Moisture can cause many structural problems and create a very unhealthy home for your family when mold and mildew begin to form. Building a home that deals effectively with moisture requires due diligence from design to installation and on to maintenance. The home must be built in such a way as to prevent leaks which are the biggest cause of damage and it must also eliminate condensation which occurs naturally in every home.
Every now and then it seems we get a glimpse back in time, and this user submitted photo showcases a blast from the past let-in bracing.
Raised-heel trusses provide a cost-effective way to meet more stringent energy efficiency codes. It’s not surprising that four out of five modern homes are built with pre-fabricated trusses as they offer a lot of advantages; a more uniform pitch and size, increased spans mean fewer internal load-bearing walls and they can be installed quickly, with less labor.
Knowing what R-value and U-values mean is key to following energy issues and to selecting products that best suit the climate zone you are building in. R-value is essentially a product’s resistance to heat flow. Adversely, U-value measures the rate of heat transfer. This means that products with a lower U-value will be more energy efficient. It is tempting to think that these two values are direct opposites of each other, but there are some important differences to note.
Building enveloped that perform poorly reduce energy efficiency, increase ROI times, and increase carbon footprints and utility bills for building owners. A blower door test can help to establish the airtightness of small to medium buildings, measure the flow of air between different areas in a building and test the airtightness of ductwork.
Did your wall sheathing get wet? Well, best listen to the Ol’ Sage Builder regarding the maximum moisture content before closing up your walls.
One way to work smarter is to build using raised-heel trusses. From the APA: “Also known as energy-heel trusses, raised-heel trusses deliver cost-effective energy performance especially when combined with continuous plywood or OSB sheathing.”
As the cost of building materials increase and building codes demand more effective envelopes, construction professionals are looking to taller wall sheathing to fill in the gaps. OSB wall sheathing already makes for a sustainable and cost-effective option but with taller OSB wall panels, the efficacy of the building envelope is increased by creating fewer seams while labor costs, waste and installation time are reduced.
As homeowners strive to reduce their monthly costs, construction professionals are finding innovative ways of reducing air leakage.
The dreaded call-back from an unhappy customer often takes up time and money that eats into your profit margins. However, successfully dealing with these issues can boost your customer service and improve word-of-mouth business. Turn your clients into raving fans with these call-back fixes.
