Twinsprings Research Institute

Web of Wires

Posted on April 12, 2014 by ellen

Wiring and Gas Pipe Branches

Last spring when hopes were high for progress on the house, I had a couple of electricians give bids to rewire the house. We had hoped that by last fall the house would be ready for the rough in wiring. That just didn’t happen, although work progressed, it was slow.

The big question to address the wiring, is how to wire in the outside perimeter without compromising the air barrier and insulation value.

We have pulled all the wire back from the perimeter to a central corridor in the ceiling and will try to keep most of the new wiring out of the thermal envelope.

Wiring Core in Living Area

Our plan is to insulate the ceiling corridor with xps or polyiso to the same R-value as the rock wool spaces.

Insulated Wiring Core

Posted in Construction, Electrical, Energy Efficiency, House Systems, Reduce Reuse Recycle | Comments Off

Pump Problems

Posted on March 24, 2014 by ellen

Taco seems to be a well-respected name in water pumps. The 00 series is especially popular. These range from an 003 to an 013. Triangle Tube instructions recommend both the Grundfos and the Taco pumps. For a system the size of ours, they listed the 009 as having the right flow and pressure for the job.
These pumps are fully serviceable. They are easy to take apart and put in a new rotor and motor housing, however, the parts are a bit less than half the cost of a brand new pump.

Taco Pump Interior–this pump is cast iron. Ours is the stainless steel model.

The ceramic shaft, plastic wheel and metal casing are the replacement part, along with new bolts to hold the pump together.

Not all their 00 series pumps are flanged, some have pipe fittings instead. We have two Taco pumps with pipe fittings, the 009 which is the primary pump and the 006 that is the hot water recirculation pump. Flanges are easier to attach and detach the pump, but the flanges are an extra cost, while the threaded pumps don’t require that extra part.

I bought all three pumps from vendors on ebay. They all pumped water when I hooked them up. I even set up a system for testing them since the pump that I took off the old hot water recirc system does not pump water. So I tested the other two with the same hose/bucket system. But after installation the 011 stopped running. It seemed that it was “burned out” by running it when the boiler pump was not running. That was because of the way I wired it which I will explain in a later post.

Then I burned it out a second time! The first time I purchased the rebuild kit and did the simple repair, but when I bought the kit, I also bought a brand new 011 pump. I figured I could use it on the wood fired boiler system AND have it as backup. Before a week was out, the backup pump had to be installed and now I have another broken one. The question is whether it was overheating because it was not getting enough flow through it, or whether I should also have replaced the capacitor. I have not decided whether to buy another rebuild kit and capacitor yet or not.

I have read that these can go out after 7 or 8 years and having an extra rebuild kit on hand is a good idea. Because it is always when the temperatures are coldest that the heating system breaks down. Murphy’s law is part of owning a home I think. For right now, there is a brand new 011 in place in the system. The only difference that I noticed between the older and newer pumps that I could tell was that the older one had a metal information label on the electrical box and the newer one has a paper label on the bottom.

Posted in Condensing Modulating Gas Boiler, House Systems, Maintenance and Repair | Comments Off

Chronicle of Errors

Posted on March 23, 2014 by ellen

I mentioned there were several things wrong with the first installation of boiler piping. When tested, water was not getting through the system and I believed the pump was just not strong enough to circulate through all the radiant loops. That would be solved by changing the simple single looped system to the more common and complex primary/secondary piping.
After pulling out the pipes and rerouting into the new configuration, there was still a problem with the water getting through the system. It turned out that the valves are configured to open only one way. At some point I was looking for the recommended pump location and got into my head that I could assume the valves flowed down. I did remember the valves should be on the cold side to limit wear and tear from the hot water. But it was not obvious to me which way the valves opened. I thought since the lever that holds them open manually was on the bottom of the valve, that the flow was from top to bottom. Incorrect assumption!

Honeywell Valve Diagram

Of course I was not looking at this obvious diagram, but at this installation.

Valve Piping Covered by Insulation

If you know what you are looking at in the above photo, you can see that the air scoop and expansion tank are on the lower pipe. Typically they are on the hot side, but NOT ALWAYS in older, existing installations. So I assumed (again) that the higher pipe was the hot supply.

The flow is shown in this photo and is obvious now that you know the valves flow upward.

Valve Flow

The lower pipe is the hot supply with the water flowing directly into the radiant/registers. On return the Honeywell flow valves are controlled electrically based on thermostat temperatures. The return water can also bypass the valves to bleed the system of air.

The major error in the piping was that twice both in the simple loop and in the first attempt at primary/secondary, I plumbed the hot into the upper pipe. After some consideration, I realized the error and replumbed all the piping so that the lower pipe was the hot supply. This meant remounting the secondary pump and I had to buy more 1″ copper and more fittings to reconfigure everything. The pipes seem more complicated than they should be but I could not figure out how to clear up what is a typical rats nest created by an inexperienced plumber, but at least now the plumbing is correct and the water flows properly.

