Recent Q&A

• Spa cover

  Spa covers are very expensive, and very short lived, because they are made of vinyl that tears and expanded polystyrene that absorbs water. Does anyone have any with experience or…

• Headers

  My balloon frame house has no headers, board sheathing, a single top plate, and the rafters do not fall over the studs, but there is no deviation in the top…

• Minisplit vs direct-vent gas heater

  Lots of stuff about minisplits in the blogs; I'm wondering are direct vent gas heaters are cheaper to install? more expensive to run? My interest is theoretical, but I live…

• 每股收益

  I want to put EPS on top of an underinsulated/unvented roof, then plywood and asphalt shingles. Am I right that this can be done without sleepers (nailers) going through the…

• BPI certification

  I cannot find much information on the BPI website with regards to BUILDING ANALYST certification and ENVELOPE PROFESSIONALcertification. Would I need both to get a job in the energy auditing…

• Insulating window treatments?

  Back in the 70s insulating window treatments were a big thing, nowadays I don't hear much. If convection and condensation can be overcome isn't this an area where there is…

• Airtightness of wall systems

  Can anyone produce a list comparing the average airtightness of the most popular wall systems?, tyvek and fiberglass, airtight drywall and fiberglass, taped EPS and fiberglass, sprayed caulk and fiberglass,…

• Wood-burning information sources?

  Does any one have a source for engineering-based information on wood burning -- a book, definitive article, or web site?

• Board sheathing air-wash?

  I am remodeling a Victorian house with board sheathing in Vermont, I have added a second row of studs making my wall about 8" thick. I am going to do…

• ProperVents + cellulose?

  Can dense-pack cellulose crush ProperVents?