Found 100 results for the keyword(s) ‘Roof’

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  Vent Stack Ice Capping or Evaporation : I GET SEWER ODOURS INSIDE THE HOUSE OCCASIONALLY IN THE WINTER.

    This is one of those problems that are not dealt with seriously enough by the building officials in really cold regions.  I have opened a blog space at the bottom of this article for you to add in your case history so we can demonstrate that this is a large and continuing problem.  Take a look...
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  OVERVIEW: Changing the roof or roof covering on a house

  As I look at my own database, I see that I have almost 100 answers to specific questions about roofs and roofing.  Despite a good search engine, that much scattered information can get confusing.  Let me make just a couple of overview statements to help guide you in getting your existing or new r...
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  OVERVIEW: Roof Ice Dams & Icicles

  "Why do some houses have ice dams on the roof and others do not?" The overview is below -- for details go to Ice Dams -- for contractors who will really solve this problem, scroll to the bottom of this article.   What causes ice dams and ice cicles? Ice dams develop when snow is on the roof, ...
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  Skylights that don't leak.

  Skylights are basically windows that are not vertical, but usually closer to horizontal as they sit on top of the roof.  Most are fixed but some open a bit for summer ventilation.  There also exist roof windows which are basically skylights that open wide and are much more common in Europe where ...
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  Sealing ductwork in an attic

  Often furnace heating and air conditioning duct work is run though an attic and then back down into the house. Personally I think that this is a really bad idea unless there is absolutely no alternative route. Why? First, most duct work is not sealed where it goes through the ceiling, so a lot o...
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  OVERVIEW: Keeping leaves out of rain gutters while letting the water through

    THE RAIN GUTTER’S PRIMARY JOB   We need rain gutters to collect the rain that falls on a roof and then take it far away from the foundation of the house.  That, together with landscaping that slopes away from the house, can solve 80% of all water leakage problems in basements, especially dur...
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  Roof De-Icing Cables and Leaf Guards

  When placing de-icing cables on a roof which has leaf guards on the rain gutters the layout of the cables need to be modified from traditional installations because the small holes in the leaf guards freeze over very quickly.  Best practice for standard cable installation is to have the cables l...
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  Chimney inspection check list.

  From top to bottom: 1- Check the spark arrestor or rain cover, whichever you have on your chimney. Its most important function may in fact be to keep animals and birds out of your chimney. 2- The liner needs to be in good shape. Check the part that is visible from above, and occasionally have a...
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  Ridge vents for snow country

  Venting a cathedral or low slopped roof is not easy. What you need to accomplish is to have continuous air movement from the soffits up between all the roof joists and somehow out the top. That is what ridge vents were invented to do. But it must be noted that a ridge vent without good open conti...
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  Ventilation hoods -- how to identify quality

    Ventilation Maximum makes some of the best outdoor vent hoods on the market – and makes them to work in cold and snow covered climates.  They often innovate and others copy.  For instance they invented the square cupola that replaced both the troublesome spinning turbines and the rooftop bu...