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Found 35 results for the keyword ‘Vapour Barrier’

  • Insulating a Cathedral Ceiling - OVERVIEW

    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...
  • Just how do you install windows properly?

    The reality is that there is not just one good way to install windows, but there are certain principles that must be taken care of with any installation to prevent cold air or water leakage later. Basically a window installation must shed most of the water with the siding, what does get through ...
  • Insulating problems with historical buildings

    Hello Jon I am the chairman of a church committee with the task of raising money, and doing the admin. for the restoration at St Andrew United. My concern now is the proper procedure to fully insulate the Church. I am alright with the Attic as well as the crawl space, however I am pondering the...
  • What is an air tight electrical box?

    We all know that electrical boxes are the often the source of cold air drafts. They are equally the route by which warm moist air escapes from our houses. In fact, the National Research Council of Canada has calculated that up to 30 litres of water can pass through a single electrical box in one ...
  • Air Spaces in Walls -- Myth and Science -- Overview

      Walls often have air spaces hidden somewhere between the siding on the outside and the drywall on the inside.  Some are accidental -- some on purpose, even code required -- some served a purpose at one time in history but because of the evolution of construction, are no longer useful -- some a...
  • Insulating a foundation with embedded floor joists

      Certain parts of Canada, particularly in the Winnipeg region, have a traditional construction technique that presents serious challenges when you want to insulate a basement -- the ends of the joists are actually embedded in the concrete foundation wall.  Chris, from Winnipeg, asked for some f...
  • Good and bad techniques in insulating basement walls.

    The national building code requires a minimum level of insulation in a basement that reaches about two feet below the outside grade level. The objective is to make this storage space a heatable space. Hence some materials and techniques have developed that satisfy this minimum code requirement th...
  • Vapour barriers in basements

    One of our viewers is about to insulate his basement and he has been told that he should not run the vapour barrier all the way to the floor. Fact or fiction? You should run the vapour barrier wherever there is insulation to keep the moisture on the warm side of the wall. And in a basement insta...
  • How do you insulate a basement wall that has a pony wall?

    Ron from Penticton, B.C. has a "stepped" foundation with a pony wall from the concrete to the ceiling above. This upper portion is insulated but not the concrete. He wants to insulate it all. He asks: "Does he have to remove the existing drywall, and does the vapour barrier need to extend over th...
  • Vapour barrier paint -- it does exist -- it does work.

    Kyle from Fort Erie, Ontario, has a vapour barrier question. "We have a house, 80-90 years old, with no insulation in the attic. The house is a 1-1/2 story building with sloped ceilings on the second floor to the outside walls. Our ceilings are plaster. Can we lay insulation in the attic without ...