Often designers, or your own artistic urges, call for a curve in the riser of a stairway or perhaps a whole wall, and you have to figure out how to get that done.There is a great new invention for making the structure of curves walls. It is like the bottom track of a metal stud wall but it ha...
A couple of years ago we went to Canada's primary earthquake zone, Vancouver, and saw a lot of details about how hot water tanks and just about everything else in the house can and should be tied down to avoid damage during an earthquake. This time we went to near-by Victoria to see how to st...
David from Kingston, Nova Scotia had a question about a floating shelf he was trying to build himself, but before answering his question I wanted to show some commercial 'floating' shelves that you can purchase.Just what is a 'floating' shelf? It is a shelf that appears to have little or not...
False.
Vapour barriers, together with air barriers, prevent moisture from escaping into the walls.
In this sense vapour barriers make you more aware of the quantity of moisture you have generated in your house.
Condensation problems are caused by generating too much moisture and/or having too ...
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...
Do not fill the space between brick siding and the sheathing.
First, this space is outside the sheathing and does not cause condensation, as does an air space inside the wall. (A small space between ordinary siding and the exterior insulation or between ordinary siding and sheathing is also perm...
A basement that has more than 50 per cent of its height sticking out of the ground is not really a basement. The walls should be treated as ordinary, above-ground walls. The foundations should be treated as slab-on-grade to avoid frost problems.
Interior/exterior insulation combinations can be u...
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...
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...