New Challenger Boiler Piping

Posted in Condensing Modulating Gas Boiler, Energy Efficiency, House Systems, Radiant Heat | Comments Off

Potential Energy

Posted on March 19, 2014 by ellen

I originally thought our remodel was a shoe-in for a LEED gut remodel project. The concrete slab on the floor of most of the home had to be taken out and replaced. This gave us the opportunity to upgrade with more energy efficient systems and materials. Where we eventually land on the LEED scale of things is still debatable, but there has also been the question of whether we can be a LEED project at all. The “gut” of gut remodel hinges on the language in the document that describes eligible LEED for Homes projects. The LEED for Homes Guidelines for 2008, Document 5482 states:

Gut / rehabilitation
Projects that are characterized as ‘substantial gut/rehab’ can participate in LEED for Homes, as long as all of the prerequisites can be met. In order to qualify as a ‘substantial’ gut/rehab, a project must replace most of the systems and components (e.g. HVAC, windows) and must open up the exterior walls to enable the thermal bypass inspection to be completed.

We definitely are replacing most of the systems, but we were not planning to tear up the crawlspace area of the house. That means that the drywall and existing insulation and thermal bypass layers would remain. Our provider questioned what was meant by “open up” to complete the thermal bypass inspection. This inspection is required for the Energy Star thermal bypass checklist which is part of the LEED Energy and Atmosphere Credit category. The insulation installation is classified according to the quality of the install, gaps in the application etc. Since in some cases the walls cannot be seen, the quality must be determined differently as in this explanation from the Energy and Atmosphere Item 2: Insulation

Gut Rehab Thermal Checklist Requirement

Our project does not remove the drywall or replace the insulation in the crawlspace area of the house. This is a relatively small area inside the red outline in the picture below. Although this is a substantial gut remodel regarding most of the systems etc., this part of the home has walls that are inaccessible. However, due to the discretion given to the rater, the home could still qualify for LEED for Homes as long as the prerequisites are met.

78thPl_remodel sections

In this area of the house, there are walls that are underground (about 3/4 of the north and east walls.) These walls are insulated on the exterior so somewhat accessible for inspection. About 1/4 of the walls are above ground as well as the south clerestory and roof in one bedroom. I believed that I could have insulation blown into these walls to satisfy the rater that the thermal bypass and insulation quality had been met. However, since this is at the rater’s discretion, our rater told me that this was not something the company had ever done. They are not certified to judge this area by thermal imaging either. For these walls, our rater will not be able to judge the quality of the insulation install or the seamlessness of the air barrier. Although thermal imaging can check for a consistent air barrier, use of this technique is at the LEED provider’s discretion.

If the rater is not able to verify that a suitable continuous air barrier exists, the project is disqualified based on this prerequisite. In addition to this basic threshold, the installatoin has to be gap free. Our provider has never graded insulation better than the lowest level of installation if they could not see it. So this part of the house will have the lowest insulation score. That will be entered into the energy model with the rest of the house and hopefully the software will show that the house maintains an excellent air and thermal barrier by its overall performance.

This is the policy of our provider. After some email discussion, they have given us the go-ahead to complete the renovation without removing this drywall and establish that there is a suitable air barrier in the existing construction, with the understanding that we will be downgraded wherever the insulation is not completely exposed. The original house was built to higher standards than a typical home so the existing walls in the crawlspace area of the house are 6″ to 8″ thick and have fiberglass batt, plastic sheeting, drywall, etc. to create the air barrier, and the roof has asphalt shingles as well as the 12 inches of fiberglass batt in the clerestory plus the extra layers of batts that I installed in the attic area. From what I have read, no one layer is completely responsible for the air barrier, instead the entire system must be continuous and free of air infiltration.

Since we are replacing the insulation and air barrier in the main part of the house, the rater will be able to model a higher level of installation in most of the building. In my estimation, tearing out drywall in the crawlspace area that does not need to be redone due to soil expansion damage seems adverse to the LEED principles of green remodeling, reducing materials, reusing, and recycling wherever possible, so I am accepting this potential reduction in performance as a reasonable tradeoff.

UPDATE: Energy Logic has researched the issue and USGBC will accept thermal imaging from a Level II certified thermographer as evidence of continuous insulation coverage. But I have to find the thermographer. I called around and found most energy audit companies only have a Level I thermographer but our electrician’s company has a thermographer who is ready to take the exam for Level II so hopefully thermal imaging will improve our rating for the existing insulation install.

I’m choosing to be upbeat about the future and will just do everything we can to make this project qualify and gain the necessary LEED points to score in the certified range. In this case I think we solved the issue of whether we will meet the prerequisites for Energy and Atmosphere.

But while discussing this issue we realized that the drywall in the back bathroom does not meet the minimum standard of paperless drywall in all wet areas. That means that the bathroom drywall, at least in the tub area WILL have to be replaced so the tile will have to come out and we will have to plan to use paperless drywall in all other wet areas too. I am not fond of the tile in the bathroom and have redone several bathrooms with durarock and new tile and paperless drywall so this is not that daunting, but close attention to LEED requirements can be so detailed that it is frustrating.

Posted in Energy Efficiency, LEED Project | Comments Off

Primary/Secondary Piping Complexities

Posted on March 16, 2014 by ellen

This is the new primary/secondary piping. It follows several boiler piping rules of thumb, although the 009 pump is now a bit over-sized for the primary loop. There is a secondary 011 pump that also is capable of pumping at high head because a radiant loop system consists of several turns of pipe that create a high head condition.

