Recent Q&A

• Roofing / snow & ice safety / uninsulated in zone 5-6

  I'm working on a house on the edge between Zone 5/6. It is uninsulated and sadly its going to stay that way. It also needs a new roof, and that's…

• What are Pros/Cons of leaving/stripping clapboards prior to blowing cavities and hanging vinyl?

  This board has been very helpful sorting thru questions as we consider dense packing our empty cavities with cellulose. (Climate zone 6) My new Q is what are the pro/cons…

• Termites – adding shields to existing house on old stone walls and missing(?) foundation anchors

  I'm prepping to dense pack empty cavities on an existing home, and am working from ground up. Without replacing the sills, how would one go about inserting termite shields on…

• Post-blow snow woe (snow loading and depth after deep energy retrofit)

  This post asks two questions about snow after insulating , (A) changes in loading and (B) changes in the snow line and how to flash for it. Loading

• Sure, exterior rigid foam when blowing wall cavities might be a good idea, but is it NECESSARY?

  My 1920 platform framed home is on the border of climate zone 5&6. The empty wall cavities are framed with true 2x4s, 16 OC. Walls are covered with lathe and…