Steve writes: Could you tell me if tinfoil vapour barrier is " legally" considered insulation? I bought a house two years ago and just discovered that there wasn?t any insulation in the walls, only this tinfoil stuff. The sellers lawyer claims this is classified as insulation so the se...
Fiberglass is a very interesting option in window frames in that it combines many of the best characteristics from the other window frame choices. In their energy efficiency they are similar to vinyl with the many dead air spaces and far better than the cold conducting metal frames. Their s...
Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Finishes Product: Oil or Alkyd Resin Paint
Temperature Limitations: Use above +10 C (+50 F) and below +32 C (+90 F)
Rain Limitations: No rain for 24 hours
Wind Limitations: Don't paint in hig...
Welcome to the Eakes' Origami Guide to the Building Code -- or "how to actually build new flashing requirements in the building code".
Water leaking in around windows and doors represents one of our major construction problems. The building codes seem to be constantly changing in an effort to mi...
The old days of stacking structure
In the old days, before we had specialized hardware like joist hangers, we would always create beams, or low lying ledger boards and place the joists on top of them with some kind of toe-nail attachment.
The arrival of joist hangers
When joist hangers came in...
One of the most successful, but most expensive ways to keep leaves out of rain gutters is to place a solid shield over the top.
Using the principle of surface tension of water, the water flows over the shield and wraps around its outside curve. That curve extends out over the rain gutter itsel...
Overload protection
Fuses and circuit breakers will stop the electricity in a wire when the load is excessive or there is a short circuit. They prevent overheating of wires from too much electricity trying to flow through a wire that is not large enough to handle it.
Stray current protection
G...
A viewer caught our TV cameras in a renovation centre and asked about cleaning aluminum siding.
An interesting fact about siding is that white aluminum siding and to some extent white vinyl siding both tend to "chalk". If you run your hand over it, you get a bit of a chalk like deposit on your h...
An ivy covered wall
John from Mississauga, Ontario writes: "We recently bought a house that was half covered in ivy. We didn't like it and we were told to cut the roots and let the ivy die and then just tear it down from the walls. We cut the roots and let the ivy die but we noticed all these li...
When it comes to installing screens into a screen door I have always had problems keeping the mesh straight and avoiding wrinkles in the corners when I followed the standard instructions of starting at one corner and working my way around, unless I was working with someone else to help hold it al...
