it tight to the wall. caulk edges of foam sheathing to floor at top of joist, and again at bottom of wall to stone wall. do this in all areas of band joist. more cost material..less time to install would be froth pack of closed cell insulation. this is diy. tiger foam is what we have used a few times on small jobs. http://www.tigerfoam.com/#video the site he is spraying..is what I am calling the band joist of your basement. third option..most cost would be to hire the foam sealing out. in the floors large air leakage sites would be any areas where pipes run into the house. under tubs around piping for radiators. plumbing accesses. a mixtue of methods to seal these areas would be pipe insulation around radiator pipes. cut to fit around pipe & into hole in floor. caulked to seal. under tubs..usually a large area. depending on where the tub is located..either metal flashing cut to fit over hole & around pipe. caulked into place & screwed to floor. then caulked around edges of flashing to floor. btw..the radiators you have are really attractive. don't think I've seen such nice looking ones before. of course..radiators are uncommon in this area. I know you are dealing with the ceiling issue right now. hope that goes well. whatever you decide is the fix...seal any gaps between new ceiling & walls of room before reinstalling moldings. this will eliminate any need to caulk moldings to walls & ceiling. will give some more thought to attic later. best of luck.

The softer the material, the more prone to wear & tear. The doorknob zone is always hard on these vinyl-wrapped foam w-strips anyway. I wonder: it's a steel door? So how about a magnetic w-strip that gets a very fine cut through the magnetic part corresponding to the top and bottom of the plate; with the two cuts, the strip can easily step over it without any flexing, keeping tight against both planes. The cuts could be filled with sealant to lock them back together as one unit with the step built in. Casey

Densifiers are used to seep into pours of the concrete (the spaces left behind when the water evaporated) leaving behind a silicon product that is more than a surface application (it seeps down into the concrete...not very far but far enough). We have this on the showroom floor where I work. They scuff (but do not scratch). They still stain. They still loose their gloss when objects are dragged across them. But they can be polished up again. Here's the write up of one such product: https://www.wrmeadows.com/en-ca/liqui-hard-canada/ Notice they say it "improves" resistance (but does not STOP) chemical intrusion (staining). It improves abrasion resistance (but does not stop it). Once the densifier is applied, you may not be able to apply another permanent floor down over top (like tile....nothing will grab the top layer of the concrete). A floating floor would be one of the only ways you could add a different floor over top of this. Just be aware of what you are signing up for when it comes to a permanent concrete finish. It has been my experience (6.5 years in the flooring industry) that concrete floors get "covered up" inside of 7 years. As for my costs above...it should be noted that I'm in Canada...in a SUPER HOT market with VERY FEW high-level professionals. The minimum wage in my area is almost $13/hr. Many parts of Canada are going to reach $15/hr for someone to work at a Tim Hortons. As soon as you have a skill of any sort you start making $20 - $30/hr very quickly. Our plumbers/electricians bill out at $180/hr (Red Seal) which is MORE than a Family Doctor is allowed to bill the Canadian Health Care system. Makes you think about a 'trade' doesn't it?