Recent Q&A

• Spot ERV feeding fresh air to minisplit evaporator head

  First off, happy new year and my deepest thanks for all the help from the members of this community! We finished construction of our small, energy-efficient house this November after…

• Foil-faced polyiso-fiberglass roof sandwich

  Happy 4th Everyone! I slightly altered my roof insulation plan. Originally I planned two 1” layers of polyiso against the rafters with fiberglass batts on top. I am now considering…

• Leaky synthetic roof underlayment

  Hello everyone - We have a multifaceted problem with our roof underlayment and are looking for some professional opinions. We ran out of time to get our originally spec’d underlayment…

• Comparing construction adhesives – bottom plate to slab

  I had the chance to do a very unscientific comparison of three types of construction adhesives today. All were bonding SPF lumber to concrete. I demoed the walls to switch…

• Interpreting R317.1 of the 2015 IRC – pressure treated bottom plates

  Hello Everyone -Quick context here is we used non-pressure treated lumber for all of our interior partition bottom plates, which caught the attention of a contractor friend. It’s a very…

• 窗口闪烁反馈:Innies-outies智慧h 2″ foam

  Greetings everyone - I was wondering if I could solicit some flashing feedback for a rather unique assembly. It's one of those moments where lack of experience and a long…

• Air sealing specifics: OSB and WRB

  Hey There Folks - Excuse me if this is a bit repetitive, but I'm working through a few details air sealing our house and had some questions come up. 1…

• Vapor barriers and air sealing: How much and where in a dry, heating climate?

  We are in the process of framing our final wall on our small, single story slab on grade in Northern New Mexico, so it's an important time to start thinking…

• How to frame around sill plate breaks?

  Excuse the elementary question, but I’m confused about the code requirements for sill plate breaks. This is for a slab on grade, pressure treated sill/bottom plate. We have 36’ and…

• Rebar lapping and minimum concrete coverage

  A couple quick code questions regarding rebar in the footings. Does the 40 bar lappong requirement apply to rebar making a 90 degree bend? i.e. would it be ok for…