New Boiler Piping Illustrated

Primary Secondary System Piping

In place of the simple in/out system piping we now have a primary loop that circulates from hot to cold directly as well as a secondary piping loop that draws hot water from the primary loop and returns it to the primary loop. This is similar in function to the simple system except that the primary loop allows the boiler to circulate at a different and constant speed, while the secondary loop that feeds the heat emitters (radiators and radiant) can vary in speed and pressure without reducing the pressure to the boiler.

The main feature of the primary/secondary design is the “closely spaced tees” that cannot be more than 12 inches apart but should be only 4 pipe diameters (4″ for 1″ pipe) apart. The hot water line length to the tees is 8 times the pipe diameter while the cold water line needs only be 4 pipe diameters long. The Taco 009 pump runs only the primary loop while another Taco 011 pump runs the secondary loop. Both pumps are stainless steel even though cast iron is acceptable in a closed loop system, I was concerned about water quality for boiler longevity so made the whole system brass, copper, and stainless steel as well as using oxygen barrier pex.

I added several gauges to the return line: temperature, pressure, and flow. That way I can compare the pressure differential between the hot water supply as it leaves the boiler and the cold water return. This difference is called a delta T and has a role in the system design. I originally was planning for a delta T of about 20 but it appears we are getting closer to 10. Sometimes when only the radiators are calling for heat in this combination system, the boiler is not firing because the return temperature is higher than the outdoor reset curve. That is how it should work–unless the radiators are not hot enough to warm the space. So I have to keep an eye on these temperatures.

Some of the other components would have been added to the simple system as well. The boiler feed valve is a Caleffi and maintains a pressure of about 10-12 psi in the system. The valve can be closed to keep new water from entering the heating system. There is a Spirovent air separator. When the system was first purged of extra air (by opening the drains at the Honeywell valves and running the loop water into a bucket until no more air bubbles appear) the system was still airy enough that water was burping out of this vent so I attached a pipe to drain it to the sump, later I removed the pipe.

The system also has a Spirotrap dirt catcher on the cold water return side. There is an acid neutralizer for the condensate overflow so that the water from the boiler condensation process is treated with limestone before entering the sump. There is a boiler pressure relief valve that is piped to the sump too. There are shutoffs before and after each pump and a boiler drain valve as well as a hose (green in the photos) that is hooked up to the Honeywell control valves in the manifold that drain each loop as it is opened.

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From Simple to Complex

Posted on March 16, 2014 by ellen

Single Loop System

The original boiler piping design was going to be a single loop system. Return water would be pumped through the system to the boiler and hot would flow out to replace it. One Taco 009 pump was chosen for the job due to its high head pump curve. Seen below, the 009 pumps fewer gallons per minute but at higher head in feet than the other larger pumps and higher than the smaller pumps that pump similar gallons per minute.

Taco curves 009-0014

This graphs also compares the 009 with the smaller pump sizes.

Taco pump curves 003-0014

This was a beautiful simple system. However, when tested, I could not get the water to pump fast enough through the piping to keep pressure in the boiler. Actually, there were several things wrong with this first installation that might have been changed one at a time and this simple loop system would have worked. I did not know that at the time, and only found the issues one by one. My first step was to abandon the simple system for a more complex and more usually recommended primary/secondary boiler piping design.

Posted in Condensing Modulating Gas Boiler, Energy Efficiency, House Systems, Radiant Heat | Comments Off

Double Double Toil and Trouble

Posted on March 9, 2014 by ellen

Hot water recirculation pump is brown (not black) and pumped directly back into the cold water return line.

This old brown pump came with the house (also an 006) but did not pump. I replaced this one with a different Taco 006 that includes a temperature sensor. The new pump worked, however, it broke the flow control switch in the boiler!

The boiler system has been recalcitrant at best, that is if I may anthropomorphize it a bit. I have joined the ranks of POEM as described by Garrison Keillor. (Professional Organization of English Majors–in case you are not a lifelong fan.) And an English degree allows for a high tolerance for reading directions, not necessarily impeccable grammar and spelling. But reading directions only goes so far. Many years ago I worked with a wonderful volunteer retired lady in the school library of our small town, Spencer, Indiana. Inez used to say that education costs money, one way or the other. And in fact I was willing to pay for the education I needed to install and recommend a radiant system. I have been getting that education one way or another and paying for it.

You might recall the exultation of hot water in an earlier post. I broke the boiler in the next step, putting in a recirculation pump to keep the water in the structured plumbing system warm at high use times of the day. The Taco 007 recirc pump was recommended for recirculation in the directions, however, the flow control in the boiler immediately stopped working upon having water pumped into it. The Taco 006 is similar to the 007 but it can overcome a larger amount of head pressure and does not pump as many GPM as the 007. The 006 is 1/40 HP while the 007 is 1/25 HP so the 006 should not have overwhelmed the boiler flow control.

I ordered a new flow control switch but it didn’t seem to work. Unfortunately one of the times I installed it, I put it in upside down which support told me would break it. So I just ordered another one, not being willing to accuse someone of incompetence, other than myself. Triangle Tube support generously recommended a bypass test to see if the flow control was the issue and after jumping it, the boiler went into an error code for the temp sensor. Another expensive part later the boiler was back to work heating our hot water. Since I only work on the house one or two weeks out of every month, this was a months long process. In the meantime, the radiant heat side of the boiler was also giving me fits.

