On windy days, houses in the Prairies often develop a small frost line on the rug about an inch away from the wall on the north or west side of the house. Here the wind is succeeding in lowering the temperature of the most poorly insulated part of the house -- the floor boards.
In most construct...
Stephanie saw a show where we were tracking down what was causing water to ooze up through floor tiles laid on a basement floor. She wanted to share her very strange experience with water oozing up through floor tiles on the main floor of the house.
She finally discovered that the clothes dryer ...
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...
Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Masonry Product: Masonry based weatherproofing coatings
Temperature Limitations: Use above +7 C (+45 F)
Rain Limitations: No rain until hardened -- about 8 hours
Wind Limitations: High wind c...
Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Concrete Product: Bituminous foundation moisture control coating
Temperature Limitations: Water based products must be used above freezing -- Solvent based materials minimum -17 C (+1 F)
Rain L...
Lime was the primary ingredient in most stains in the old days -- it was called a 'lime wash'. It can be used to stain all porous materials including masonry, concrete, and stucco without causing any of the moisture problems that modern finishes may cause.
Given the need to use traditional mater...
Holly in Wasi Lake, Ontario wants to know why her 1x10 pine tongue-and-groove floors are shrinking and leaving such large cracks.
If you look at traditional hardwood floors you will notice that each board is rather narrow. In fact it is difficult to locate hardwood floors that are wider than 4 i...
Concrete will allow water or water vapour to move through it quite easily, so any wood in contact with concrete must either be pressure treated wood, or you should have a plastic separator between the wood and the concrete. A simple slip of polyethylene plastic is all it takes to prevent rot at t...
Air-change ventilation systems exist that take stale air out and bring fresh air in so as to not rely on cold air drafts for the entry of fresh air to the house. They are simply a box with two fans. In a few of the warm spots of Canada these are legitimate systems on their own. In most of Canada ...
It's become very important to understand the difference between a vapor barrier and an air barrier.
If we completely seal a polyethylene sheet on the warm side of the insulation, we call it a combined air/vapor barrier.
But it's possible to put the vapor barrier on the warm side of the insulati...
