Harold in New Brunswick has a problem with moisture and mould. He has a bungalow with a 2 foot crawl space. There is no insulation in the floor and no vapour barrier under the floor. He asks if installing insulation between the floor joists prevent moisture in the house?No. Most insulation wi...
An earthen crawl space or basement is a terrible source of humidity. The ground under the house, given most soil conditions, will continually feed water up to the surface -- where it will evaporate up into the house. Here vapour diffusion is important because there is nothing stopping this ...
This article deals with a block wall above grade. For a below grade block wall see Basement Perimeter Drainage and Leaking Foundations.
Bryan is faced with a totally un-insulated cinder block wall with 1x2 strapping and a plaster covering. He is thinking about stripping it back to the block...
Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Concrete Product: Bituminous foundation moisture control coating
Temperature Limitations: Water based products must be used above freezing -- Solvent based materials minimum -17 C (+1 F)
Rain L...
The reality is that there is not just one good way to install windows, but there are certain principles that must be taken care of with any installation to prevent cold air or water leakage later.
Basically a window installation must shed most of the water with the siding, what does get through ...
For years we have talked about protecting the sill plate of basement walls from moisture rising up from the concrete. This could be water in the concrete from plumbing spills, or even from under the slab from a high-water table. The old standard ways to protect that bottom piece of wood on t...
Hi Jon and Crew... I am in the process of putting down vapour barrier in my crawl space (what a chore). Two questions: 1) Should I bring in sand or similar material to level out the dirt floor? It has heaves due to natural pitch of the land of up to three feet in various areas. I am thinking that...
A comment from a reader:
"I notice in your section on self leveling concrete that you mention about needing to let the water out before putting anything on top of the new compound. (Self Leveling Concrete) This is a common misconception about concrete, in fact the water does not leave, it become...
