Matt Risinger

@renosteinke: Well, not EVERY hvac guy right? Otherwise we'd be seeing a lot more rigid metal out there. Not sure of your geographic location but here in Texas it's 99.9% flex in production homes and 98.9% flex in custom homes. Thanks for commenting, Matt

@renosteinke: Well, not EVERY hvac guy right? Otherwise we'd be seeing a lot more rigid metal out there. Not sure of your geographic location but here in Texas it's 99.9% flex in production homes and 98.9% flex in custom homes. Thanks for commenting, Matt

Let me see if I can address some of the comments/questions above.
@Dreamcatcher: I misspoke, not every window will leak. Some windows may leak would be more accurate. But, that doesn't change my assertion that windows need to be installed with a sill pan so that the 1 out of every X windows that leaks over the next 50+ years of that windows life won't cause a building failure. When I remodeled my 1920's house a few years ago in Portland, OR I found that nearly every window had signs of leakage. But, with no insulation in the walls the house dried out. That house had lots of moisture holding capacity with "real" lumber and plaster (and shiplap sheathing and cedar shingles). Houses we build today have much less moisture holding capacity and way less chance to dry if they do get wet in the walls.
@WallaWallaBuilder: The sills on these windows have a small slope in the framing, then we use backer rod and caulk at the sill and 6" up the jambs. We finish with low expansion spray foam to ensure a tight air barrier.
Thanks for the comments, I appreciate that we all care about the final durability of our houses and we can have a good discussion about "Best Practice". -Matt Risinger

@ADupuis: Thanks for the comments. Good question on the settlement, my honest answer is I'm not 100% sure. It's packed in there so tightly I can't imagine it settling but I would need to ask my OC rep about testing. I would expect that they've done testing on that issue. Regarding the exterior rigid foam, I would consult the Builders Guide book for your climate by Joe Lstriburek. This method works for my Hot/Humid climate but I'm not sure if this is right for your climate. Remember that I'm in a Air Conditioning dominated climate. Thanks! Matt Risinger

Thanks for all the comments guys! One of my favorite parts about being a builder is working with craftsmen who enjoy what they do AND the satisfaction of a home well built. I believe it's my duty as a builder to serve my clients like I would serve my Lord. -Matt Risinger

@MikeGuertin: Yes they are hard to find. When I worked in the Pacific NorthWest they were stocked at my local lumberyard. Now that I'm in Austin, TX I order mine online. My usual source is efi.org. Call them for "builder" pricing rather than ordering online. Great company with lots of hard to find products for high performance building. Appreciate the comments. Matt Risinger

@MikeGuertin: I would agree with you on 99% of what you said. In this case we had some unshaded South & West facing walls and we had already done the "low hanging fruit". We used 3/4" rigid exterior foam and full depth spray foam inside the walls. It was not a huge expense to add it to these walls and we wanted to build the most efficient house we could within the budget parameters. Bottom line for me, take care of the other essentials first but if you've covered all your bases this radiant barrier is the icing on the energy saving cake. Matt Risinger

@DanMorrison: Thanks for catching that answer for me on the dew point. The inside of the house will get 5.5" of open cell spray foam which is a great air barrier & a total fill insulation so I've not had any condensation issues with this type of assembly over the years I've been building this way.
@DArcyM: This may seem like a small R factor but it's not all about R values here in the hot/humid south. We're most concerned about heat gain on 100 degree days and by moving the thermal envelope to the outside of the roofline I've moved all my HVAC equipment into the "conditioned" attic. My attics are usually 5-7 degrees hotter than the house on a typical July day. Compare this to most Austin attics that are vented and have HVAC equipment and R-6 ducts running through a 130 degree attic space. This house had a Manual J showing 800 sf per ton of cooling so it's going to be a very efficient little house. -Matt Risinger

@MikeGuertin: Good point Mike! In this case, the clients had moved out prior to this test and all the gas appliances were outside of the house envelope. The gas furnaces & gas water heaters were all in the attic so there was not chance of backdrafting. Also, good point about BPI certification. -Matt Risinger

@mgaudet: This is a 50's slab house we remodeled so we laid visqueen on the slab, then shot 3/4" CDX down. Next was a layer of 15lb felt and this floor was nailed (and some trim head face screws) down.

@johnmocha: So for the nail holes we filled them with black epoxy then sanded and finished the entire floor with an oil based poly for the ambering. In regards to glueing up the floor strips, I'm not sure what to tell you, sorry.

@nvman: This was a total house remodel so no clients in the house. We covered the vents and went to town. Lots of shop vac work when we were done but the rains outside didn't affect us! Also, no relief kerfs underneith. It's only been down and finished for 6 weeks but so far so good. We did a double vapor barrier underneith the floor, hoping for the best on that...