A Cold Climate Construction and Energy Blog
Sliding patio doors are very popular in my market. Thier large glass panels allow us to view the outside. They open and close without needing floor space and are simple to operate. But they have a dark side…
Continue reading “Shorts-Sliding Patio Doors in a Cold Climate”
This year seems to be a good (or bad depending on how you look at it) year for ice dam problems in my area, the intensity of ice dams seems to change year to year. I was recently on an ice dam diagnostic with an insulating contractor and a general contractor, the home was built in the early 1990’s and there is evidence there have been issues from the beginning. We spent a couple hours testing this home, I’ll get into what we found in a bit.
What is a Barndominium?
A building technique that uses the shell of a typically less expensive barn or post and frame structure to be used as a home. (Don’t confuse post and frame with timber frame.) This “house” often includes a large garage or shop space, or maybe a better description is the garage or shop area includes living quarters.
What needs to be under a slab? Well, it kind of depends. Is the slab for a home or an accessory building? Is there heat in the slab? Is there a radon requirement? This quick post is all about what I like to see included under a slab and the reasoning behind the sequencing.
This three-part series first appeared on the Green Building Advisor website and has been condensed into one post.
An unconditioned and uninsulated crawlspace, an unsealed and uninsulated forced air heating system, and an uncovered dirt floor, which by the way has a sewage leak. If this were your home and you wanted to make improvements, where would you start? Continue reading “Building Science-Existing Construction Improvements”
Most new homes built today follow the prescriptive code path for energy efficiency. Those requirements will depend on the code cycle of your area and your exact climate zone. The requirement for my area are 3, 3.33, 10, 15, 20, and 49. These are the code minimum performance numbers for different assemblies in the home. Let’s discuss each of these numbers, and then I’ll give my opinion as to where I think they should be. I’ll start with the number three and go in the order of the list. Continue reading “Construction Design-Performance Metrics”
When I purchased my old home, the 1952 Cape in late 2018, the basement area looked good. Someone took the time to paint all the concrete walls and floor and cleaned everything up to look nice. Shortly after we moved in, the cat caught a mouse and then the following summer, the basement became a bug gathering place. Ants, spiders and other bugs apparently wintered in another area and returned to my house in the spring.
I am currently working on a blog post for Green Building Advisor where I will be testing a few different tapes in cold weather applications. That article will appear here, on my blog, after it has published on GBA. In preparing for that test, I’ve learned a few things I thought I would share.
I’ve written about sub-slab insulation and heated floors several times over the past couple years, this post is about something I’ve been thinking about for a while now, using a fibrous insulation, like Rockwool’s ComfortBoard 80 or 110 under a concrete slab with hot water heat. The questions I had about this strategy are one, will there be an issue with compression of the insulation when concrete is poured over the product? And two, will a staple be able to hold the hot water tubing in place?
Rockwool ComfortBoard being installed below a concrete slab. Photo by Travis Brungardt
Continue reading “Construction Design-Using Fibrous Sub-Slab Insulation with In-Floor Heat”
As I write this post at the end of November, our outdoor temperature is 28°F with an outdoor humidity of 75%. Inside my home, the temperature is 70°F with a humidity level of 21%. Slightly uncomfortable humidity levels for my family. During last year’s polar vortex, when the temperatures reached nearly -40°F, my indoor humidity dropped to 9%, much too dry. Knowing what I know about building science, I will not operate a humidifier. This post will explain why. Continue reading “Building Science-Wintertime Interior Humidity”