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Category Archives: Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope
Last Push before LEED Rating
We returned from our camping trip late Tuesday and I had about two days to finish several projects for the LEED final rating appointment on Friday. It was not easy to prioritize. I found an article that mentioned the 10 … Continue reading
Posted in -Chronological Recent Posts, Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, LEED Project, Maintenance and Repair, Ventilation
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A-B Polyurethane Spray Insulation
It seemed that the best way to insulate the rear wall of the utility room would be spray on insulation. Most of the wall is below grade so I knew it was insulated on the exterior but the top 11” … Continue reading
Posted in -Chronological Recent Posts, Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Maintenance and Repair
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Dryer Vent Debacle
My next project was to close the leaky area in the utility room. I started by cleaning off dust and taping the Siga membrane to the back header. I had expected to get the drywall fixed on the ceiling but … Continue reading
Posted in -Chronological Recent Posts, Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Appliances, Maintenance and Repair, Ventilation
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Drywall Touchups
We called our favorite drywall guy, Hector, to return and touch up the drywall. He has been very successful the last five years and we were glad he came back to do more work at our house. We had the … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Construction, Maintenance and Repair, Reduce Reuse Recycle
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Bestway Cellulose Insulation
The back area of the house was not on the original gut remodel list. But several upgrades have been made. The crawl space was conditioned early in our thermal envelope work. Completed Crawlspace! The attic above was layered with all … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, LEED Project
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Trim Work Phase Two
The next trim project took four days. Scott and Robert worked on the “man” doors to the outside first. It was a bit of a scramble to get all the boards planed as they were needed. I planed the boards … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Construction, Reduce Reuse Recycle, Trim
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Disappointing Blower Door Test
Since working with the Metro Green Homes Tour I have met several people who have been active in sustainable and energy efficient housing for years. One of these new friends offered to come over with her equipment and do a … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope
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Moving Up to LEED 4.1
All of the documentation on our LEED project so far has been to fulfill the requirements of LEED for Homes 2009. Although I have another year to qualify under the old system, I’ve contacted Energy Logic to finish up the … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, LEED Project, Planning
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Hoppe Lock Jam
We first had this problem when one of the doors was new. There is a piece on the three point lock that is called a mishandling device. This is a latch that releases the top and bottom throw bolts that … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Maintenance and Repair
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Insulating the Bathroom.
About three quarters of the rear wall of the bathroom is poured concrete below ground and insulated on the outside. I added polyiso to the inside of the concrete wall and replaced the Fiberglas with rock wool. The interior walls … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Plumbing
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Rear Bathroom Gut Job
In order to meet the minimum standard for LEED all the substrate around a tub or shower must be paperless including the ceiling. It’s required even under tiled walls. The existing tiled walls had been waterproof for over 30 years … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Deconstruction, LEED Project, Reduce Reuse Recycle
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Snug as a Bug
Facebook reminded me that it has been seven years since we had our energy audit. Seven years since I retired. A bit over seven years since we purchased the house. The good news is that the property values have escalated, … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Energy Efficiency, Fireplace Boiler, Radiant Heat
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Storage Closet
Sealing the gap between the walls and the floor in the storage closet has been on the to do list for some time. I emptied the closet and vacuumed the floor to access the gap on the outside walls. The … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Maintenance and Repair
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Airlock Entry Interior Door
As the cold weather descends and as I set the thermostats a little lower to cut back our electricity use (I’m studying our use to figure out where we use too much electricity) I decided it was time to isolate … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Construction
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Foundation Insulation
We had some warm December weather and Dave thought he could do another outdoor project so he started digging the trench to repair and replace the foundation insulation. Although we thought the white insulation was EPS with its lower insulating … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope
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More Tile
Unfortunately the tub drain still leaks but I decided to tile the second half of the bathroom instead of taking it apart again first. The wall near the sink plumbing was not square. Squaring the tile with the brick wall … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Bathrooms, Tile
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A Week’s Worth of Drywalling
Our drywall contractor had a problem with his subcontractors. Basically, they didn’t show on the date he set for the job. They probably would have showed eventually, they did send two guys for a short time at the end of … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Construction
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Drywall Prep: Membrane Installed
The membrane on the rest of the walls has been installed, the seams taped, and the edges caulked to the studs. The caulk is super rubbery and stays flexible. It is recommended for the edges of the membrane. I put … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Construction
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Drywall Prep: Install the nailers for drywall.
These are all finished now. Unless the drywallers find they need another one somewhere. There are some tricky areas where the house orientation changes direction to catch the sun. The rafters come together at an angle and the nailers had … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Construction
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Drywall Prep: Install Membrane Progress
We are making good progress on the membrane installation. The first area was to finish the wiring chase with insulation, polyiso and then the membrane seen installed here. The wiring chase included some tricky areas around the radon pipe where … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Construction
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