One of our viewers sent in this tip.Although you can supposedly caulk outdoors even when the temperature is down to almost -10 degrees Celsius, if your caulking material itself is that cold, you won't be able to get it to flow out of the gun, let alone stick to anything.First, keep the caulking a...
There are a number of appliances around the house that have user or trade adjustable temperatures and it is not always simple to get them right.Hot Water HeatersMost Hot Water heaters for domestic hot water are factory set to 66deg C. ( 150F ). This is actually hot enough to scald someone so legi...
I get a lot of questions about choosing and applying a finish to a hardwood floor.First understand that there is no one right answer -- there are a lot of products that each has certain advantages over the others and you need to select the properties that are the most important to you. There are...
Condensation or frost on cedar wall shingles on the shady side of the house, early in the morning on clear winter days, bothers many homeowners. They imagine that somehow vast quantities of water are escaping from the house.
In fact, what is happening is that the surrounding air is warming up fa...
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...
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: Adhesives Product: Thermal Plastic Construction Adhesive
Temperature Limitations: -25 C (-13 F) to +60 C (+140 F) -- varies widely by product
Rain Limitations: n/a
Wind Limitations: n/a
Hum...
Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Finishes Product: Water Repellents for wood and masonry
Temperature Limitations: Use above +10 C (+50 F) and below + 35 C (+95 F)
Rain Limitations: No rain for 48 hours
Wind Limitations: n/a...
Hello Jon,
I have a cathedral ceiling with a shingled roof. If I insulate the roof air tight, will the shingles lift and curl as they do on poorly ventilated roofs?
The other thought is leaving an 1 1/2 inch space between the roof deck and the insulation and installing a ridge vent, which give...
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 ...