I should mention that the recirc is now up and running. I realized that flow controls break if there is too much water pressure, which the pump obviously provided. So I bought a pressure regulator and also raised the pump above the water return. At first I had the pressure regulator too restricted. An interesting thing about these devices is that the pressure increases as the screw is loosened, and decreases as it is tightened. So I had to allow a higher pressure through the line to get the boiler to have enough flow to turn on. But now the recirc works great. It has a built in temperature sensor so it regulates itself and I put it on a timer so that it only runs four times a day, when we are likely to need hot water at the tap.

UPDATE: I replaced the timer with a remote controlled receiver and a remote. Now the water only circulates for the few minutes before we get into the shower. We have a 3-5 minute wait, but that is so much better than wasting water.

Skylink Remote Receiver with separate remote.

New blue (not turquoise) recirculation pump.

Water rises a few feet to the pump itself and then falls three feet and goes through a pressure regulator valve before moving back into the boiler. Flow control is working fine. There are shutoffs on either side of this pump too. Have to install these as they allow for repair or replacement of the pump without completely turning off and draining the water system.

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A Light in the Attic

Posted on March 9, 2014 by ellen

After all I had to take a work light up into the attic so I could see to install the recycled/reused insulation from the deconstruction to increase the R-value in the small attic over the back bedroom and bath.

The original insulation was blown in fiberglass. I was told it was fiberglass, I thought some other kind of cellulose was used and this stuff was not as prickly as the batts. You can see the boards that I put over the top so that I could crawl around without falling through the ceiling.

Blown in Insulation

The insulation was about 6″ deep up there for an R value of about 24.

Blown in at Eaves

Although difficult to see in the photo, there is a continuous plastic vapor/air barrier on the warm side of the attic floor.

Plastic vapor barrier on warm side installed before the drywall

Also the eaves were sealed with caulk and in some cases spray foam–the attic is not vented at the eaves.

Sealed at the eaves

I added two layers of fiberglass batt pushed back into the eaves over the walls and laid perpendicular to each other.

Layers of Fiberglass batt

We still had more batts to use up so I laid some three deep around the front wall and piled them up in front of the only interior wall.

Interior wall Insulation

Final R-Value? Probably around R-66. (two layers of 5 1/2 inch plus the original 6.) A good amount for an attic.

Two layers of batts

The job was hot and prickly. I coated myself with baby powder, wore a 3M mask, a tyvek coverall and gloves and still felt prickly afterwards. A good hot shower immediately afterward helped though.

Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Energy Efficiency, Reduce Reuse Recycle | Comments Off

Rock Around the Wool

Posted on March 6, 2014 by ellen

Clerestory Corner

Rock Wool Clerestory

Rock Wool Closet

Rock Wool Ceiling

Rock Wool Excess

After many months of installation, plus some time off for a retirement trip and family visiting, the rock wool mostly got installed. Of course these oversize pillows make a large difference in the house being able to hold its passive solar heat and it is cozy inside again. The temporary electric heaters ran the electricity bill up to over $300 one month, but that is better than freezing pipes.

True to the hype, this insulation was very much easier to install than fiberglass batts. It is still dusty and a mask is still a good idea, but it does not cling to the skin and itch like crazy for weeks afterward. Actually my brother-in-law, a contractor, told us to use baby powder before working with fiberglass and it really did help to keep the stuff from clinging, as long as sweat didn’t wash the powder away.

It appears that I over ordered by quite some amount of the 24″ stuff. I suspect that I doubled the ceiling twice as we have about 30 bales too many. When I was figuring linear feet of ceiling, I may have doubled the amount for two layers of 5.5 inch Roxul, then when the order was complete, I doubled the number of rolls to account for the double layer. At least that is what I think I did.
UPDATE: I double checked my figures for the insulation in the ceiling and I did not double the measurement twice. I did add 10% and that should have resulted in 9 more bales of the 23″ size. I don’t know how many rolls were delivered when it came, my son-in-law just stacked the delivery inside and we never counted. They MAY have delivered more than I ordered.

The extra is in the way, but we have odds and ends to complete and have to figure out how and where the wiring will pierce the barrier, so some of the overage will be used. The rest will have to find another home.

Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Energy Efficiency | Comments Off

More About Rock Wool

Posted on November 25, 2013 by ellen

Insulation, just like so many LEED building options was a rather tortuous decision. I was introduced to the idea of using rock wool by Sarah, my LEED expert friend. She recommended looking at rock wool for a couple of reasons. It has a bit higher R value plus it can have a high recycled content. It is often used commercially because it has a higher fire resistance and much higher melting point (2150 degrees vs. 1300 for fiberglass).

The technical bulletin from the Roxul site states the following advantages for rock wool batts.

• Low moisture sorption
• Water resistant
• Non-combustible
• Fire resistant
• Excellent sound absorbency
• Chemically inert
• Does not rot or sustain vermin
• Does not promote growth of fungi or mildew
• CFC- and HCFC- free product and process
• Made from natural & recycled materials

The material safety data sheet reveals that the product did cause cancer in rats injected with the substance, but not in rats subjected to inhalation. The product is classified as not cancer causing. However besides the main ingredient of mineral wool, urea formaldehyde is used as a binder.

Cured Urea Extended Phenolic
Formaldehyde Binder 1-6%

This amount is the initial proportion according to this Green Building article. The heat process during manufacturing eliminates most of the chemical so that the final concentration is less than 0.0135 ppm which qualifies for Greenguard Clean Air certification.

