*
Fred,
Great article. I’m lending my copy to my dad to (hopefully) switch him over to cells and “sealing the envelope”.
We didn’t get into stuff like dense packing crawl spaces and they flatly refused a sidebar on my top 10 ways to derail venting police.
Can you go into these topics here? I’m sure many readers would appreciate it.
Phil
Replies
*
New FHB here this morning with a great articly by Fred. Think I'll read the cover story about concrete counters & wait for the opening salvo from the North. Joe H
*Ditto!I just got my copy today and really was impressed with the article. I enjoy learning from others experiences. Thanks Fred.RayT
*So is Freddy legitimized now?
*I think this article will help legitimize some of the stuff we've been fighting over for the last year or two here. A builder friend of mine who has no interest in going on line has told me repeatedly that he'll start paying attention to the stuff I've been telling him about venting and about cellulose when he starts to see it in the "legitimate" trade press.Nice job Fred, and thanks to FHB for not being as thick-headed as the industry as a whole is.Steve
*Keep reading #125. There's another article about venting roofs. Point-counterpoint? I think that's Fred in the first photo, but I didn't see the Harley tattoo.
*Steve, et al. "Venting a roof at the rakes" ...don't do it.GeneL.
*Oh Gene, you're such a party-pooper. It is clearly a clever revival of the venerable gable end vent.
*I appreciate those kind words. Publishing Damp, Moldy Houses as the companion to Cold, Drafty Houses has been my dream for 3 years. So this is a big event for me. I hope something in it will get you all out of pickle someday.But as far as legitimization and controversy goes, nope. Everything there is just regurgitated from other sources. I would never put anything in print that isn't fully documented, field proven, and dusty with age. Nothing was based solely on my personal experience. We didn't get into stuff like dense packing crawl spaces and they flatly refused a sidebar on my top 10 ways to derail venting police.Authoring for FHb is a lot of work. They ask for 20 words and pictures for every one you see in print. But that effort is just a fraction of what it takes to bring the content up to Taunton's extraordinarily high standards. Andy Engel, who posts here occasionally, was the editor. Since I write in the 3rd person, he had to walk through the fires of Hell to get the copy readable. Contrarily, Steve Culpepper froze his butt off taking pictures 2000 miles north of his native habitat. The terrific visual was conceived of by Chuck Lockhart, but I'm ashamed to say that I don't know (yet) who drew it. Joyce McWilliam is the lady pulling the levers behind the curtain at FHb and sends the checks too, so we can't forget her. And lastly, if Kevin Ireton didn't have the huevos to print the truth about building performance, none of these things would have happened.With thanks to all, Fred
*Hi Fred,I know you're not making this stuff up. It's just that most guys, if they don't read something 432 times in JLC or FHB, they don't know it's a viable option.So I've got a question for you. I'm going to be remediating a cathedral roof that has a t&g board ceiling and FG with no vapor barrier. They've had really bad ice damming and condensation stains all over the ceiling. Should I pull the FG out before blowing cells if it's possible? Also, what's the diameter of preference for the blower hose and densepack these days? Last time I used a 1 1/2" black rubber washing machine drain hose, but had touble getting more than 3 lbs/cf out of a Force 1 blower. Any better choice of hoses? The rental machine comes with a 2 1/2 inch hose and a 1" reducer nozzle. I taped the rubber hose over the reducer nozzle list time.Thanks.Steve
*Thanks Fred, I enjoyed the article too. Hope you got your share of the $6.95 cover price!
*Cheers to "Cordially" Fred...Near"er" the stream to his credit,j
*Yes, I should have said the same -- Freddy is going from being a fringe nut to a mainstream nut. And that's a compliment! I liked all the pretty pictures in the article, and it does give me something with the imprimatur of Fine Homebuilding to show to the inspector if I try to go ventless. IF he/she is even that openminded. I spoke to an Icynene contractor who said some inspectors here have allowed them to go ventless, others required all sorts of furring etc. Go figure. Shouldn't there be a Chief Inspector? I'm dropping by there tomorrow ... "But Freddy Lugano said..."Damn the Code, full speed ahead!
*Hi Fred,Still too cheap to pop for a digital camera and the old-fashioned ones are just too darned inconvenient!Anyway, I've pretty well mitigated the moisture w/cross laminated poly and stone. I don't think the condensation will be too huge of a problem anymore, but the ice dams are ferocious. Also, grandma insists on running two humidifiers all winter or she says she'll get deathly ill.This is shed roof, 2x6 rafters, about twenty feet long. Chimney with wood stove insert at the lower end of one part of it. Condensation over the years has caused the FG to just about disappear in a couple of places. When it snows you can immediately see which bays have had soggy FG, as the snow melts almost immediatly. Since it's a contemporary style shed that is openable at both ends by removing the fascia, it should be pretty easy to get most of the FG out.What should I do about the soffit strip-vents at both ends? pull em or let the Cells make hairies and brush them clean after?StevePS: about that crawlspace: the son had been for a visit and opened all the vent windows. The place was raining condensation on the underside of everything except about 6 feet around the perimeter where it was warmer. I closed them again. After a month or so, it is much drier, but still getting some condensate in the very center part of the crawsspace where it is the coolest. Should I suggest a dehumidifier? Or do you think it too will dry given more time? Should I try to convince them to insulate the perimeter of the crawlspace and pull the insulation from the floor, making for a warmer crawlspace (and a cooler house) in summer? They've always complained of cold floors and have insulated the floor joists three times in twenty five years. (It keeps falling out when it gets wet and heavy). Last time they stapled snow fence under it to hold it up, so now it stays.I think they will be reluctant to pull the crawl into the envelope for fear of cold feet.PSS: sorry for all the off topic questions, but since I've got your ear here....Steve
*Andrew,Used Icynene on a job last winter in Arlington County,VA. Nature of design and tie-ins made venting impossible, of course inspector shows up for close-in and wants to know how we're going to vent.We talked it over and he said he would accept Icynene. Job was just over their minimum took them longer to set up than it did to do the work.
*Man, there are some scary crawlspaces out there.Maybe get grandma a hygrometer to persuade her humidity is adequate. Humidifiers can grow things and get her ill, too, besides messing with your house. Yeah, I know, my grandmother won't listen to me either.
*This forum is so cool!Did you use "Foam Insealators of MD & VA"? I think they're exclusive in this area. I called a couple days ago and Ken the owner was super nice. We chatted for a while and he provided lots of info on his experience and doubts about fiberglas/venting. Naturally, he's a little dubious of that moldy cellulose, too!Installed cost? He quoted $1.75 sf for 2x6 joists, which must be quite a bit more than cellulose installed.Hey, do you remember the name of the inspector? I'm going to ask them to sit down and discuss it before doing anything, get some kind of agreement before the "show up" where working with the inspector depends mostly on how bright your draw is and how well he slept...
*Andrew, That's who did the job.Ken gave us a break on the job but we still ate a few bucks on the upgrade. They did bail us out and were able to do the job on short notice. The inspector was Matt Wilkinson. I believe Mr.Reese is the chief inspector but not 100% sure.
*Fred,Great article. I'm lending my copy to my dad to (hopefully) switch him over to cells and "sealing the envelope".We didn't get into stuff like dense packing crawl spaces and they flatly refused a sidebar on my top 10 ways to derail venting police. Can you go into these topics here? I'm sure many readers would appreciate it.Phil