The only type of dehumidifier that is any good at all during the winter is a fresh air ventilation system. Mechanical and chemical dehumidifiers are not only expensive and bothersome, but they cannot generally reduce the relative humidity to less than 50 per cent -- not low enough to keep frost ...
Yes, a vent hole without a damper will cost you heating dollars. Generally they should be closed with dampers. However, if the vent hole is not an uncontrolled leak but a planned part of the system necessary to create a high neutral plane, then a damper should not be used. It will cost you muc...
There is a lot of debate about whether to put a vapour retarder (vapour barrier) on an insulated wall behind shower tiles. The code has not historically been specifically clear on this so we get lots of different interpretations. What the code does say clearly is that we should not have two vap...
-- Take care of air barriers, ventilation and vapour barriers before insulating. Check out these three topics in the Search Tab above.-- Don't block the eave vents with insulation.-- Do cover the top of the outside wall.-- Don't put plastic foam on top of porous insulations (batts, loose fill) a...
Ed writes from Ajax, Ontario : All 3 walls of my bathroom shower stall are finished with 4" ceramic tiles and are in good shape. When I had to remove one of them, I discovered that the drywall was behind it was so wet that I had to put a fan on it over night to dry it out before I could glue...
In Canada, other than on the lower mainland of British Columbia and on Sable Island, it is impossible to maintain a comfortable level of humidity in the house and not have frost on single-pane windows most of the winter.Using two panes of glass allows the inner pane to be warmer than the outer on...
Ventilation in a Canadian attic does very little to remove moisture when the temperature in the attic is below freezing. During that time, the moisture is in the form of Ice and the passing air simply won't remove it -- whether you have passive vents or power vents. When things warm up, if the ...
Ralph from Red Deer Alberta sees the shadows of every 2x4 and every nail on the inside of the house not long after painting. I don't think he really wanted to hear that we call this "ghosting".\012\012Actually it is caused by thermal bridging; cold following the studs through the insulation and ...
Answer One "Planned-holes-high-in-the-house" are part of buiilding science considerations as to how air moves in buildings creating pressure differences that can help to keep houses dry and mold free or can help to trap pollutants in the house or even in the walls.A planned-hole-high-in-the-house...
Answer Two Any power exhaust ventilator taking its air from inside the house (bathroom fans, kitchen fans, clothes dryers, central all-house exhaust fans) will raise the neutral plane whatever the location of its input or output -- although they will be more effective if they draw air from high i...
