Are all air leaks the same?
In an effort to create an airtight building envelope, you may want to know which gaps to focus your energy on. When considering air leaks, there are some that will give you more bang for your energy efficient buck.
Builder Insights / Blog
Tag / TallWall
Building for Hurricane Season
Now building to protect against loss of life and property damage is easier than you think.
Prevent Buckling with Proper Spacing
The APA (the Engineered Woo Association) recommends that construction professionals leave a 1/8-inch gap between each panel edge and end joint. As ambient moisture changes, your OSB or plywood panels will expand and contract. When you butt the panels together tightly, there is no room for expansion and this can cause buckling in the panels. …
Is installing Windstorm horizontally a good idea?
Thinking about installing your Windstorm panels horizontally? Is it even possible? You best check in with the Ol’ Sage Builder before starting that project, he’ll set you right!
Building Hurricane-Resistant Homes
As rebuilding efforts commence in the wake of this summer’s storms, construction professionals seek ways to ensure that homes are safer and built to withstand major wind events. There are several techniques that will help to keep property and lives safe.
Controlling Against Moisture Damage for Wall Sheathing
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.
Let-in Bracing the Old Way
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.
Raising the Roof: Raised-Heel Trusses
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.
Raised-Heel Trusses Save You Money and Time
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.”
Why Taller Wall Panels Are The Future of Building
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.
