The best way to design a crawlspace that accentuates your building envelope and does not allow unwanted moisture into the home is to treat them as if they were miniature basement spaces. Crawlspaces should be insulated, sealed and all exposed masonry should be covered to prevent condensation.
At a 2013 Remodeler’s Advantage Summit, attendees were asked what advice they would give to construction professionals about running their business. Business management is a facet of the construction industry that often gets neglected resulting in poor service or low profit margins. Here are a collection of the best business tips professionals in the construction industry had for their peers.
Floors expand and contract with changes in moisture, heat and season. This movement can pull tiles apart creating cracks or push them together so that they pop up or ‘tent’. Proper planning and preparation of the subflooring will help to prevent tenting and cracks in tiled bathroom floors.
The 2015 blizzards have had a calamitous effect on housing over the winter, causing damage and destruction to many roofs. After several feet of snow, buildings across the country began to buckle under the added weight, prompting officials to encourage home owners to clear their roofs of snow. The record-breaking snow, ice and freezing temperatures wreaked havoc on homes with older roofs causing collapses and sagging.
Biological and bio-chemical hazards are present on just about every construction site and should be effectively managed in order to comply with safety standards and to keep your employees and trades safe. Not only should you ensure that safety comes first, but accidents on site can cause costly delays too, even if no one is injured.
From flooring to wall decor and everything in between, unfinished OSB is the latest trend in modern interior design circles. The ‘unfinished’ look takes advantage of the rich texture and pattern that OSB provides to add a little flair. Plus it’s cost-effective and eco-friendly.
Nearly 40,000 nail-gun injuries are reported to emergency rooms across the US every year and OSHA claims that nail gun injuries account for 14% of their reported injuries. Not only operators are at risk of injury; 12% of nail-gun injuries happened to bystanders. With these staggering results, it may be time to rethink nail gun safety.
Frozen pipes on construction sites and in new homes are one of the issues builders face over the winter. Burst pipes, especially when they go undetected, can wreak havoc as they spew water into the building or erode the surrounding landscape.
Burst pipes occur during extremely inclement winter weather when water in the pipes expands and places so much pressure on the inner walls of the pipe that it bursts. You can avoid burst pipes by either preventing the water from freezing in the first place or by managing pressure when it does.
Whether you are a professional roofer or a DIY enthusiast building a garden shed, here are a few simple steps to reduce call backs and ensure a quality roof that will last for years. Not all shingles are the same and individual manufacturers may have specific instructions for their products that have to be followed in order to meet building codes and validate warranties. Read and follow the installation instructions that come with the product, even if you have installed shingles before.
If you are getting callbacks for uneven or squeaky floors, make sure that you are correctly spacing your OSB subflooring panels. Wood expands or contracts with changes in moisture conditions and without proper spacing, the panels can push together and this causes the edges to lift which, in turn, causes the squeaks and bumps.
