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...
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...
Wiping a steamed up bathroom mirror with your hand can be grounds for divorce.The Clear Mirror electrical mirror defogger could save your marriage. This is an electrical pad with self adhesive backing that glues to the back of your mirror. You tie a transformer into the bathroom light to power i...
One viewer recommended using hard soap on a mirror to keep it from fogging up in the bathroom. So we tested it against no treatment, and against polishing it with shaving cream, a recommendation from a viewer last year. The hard soap looked pretty good although a bit streaked. The ?no treatment?...
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...
This is one of those problems that are not dealt with seriously enough by the building officials in really cold regions. I have opened a blog space at the bottom of this article for you to add in your case history so we can demonstrate that this is a large and continuing problem. Take a look...
Wayland asked: “Does wet Owens Corning Formula Styrofoam ever dry out?”
Extruded polystyrene insulation is generally considered waterproof. In fact it was first invented by Dow Chemical for the US army in WW I to provide unsinkable floating bridges -- and has been used as the flotation eleme...
Controlling a hydronic radiator when there is no water shut-off valve.
Hydronic heating means heating with hot water or steam. With older systems it often means overheating as well!
IS THERE NOTHING YOU CAN DO?
Hydronic heating was what kept houses hot a long time ago, and some of the old...
