When Heritage Window Restoration becomes
an energy efficient & cost effective
alternative to new windows
Most of us who have worked in older neighbourhoods have at one time or another thought about or dabbled in restoring old building components rather than ripping out and installing new...
Little cracks in the bottom of the house let cold air in, and can raise your heating costs by as much as $600 a year. They also dry out the air in the house, resulting in dry throats and the needless purchase of humidifiers. Nothing too serious -- unless you don't like wasting money!
Let's start...
First ensure that this is not a leak in the basement wall. Click here for details on Waterproofing a basement wall.
Second ensure that the wall is well sealed, especially around electrical outlets and floor and wall joints. Click here for details on Air Sealing.
Finally, make sure there is no a...
The basic message to remember is that Radon is a dangerous cancer causing gas and if found to exist in high concentrations in your house the problem can be solved permenantly and at a reasonable cost. So we don't want to ignore the possibility, we need to test every house in Canada.
7% of homes...
John wants to cerate a wine cellar in his basement. Here I have answered him throughly enough to perhaps help you detail your own cold room, whether it is under a concrete porch, or just built in the corner of the basement -- trying to deal with the questions of insulation, condensation, vapour ...
Slots are simply small passageways through something. In this segment we looked at three very nifty Slots -- all completely different.
THE INSULATED MAIL SLOT
How about a through the door mail slot that does not give you cold drafts?
The Draft Dodger has two gasketed and spring load...
When air flows through the edges of carpets, the carpet acts as a filter and collects whatever is in the air. Hence we often find dirt streaks around heating outlets where some of the air sneaks under the grill and through the rug.
Often, streaks are found near baseboards where household air flo...
Shawn asked why he always has condensation on his windows. Check "condensation" in the database and you will see a lot about high humidity in the house and the need for one sort of ventilation or another. Here I wanted to look closely at another cause of condensation -- extra cold spots on the wi...
As weather patterns change we are getting longer colder periods than traditionally in many areas of the country -- and with that, more and more complaints of water pipes freezing. Finding the frozen point can be difficult, thawing it can be problematic but if you have done those two, go one step ...
Some door latches are just not installed snugly, while some doors warp with the seasons and are too tight part of the time and too loose the rest of the time. Typically, the strike plate needs to be moved over a fraction of an inch for a good fit. The best way to do that is to fill the existing s...
