for Cold Climate Housing and much more

Found 43 results for the keyword ‘Drainage’

  • Venting the plumbing in an island sink

    Putting a sink in an island in the middle of the kitchen presents some plumbing challenges.  Generally the venting for a sink goes upward in the wall while the drain water flows downward towards the floor – but in an island, going up is not an option.  To have a large sink that drains properly y...
  • How do you clean a toilet stack?

    Al wants to know how to clean out a vent stack. Most people never clean out their vent stack -- it just doesn't need it. However some people do get birds nests in there, or clogs that for some reason are difficult to reach through the regular plumbing branches. You can run a plumbing snake into...
  • Avoiding common errors with paving stones & Asphalt driveways

    It is frustrating when walkway or driveway paving stones heave with frost, or drop with erosion. If properly built, this doesn't happen. Actually what I have written here about paving stones applies to asphalt driveways as well.   A GOOD COMPACT SUBSTRATE IS ESSENTIAL IN A COLD CLIMATE You nee...
  • Water in the bottom of the window well.

    Robert from Oakville, Ontario wrote: I live in a town house and only have two basement windows. Last year I cut out the wall on one of the windows and took out the 32" X 15" window and replaced it with a 32" X 24" window. It worked great. So this year I decided to enlarge the back window before f...
  • Stopping flies and gasses from coming out of my basement floor drain with Dranjer!

    I have had several letters recently about bad smells and even flies coming up out of basement floor drains and sump pump pits. One viewer was quoted hundreds of dollars to break up the entire basement and replace all the sewer lines. The real problem is usually that the trap under the floor has ...
  • OVERVIEW: Spring Flooding of Basements

    Every spring basements get flooded with water and I get flooded with letters about basements turned into swimming pools. Although there is a lot of information on this site about the problem, let me summarize and link it together.  For solutions, see PREPARING FOR  A FLOOD The spring thaw is the...
  • Plunging a Clogged Sink: It's the UP stroke that counts!

      Disloving the problem If your sink is just suffering from a lot of face cream and shaving cream, the least expensive and most ecological solution is simply 1/2 cup of baking soda (try using a funnel to get it into the drain), followed immediately by a cup of vinegar.  Let it sit a few minutes...
  • Overview - Building the base to a tiled shower.

    Most people don't realize it but glazed tiles are not completely waterproof although they are highly water resistant. The reality is that the tile and the grout are not the final line of defence against water leaking through to the ceiling below. A proper built-in shower stall starts with a tape...
  • Iron Ochre

    Iron ochre is a rust coloured sludge that accumulates and clogges perimiter drains in certain soils.  It is often found the Eastern Townships of Quebec.  It is a very complex problem which can be controlled but not solved.  In fact the real solution in regions known to have iron ochre is to not b...
  • Floor covering in a basement

    I'm asked a lot about covering a floor in a basement. There are several considerations we need to deal with: the hard and cold concrete and maybe with levelling the floor. Of course we need to pay attention to water, either coming from outside the house or from plumbing spills inside the house si...