John wants to cerate a wine cellar in his basement. Here I have answered him throughly enough to perhaps help you detail your own cold room, whether it is under a concrete porch, or just built in the corner of the basement -- trying to deal with the questions of insulation, condensation, vapour ...
Drum Cymbal noises --> Furnace Ducting
Gina in Saskatoon is complaining about drum cymbal-like crashes that happen every time her furnace goes on. This is common when you have smooth flat ductwork. The heat and pressure of the air can cause the large flat surface of sheet metal to flex eithe...
As weather patterns change we are getting longer colder periods than traditionally in many areas of the country -- and with that, more and more complaints of water pipes freezing. Finding the frozen point can be difficult, thawing it can be problematic but if you have done those two, go one step ...
Steve asks: "I have a question about insulating a home from the exterior. My house has got wood siding and I'm going to be removing it and replacing it with vinyl siding and when I do I want to insulate certain areas with blown in insulation but I heard that it settles over time. So if it starts ...
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...
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...
Wayland asked: “Does wet Owens Corning Formula Styrofoam ever dry out?”
Extruded polystyrene insulation is generally considered waterproof. In fact it was first invented by Dow Chemical for the US army in WW I to provide unsinkable floating bridges -- and has been used as the flotation eleme...
Example: Styrofoam products by Dow (by the way, Styrofoam is a Dow Chemical brand name and not a generic term for foam insulation).
Colour: Blue (Dow) or Pink (Celfort)
Thermal Resistance: RSI - .035/mm R - 5.0/in. Very high.
Cost: high
Capacity to dry out if wet: Won't get wet
Fire Resistan...
