Moisture can cause many structural problems and create a very unhealthy home for your family when mold and mildew begin to form. Building a home that deals effectively with moisture requires due diligence from design to installation and on to maintenance. The home must be built in such a way as to prevent leaks which are the biggest cause of damage and it must also eliminate condensation which occurs naturally in every home.
As much as 95% of US roofing starts with wood panel sheathing. This is because it’s easy to work with and provides a sturdy substrate for roofing materials. However, if the wood sheathing panels are not installed correctly, bucking may occur and this will telegraph through to the shingles causing a ‘wavy’ look. This can result in very expensive call backs for the construction company, so ensure that you follow these guidelines and the manufacturer’s instructions as well as your design professional’s outlines in order to avoid problems.
Compressing fiberglass provides more R-value per inch, but reduces the overall R-value.
Your time is money, so knowing where to focus your air-sealing efforts will help you to achieve the desired results in a blower door test.
Fiberglass batts, when installed properly, can provide exceptional value. Here are some tips to getting the most out of your insulation:
If you live in an area that is prone to wind events, you can build to mitigate damage to property and risk of injury.
Discovering gaps in your knowledge is great as it helps you to improve and research areas that will make you a better builder and a better construction manager.
Often builders will use a propane heater to dry paint, drywall mud, etc. but what happens when hardwood is installed right after with no time to allow the house to dry?
One way to work smarter is to build using raised-heel trusses. From the APA: “Also known as energy-heel trusses, raised-heel trusses deliver cost-effective energy performance especially when combined with continuous plywood or OSB sheathing.”
If you have been administering your blower door test at the end of your build, then you may be missing out on an essential opportunity to make your building envelope even tighter. Doing two blower-door tests; one mid-way through your build and one at the end, will give you a unique opportunity to fix cracks and holes before they get covered over by insulation and sheetrock.
