Follow this link for a background and an overview of the debate on EMF and human health.
The debate is strong in Québec. A large group of scientist and engineers worried about what they consider the unfounded public outcry against wireless progress published a letter in the newspaper LeDevoir o...
I'm asked a lot about covering a floor in a basement. There are several considerations we need to deal with: the hard and cold concrete and maybe with levelling the floor. Of course we need to pay attention to water, either coming from outside the house or from plumbing spills inside the house si...
Underground tanks are banned
Many years ago we buried oil tanks in the ground. Think a minute about how bad an idea that was. When a very old tank developed a leak, we never knew about it and it just leaked oil into the ground for years, creating quite an environmental problem. That is why it is...
Do I need to place a vapour barrier against the brick wall, then insulation and then another vapour barrier over that? The wall does not leak and is fully underground. Barbara
THE VAPOUR BARRIER
The vapour barrier is more properly called a vapour retarder. It is designed to stop moisture in t...
I just received (October 2014) an alert from Healthy Building News about additives in many building products that are supposed to kill microbes and make the house healthier. These things are called “Antimicrobials”. A couple of the best known trade names are Microban and BioFresh.
Little disi...
Earnie from Vancouver wants to know how can you predict the failure of your hot water tank before it fails.
That is not an easy one Earnie. There are many signs that will indicate that you need to change the tank or at least do some maintenance work to keep it running, whether it is an electric ...
Copper, left to the elements, even indoors, will eventually tarnish. It will turn a bit black, perhaps streaked and then although it may take as long as 15 years, it eventually turns that beautiful green that we see on church roofs. If you are trying to keep a copper mailbox or decoration in good...
Lubricants are products designed to make things slip.
Sister products that have some lubrication but are specialized for other uses are penetrating oils that are used to loosen up rusted parts, drying sprays designed to remove water from electrical wires and some cleaning sprays.
Although I use...
Although it is possible to purchase real wood doors or have them custom made, more and more kitchens have one form or another of plasticized doors, generally made of MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard, compressed wood fibres) and covered with various plastics, acrylics or polymers.
Plastics were fi...
The whole question of mould started as a simple nuisance in home maintenance but with experience and research has become a major element of creating and maintaining a healthy house. Of course, whenever research develops over time, recommendations change and things can get quite confusing.
IT...