Most US manufacturers of fiberglass insulation have stopped using urea formaldehyde in their binders entirely. And the classification of fiberglass was changed in 2001 from possibly causing cancer to not cancer causing, although there are inhalation studies where rats had a higher incidence of cancer. The MSDS list ingredients that are considered cancer causing* but only in California. The Certainteed and Owens Corning residential fiberglass products are also Greenguard certified.

Chemicals in Fiberglass Insulation:
Acetic acid ethenyl ester, polymer with ethene
Asphalt* (used in paper backing)
Hydrotreated heavy paraffinic petroleum distillate (highly refined)
Acetic acid, vinyl ester, polymer
Glass, oxide, chemicals*

Many sources consider cellulose insulation the greenest option. I was not impressed with the lower R value, the moisture holding qualities or the rodent resistance of cellulose, despite being treated with repellant and fire resistance. The cost for installation was about the same as the raw material cost for the Roxul, for the lower R value. Although articles sometimes treat the insulation values of these all the same, their actual ratings seemed to vary enough to tip the balance in favor of Roxul for our application. Foam has a much higher R value per inch, but the foam installer only quoted for 6 inches or about R 40 in the ceiling and 3″ or R 20 in the walls for $10,000 more than the rock wool cost.

5 1/2″ Rock wool – R 23
5 1/2″ Unfaced fiberglass – R 21
5 1/2″ (5.42 in.) Blown in cellulose – R 19

I was also interested in a material that would not harbor rodents or mold. Rock wool is purported to be resistant to both. But my research indicates that both fiberglass and rock wool can gather dust and fibrous material that will harbor mold. Rock wool is also used as a hydroponic grow medium specifically because it can hold moisture for plant roots, but fiberglass also can be used because it also holds water, however, I have not found a direct comparison of the moisture holding properties of fiberglass to rock wool.

Although rock wool is considered unattractive to rodents, according to Wickipedia as well as vendor sites, a study done at the University of Nebraska and presented at a conference in 1992, states that all insulation materials, including rigid foams, are susceptible to infestations and the resulting damage.

The energy cost of manufacturing and the use of recycled content is about the same for fiberglass and rock wool. Both use high heat in their manufacturing process. Roxul states that the recycled content is variable but they use at least 40% recycled materials and the new Owens Corning Ecotouch uses at least 50% .

The materials cost to us was between 40% to 55% more for the rock wool. We paid about $1.25 per square foot of 5 1/2″ rock wool and fiberglass would have cost between 57 and 75 cents a square foot for unfaced fiberglass. Although new fiberglass would have cost about $2000 less, I pulled enough mouse infested, moldy fiberglass out of the house to be sure I wanted to try something different.

Installation is supposed to be easier with rock wool batts, they are firm and do not sag during installation. A comparison to fiberglass is made on the Lamidesign blog that addresses the water holding, R-value, and fire resistance of Roxul. I was swayed by the arguments in favor of Roxul.

The MSDS recommends masks and covering clothes and heads during installation just like fiberglass insulation, but apparently the dust does not stick to skin and clothes as fiberglass does. We’ll have to do our best to be sure that air barrier sealing eliminates mouse infiltration as much as possible and guard against moisture infiltration in the future.

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Roxul Rock Wool Arrives

Posted on November 24, 2013 by ellen

After a couple of false starts by Lowes, the rock wool insulation was finally delivered, which meant a full day of hauling it from the pallets on the driveway to the inside. This job fell to our son-in-law and four year old grandson, as we were out of town when it came. Grandson loves using the hand truck anyway and worked about three hours helping his daddy move the insulation.

Grandson Trucking Roxul

I figured the order in lineal feet of insulation needed by measuring the length of the rafters in each part of the roof/ceiling and counting the spaces of that size then doubling that amount to fill the 2 x 12 rafter spaces with 2 layers of 5 1/2″ deep insulation. For the walls, I measured the height of the walls and averaged the height of the sloped ceiling walls, and then counted the cavities. Most of the ceiling is 24″ OC and most of the walls 16″ OC.
I figured 779 linear ft of insulation for the 24″ ceilings. That is doubled to get 1558 ft. of 5 1/2″ deep batts. Then I added 10% error for 1713.8 ft. divided by 4 foot sections, and in packs of 5 for a resulting order of 86 packages of 23″ batts. The 16″ ceiling were 400 lineal ft (doubled for two layers) and 394.50 of wall ft. I also added 10% error for 804 ft. of 15″ insulation in 4 foot batts and eight per package or 26.08 packages of 18″ OC. I ordered 26 packages. So in total there were 112 packages of insulation delivered and now that much to install. Yikes!

Fortklift cannot cross a threshold.

Pallets of Insulation

Stored inside

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Hornets’ Nest! @#&!

Posted on November 12, 2013 by ellen

One of the demo experts started to tear out the hallway ceiling and came running out with a terrified cry of “HORNETS”! The guy was very allergic and would have had to take lots of Benedryl or get to a hospital had he been stung. Luckily he was not and I was able to buy some foaming hornet spray to take down this nest. (At dusk with the tear out completed in the morning.)

Dangerous Drywall

“Paper” Hornets

Destroyed Nest

Nest Top Side

Another reason to be sure the building is sealed both outside and inside.

