Frost in the attic is no different than anywhere else. It is caused by warm moist air coming into contact with cold surfaces and dropping its moisture. The problem in attics is primarily one of quantity; in one house frost accumulations of up to fifteen hundred pounds were discovered one co...
Air leaks account for the greatest loss of heating dollars from Canadian homes. These are easily solved by sealing. The greatest conductive heat losses occur through the basement. Canadian basements typically lose more heat than ceilings because attics usually have a little insulation (eve...
Terry has heard that if you want to stop drafts, you need to take the trim off from around the inside of windows and seal that gap between the drywall and the window frame behind the trim. He suggests simply covering this gap with aluminum duct tape.That is a great idea Terry. Aluminum duct tap...
Hugh from Vancouver wrote: Our patio door was single glazed and the cold came through it like there was no door there at all. We installed inside storms several years ago and the improvement was like night and day.A couple of years ago, we saw at a local mall show displays of their double g...
Although the Canadian building codes list about 160 acceptable ways to soundproof party walls, it all comes down to taking care of three basic things.Low frequencies travel through the structure, so the more you separate the structure of one apartment from the structure of the other, the more...
You have all seen, maybe even used the little foam gaskets that are supposed to block the cold air from coming in through the electrical outlets, as you can see my smoke pencil flowing through the outlet in the first photo. The air sealing experts at CanAm Air Sealing showed me how to make t...
Foam guns are the air sealing tool of our epoch. We all use them. We all kill them. We all wish they would last longer and clog less. Of course there are as many different qualities of single component poly-urethane foam guns as there are different qualities of foams — at least we can be happy t...
This article deals with a block wall above grade. For a below grade block wall see Basement Perimeter Drainage and Leaking Foundations.
Bryan is faced with a totally un-insulated cinder block wall with 1x2 strapping and a plaster covering. He is thinking about stripping it back to the block...
When it is time to replace your windows you will hear a lot of confusing and even contradictory things from contractors, salesmen and even friends. If you just look up Windows in this database you might be overwhelmed -- so here are the links to the most useful entries specifically related to pla...
Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Adhesives Product: Acoustical Sealant
Temperature Limitations: Product must be above +5 C (+40 F) -- but surface can be below freezing.
Rain Limitations: Apply to a dry surface.
Wind Limitatio...
