for Cold Climate Housing and much more

Found 45 results for the keyword ‘Frost’

  • Can I put ceramic tiles on a concrete porch?

    First, don't put glazed or other slippery tiles on an outdoor porch. You will kill yourself when they get wet or icy. You can find some good looking tiles that are specifically designed to be "non-slippery". Always use a thinset mortar that specifically says "indoor/outdoor" on the bag. You mus...
  • Weather Restrictions: Concrete Surface Patching

    Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:   Category: Concrete     Product: Surface Patching Temperature Limitations: Above +5 C (+40 F) and below +30 C (+85 F) Rain Limitations: Protect from rain until concrete is set, 2 to 6 hours (so rain won't was...
  • Weather Restrictions: Brick Mortar

    Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:   Category: Masonry     Product: Brick Mortar Temperature Limitations: Use above + 5 C (+40 F) Rain Limitations: No standing water or wash out prior to setting Wind Limitations:  Protect mortar if wind will d...
  • Making an X-Ray of your roof

    When there is morning frost or light snow on a roof, you can learn a lot about a heat losses from the house and how to eliminate ice dams and icicles.    What causes problems  Melting the bottom of a snow pack or melting off all snow at the crown of the roof sends water down under the snow to ...
  • Pro: Air Entrained Concrete

    Concrete, outdoors in the Canadian climate, has a particularly difficult time surviving. Walkways, patios, driveways and the like must have as much as 4 to 6 inches of gravel as a drainage base to minimize the effects of shifting from frost movement in the soil. Drainage around these areas has to...
  • OVERVIEW: Outdoor concrete in a cold climate

    Air Entrainment When ordinary concrete gets wet and then freezes, the ice crystals can cause surface chipping, or even more serious fracturing. All outdoor concrete in Canada, even by code, should be what we call air entrained. This means that there are microscopic air bubbles in the concrete ...
  • Frost Protected Shallow Foundations -- and water pipes

    Frost Protected Shallow Foundations The foundation for a house is generally poured below the soil grade level so that the footing itself is well below the frost depth for any given region and soil type.  This protects the house from frost heaving caused by expanding soils beneath the foundation....
  • Retaining Walls and Frost

    Hi Jon,  I have a driveway retaining wall that continues to be pushed by the ground, even though it is backed by gravel and drained to "nothing under the driveway" except crushed gravel. I realize proper drainage affects this somewhat, however would prefer not to cut open my driveway, sidewalk a...
  • A window that is warmer than the insulated wall

    I have always said that as far as the cold getting into your house is concerned, a window is always the coldest part of a wall. But no longer. A company called Prelco from Riviere-du-loup, Quebec has produced a window called Prel-Therm that actually plugs into your electrical system. That's right...
  • How do I keep a shallow Sump drain from freezing outdoors?

    Michael writes from St. Lazare, Quebec : We recently found a nasty surprise with our new house. The land has a high water table and as a result we have sump pump in the basement. The plumbing for this pump was hidden in the walls and ceiling of the basement. When our inspector inspected the home,...