Posted in Deconstruction, Maintenance and Repair | Comments Off

Where the Rain Gets In

Posted on November 12, 2013 by ellen

Unfortunately, the flashing on the southern exposed roof was deteriorating rapidly.

Buckled Flashing

Separation of Seal

Rotting Flashing Trim

Buckling Flashing and Rotting Trim

I used Eternbond tape to reseal the roofing to the stucco and to seal the top of the flashing to the siding after removing the old trim.

Eternabond Flashing Tape

Flashing Tape

After sealing the top of the flashing, I screwed down the bottom where it was buckling and then resealed the seam with Loctite 375 a very low VOC construction adhesive.

I found it difficult to figure out which sealants and adhesives have the lowest VOC content. The Lowes store did not allow a search for low VOC adhesives and even their descriptions did not include the Material Safety Data Sheets that describe the VOC content. I was able to find a low cost low VOC adhesive by viewing the documents on the Loctite Product Site.

I concentrated my research on the Loctite brand because it was the only brand that Lowes sold that had low VOC content. The VOC content of 375 is < 0.1 %; < 2 g/l (calculated) which is very low. Low VOC’s are defined for paints and coatings as under 50 g/l. Construction adhesives can be up to 70 g/l. The LEED program requires the use of low VOC construction materials according to the California South Coast Air Quality Management District Rule #1168

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I’m Fixing a Hole

Posted on November 7, 2013 by ellen

I caught a photo of the woodpecker that I am trying to encourage to go elsewhere to nest.

The Culprit

Closeup of the Northern Flicker

The woodpeckers pecked holes through the cedar siding, the fiberboard sheathing, the polyiso sheathing and into the fiberglass where they tore the surface foil off the insulation all the way down to their nest. What a mess.

I fixed the holes with a sheet of polyiso cut to fit and a sample roll of the SIGA tape which sticks nicely to anything. The outside was patched with Eternabond tape.

Bird Hole Trimmed

Bird Damage Removed

Repaired Bird Hole

I only fixed two of the holes. One is behind the brick wall so will have to be repaired from the outside and the other was not all the way through so I just patched it from outside.

The Solution

According to the Colorado State Extension agency, this bird is a Northern Flicker. These woodpeckers MIGHT be scared away by whirlygigs and windchimes hung from the eaves. So I hung the lovely chimes that our friend Marsha gave us for a housewarming gift, and I bought several twirly things and hung them. They did not seem to scare the Flicker whose photo I took though.

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Goodbye Fiberglass (Mostly)

Posted on November 6, 2013 by ellen

There were a lot of damaged fiberglass batts in the walls and ceiling. Most of the batts had to be discarded due to mold, mouse holes and urine. The fiberglass batts just about filed the 30 yard dumpster, as well as the drywall from the demolition.

Discarded Batts

Batts that were in reasonable condition were saved. These sacked batts were from the from the front flat ceiling.

Sacked Batts

This pile of batts is what was salvagable from the cathedral ceilings. I hope we can get it up into the attic as an extra layer of R 19 without having to put it in sacks.

Saved Batts

The dumpster was picked up on a rainy day in late October after a week at the house. I caught a picture of it just as it was leaving the driveway. Glad to be rid of it.

Roll Off Dumpster

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Bare Bones

Posted on November 6, 2013 by ellen

I decided that the cathedral ceiling being extra tall and inaccessible, was too difficult for me to tear out myself. I enlisted the help of some demolition experts who I contacted through their ad on Craigslist. They came over with some extra scaffolding and a roof shingle stripper and made quick work of tearing out the west wall, the ceiling and the insulation.

Workers Set Up for Tear Down

Tearing Down in Family Room

After the teardown I had lots of clean up to do but I kind of like the whole bare bones look of the rooms!

Tear Down Living Room Ceiling

Final Tear Down Bath/Family Room

Utility Room Tear Out

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It’s a Gas

Posted on November 5, 2013 by ellen

Correction required for this article: Please read italics below.

Making progress on the house and about ready to install new insulation, so I decided to see if we could get the gas pipes moved out of the way of new insulation. We are trying to get most of the wiring and piping out of the insulated spaces. You would think this would be a relatively easy task. I may just pick the wrong plumbing help, but the guy told me the entire system was grossly undersized and should be replaced. I guess I was just born yesterday, because although I didn’t take his word for the necessary sizing of the pipes, I took his word for the size of the pipe we have! He said it was 1″ pipe. But black iron is measured by the outside dimension and we have 1 1/4 pipe! That means the existing pipe is fine for the BTU’s we need it to deliver. Harumph.

What a difference a 1/4″ makes. We have about 80 lineal ft. to the boiler, which would be able to carry up to 480,000 BTU/hr. but if the pipe was only 1″, we would be limited to 220,000. Similarly, we have a pipe that goes outside to the old spa area for a gas spa heater. That distance is about 165′ so we would use the 175′ figures for a total of 300,000 BTU/hr.

Gas Pipe Sizing

I’m not sure how decreasing and increasing the pipe size impacts the distance and BTU’s. The pipe decreases to 1″ near the gas dryer hookup and increases again going to the outdoor pipe.

Decrease in main trunk pipe size to 1″

Increase in pipe size back to 1 1/4″

It seems that to carry the total BTU’s the trunk pipe must maintain the minimum diameter for the total BTU’s in the run. The branch lengths are not included in the trunk run figures, but the total BTU’s of the appliances they serve are.

Found at http://www.doityourself.com/forum/water-heaters/446586-gas-pipe-big-enough.html

In this example there are five appliances for a total BTU rating of 310,000 BTU/hr. The run to the furnace is 59′ and carries up to 270,000 BTU/hr. A 1″ pipe only carries 260,000 so a 1 1/4″ pipe is needed, according to the chart. To add the grill, figure the 30′ to the grill as a branch line. For a 30 ft. length to carry the 40,000 BTU/hr, a 1/2″ line would work and the total run will hold 460,000 BTU/hr. more than enough for all appliances on this line.

The gas run for our house could include the following appliances, distances and BTU/hr.

Our gas run

So we are not grossly undersized for the common appliances within our distances, but would be with 1″ pipe as the service guy thought. However if we were to run the extra distance to the outdoor heater, we might run into problems. A spa heater is about 100,000 BTU/hr or so and we would be limited in the entire line to 300,000.

That 1/4″ represents a pretty large difference in capacity. I just have to find someone who is willing to still work with black iron pipe–the bid I received was to replace all the pipe with flex, the new stainless steel (CSST) stuff but we should be able to keep black iron for most of our runs.

Months later when we DID get the pipe replaced, the Gas Connection representative also identified the main pipe as 1″. (Black pipe is measured by its “nominal” dimension which is neither the inside nor outside diameter.) Although in his opinion it was not grossly undersized, using the existing pipe would be too likely to leak and not pass inspection requiring costly leak locating and repair. The cost to replace the old pipe with a larger outside line directly to the utility room would be about the same as adding more pipe to the old and less difficult for them. So what I found about measuring black pipe was incorrect, it is not measured by outside dimension. The btu delivery information is accurate though and the Gas Connection used some of my btu figures when they computed the requirements for the job.

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Nature’s Warriors

Posted on October 15, 2013 by ellen

Hey, what was that tap tap tapping on my house? Yeah, I think I let this one happen. Even while I was home it did not occur to me that the birds could drill a hole right through the siding into the inside cavity of the house. I thought they were just eating bugs from the side of the house?

I was truly surprised and depressed to find three big holes in the polyiso foam siding with huge bird messes inside. I pulled out the insulation and patched the holes from the outside with eternabond roofing tape, but I’ll have to redo the foam insulation somehow from the inside and tape over it. I’m wondering if we should replace all the cedar siding with something that is bird impermeable.

Hole in foam insulation

Hole 2 made by the birds

Eternabond patched siding

Bird Hole Locations

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Air Barriers

Posted on October 10, 2013 by ellen

One of the benefits of blogging is to organize thoughts about next steps. When Sarah visited, she advised me to finish the external barrier first and that was a helpful comment in a sometimes overwhelming project. I am taking apart the insulation layer in the main portion of the house. That means tearing out the drywall, and the fiberglass insulation.

Insulation Piles

I’ve been packing the used insulation up into construction trash bags. Another messy and itchy job. I have quite the getup for this task, long sleeves, slick nylon pants, neck kerchief, hat and a good quality breathing mask. I figure we will reuse the insulation that is not damaged by mice. The house was empty for quite some time and although there was not much evidence of animal intrusion, part of the ceiling was definitely inhabited by a large colony of little pooping critters. I’m glad to get all of that out of the house. But most of the insulation is in good shape and seems that it could be reused, if not in the house, then in an eventual outbuilding.

Considering the infiltration of animals, however, the house barriers definitely need to be beefed up. I’m still researching the final design of the exterior walls. An in-depth resource for that project has been the Building Science information website. I have downloaded and read not only their informative construction principles, but also their presentations and seminars over the years. These give a better explanation of their design principles as they have evolved over the years. The two people whose names are seen again and again are Joseph (Joe) Lstiburek and John Straube. These men have worked on building envelope design for decades and have changed thinking regarding air infiltration and moisture management in walls ceilings and floors. In one marathon session, I downloaded 57 presentations and papers on thermal envelope design from this site. Since there is no audio, it is necessary to read several presentations since the same cases are cited again and again and the prinicples are more thoroughly explained over time.

Basically there is an ideal wall construction and that construction can be translated just as well to roof and floor. There must be a waterproof layer and a vapor barrier, an air proof layer and lots of insulation as a thermal barrier in between. The idea is that the thermal envelope should be a contiguous and continuous barrier between the inside and the outside of the house. This ideal can be somewhat difficult to implement in a home built out of dissimilar materials like ours.

Ideal same construction wall, slab and roof

Ideal wall, roof and floor

We have a passive trombe wall, a mostly cathedral roof, an earth bermed north wall, window walls facing south and small portions of the earth bermed walls that are framed for windows. How does a continuous air barrier extend across all these surfaces?

For now I am concentrating on the wood framed areas, walls and roof. The original construction consisted of from the outside in, either cedar siding or stucco (water barrier), 1″ of foil faced polyiso with the foil facing inwards, (this is an air barrier if properly taped) then there is a window wall facing south that consists of 2 x 4’s surrounded by small areas of fiberglass batt, or 2 x 6 walls with fiberglass batt, these are covered inside by 4 mil poly (that would also be an air and vapor barrier if properly sealed). Finally there is 1/2″ drywall on the interior surface. So the existing walls are pretty well constructed to meet Energy Star guidelines, although the window openings were not taped and it appears there was not any building wrap used on the outside and the poly barrier is broken and not taped around windows and electrical outlets.

I am most interested in eliminating the intrusion of critters and birds (as well as moisture, heat and cold) by creating new wall and roof barriers. For this purpose, it seems as if sprayed foam would be a good solution. Spray fills in any voids and is pretty impermeable to critters. I would get a couple of inches sprayed throughout the ceiling and frame walls and seal that well where these walls connect to the masonry walls. Then the remaining void could be filled by rock wool insulation which is less comfortable for critters to nest in. You would think fiberglass would be uncomfortable too but that did not seem to be the case. Finally, there needs to be a chase for electrical cable and the gas pipe and maybe even some plumbing vent pipe that goes through the roof. As another option I was thinking about installing a membrane air barrier under the insulation and taping that, then putting up a grid of 2 x 2’s on the ceiling and walls to hold the electrical outlets and wiring before having the drywall installed. That would protect the membrane from nail holes and other issues as the construction ages.

I am a bit confused about whether the foam on one side and the air barrier on the other would cause a wall and roof that could not dry out if it become damp for some reason. UPDATE: Now I know that the foam forms both an air barrier and insulation layer.

Foam under the roof is highly recommended by the building science folks, and if the air barrier is vapor permeable the wall should be able to dry out from the inside. The one problem with foam in the walls and roof are that it is capable of outgassing over time and I’m not sure if the air barrier will contain that as well as the concrete in the floor is expected to contain any outgassing from the foam under it.

Here is a wall construction diagram that I found at the Gregory La Valderra Architect website.

USA Wall System

There are a few products that could be used for the interior air barrier. The Swiss Siga air sealing products are popular with the Passive House builders in Colorado. These can be ordered from a few small suppliers in the US online or imported by builders in your area. Similar products are made in the USA, I’m also looking at the Membrain sheeting from Certainteed that claims to allow vapor permeability and air sealing. This can be purchased from Menards and shipped to the house and may be available on order from Home Depot or Lowes. Menards also carries Thermofiber rock wool. But the local Lowes carries Roxul, a Canadian brand.

I finally decided that foam insulation was too expensive and ordered the interior SIGA air barrier materials and Roxul from Lowes. The local company A&E Building Systems is a dealer for both the SIGA products and high energy efficiency windows from Alpen, a company in Longmont, Co. I could find nothing but praise for the SIGA products for ensuring a vapor permeable (dry) air barrier, so I ordered the barrier, application tapes and caulk from these Passive House experts.

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Hot Water at Last!

Posted on October 7, 2013 by ellen

Domestic Hot Water

YES! Endless hot water @ 2.4 gallons per minute. That was enough for a nice long shower, first one in the house in about a year. So nice to finally have the water system connected and hot water running again.

Off the wall again for horizontal connections

To accomplish this feat I had to take the whole boiler down and redo all the compression connections with new fittings that cost $20 each for the 4 of them. (These are special mm to inch fittings to bridge the European manufacturer’s divide!) When connecting these pipes the first time, I kept adding the required pieces to the bottom of the vertical installation. Each time I held the upper pieces with a wrench but when they were all connected, the compression fittings and fittings inside the boiler leaked like a sieve. I read that compression fittings can be “overtightened” so that they will no longer hold water. Taking the compression rings off while the boiler was on the wall was a total headache and I finally called Triangle Tube to ask about the fittings. They said they recommended doing the attachments while the boiler was horizontal. Would be good to add that to their installation instructions. So with all the pipes and the PVC exhaust and external air pipes disconnected, and I had some help to lift the boiler off the wall.

Hydronic testing

Connecting the compression fittings was easier with the boiler on it’s side. I didn’t connect all the parts right to the boiler this time. Instead I just put the pressure gauge and the boiler drain close to the boiler. The pressure relief on the hot water, and the strainer on the cold are further down the piping, near the floor where they can be better supported.
I read several other installation manuals for boilers and one recommended a hydronic test of the connections before the boiler was installed. So I rigged up a system to run the water through the boiler first to check for leaks. But after putting the connections on horizontally instead of vertically, there were no leaks in the system.

Boiler rehung and reconnected

I also needed help hanging the boiler back on the wall, but then I was able to finish the connections and fire it up. I had a gas regulator that was rated between 4 and 12 PSI and used that to regulate the gas for the boiler. The installation instructions did not require a regulator, but I used one to be safe as the boiler is limited to 13 PSI. I tested the PSI at the boiler’s test port with a meter I bought just for that purpose and it was 7 PSI so well under 13 and over 5, the minimum requirement. I did not check the flue gasses for efficiency yet, but will do that when the heat is hooked up.
The instructions also did not require a condensate neutralizer, but it appeared that most installations used one to make sure the water that is discarded is not too acidic. I bought one of those and installed it as well. The one piece that I didn’t buy ahead of time was the fill valve, and I decided to get a Calephi because it is fully adjustable and is all brass, unlike the Watts valves. So I can’t wait to see if I can get the system heating soon as the temperatures have turned chilly and it doesn’t help that I have torn most of the insulation out of the walls and ceilings.

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