It may surprise you, but more accidents happen in the shower when the shower suddenly goes cold, than when it suddenly goes hot. It seems that we just jump higher. But neither shock is agreeable, or safe.
That's why all new plumbing installations require something called a "Pressure Balancing va...
To see an introductory video on the Case Modular Adjustable Staircase System, click on the photo above.
Modular and other pre-fabricated staircase systems all fail to assure an even rise from top to bottom usually having a short step on the top, bottom or both. When people walk on staircases th...
Sealing air drafts, both inside warm air escaping out and outside cold air sneaking in, is one of the most important things you can do to your house. It will both save you heating dollars and protect the structure of your house. This animation gives you a quick and visual overview of the task at ...
When mysterious problems arise in a house the task is to track down the cause – and sometimes encapsulate it.
I built a beautiful new tiled shower, only to discover a hole starting to develop in one tile a few months later! When I inspected carefully, there was nothing that touched the ...
Welcome to the Eakes' Origami Guide to the Building Code -- or "how to actually build new flashing requirements in the building code".
Water leaking in around windows and doors represents one of our major construction problems. The building codes seem to be constantly changing in an effort to mi...
Wood heating appliances get hot -- that's why we use them -- but they also burn down houses. They are only safe if you install them safely.
-- Let's start with the fascinating process of how wood burns;
-- and now let's see how that process can happen inside your walls or floors near woo...
Floors spring or vibrate when they are not rigid enough for the distance they have to span between their supports.
You can always put another post in the basement under the center of the area giving you problems. That solves the problems easily on the top, but often creates an unwanted obstruc...
John in Kleinburg, Ontario asked if he should remove insulation from around his pot lights. Actually it is necessary to take the question much further.
HEAT FROM TRADITIONAL POT LIGHTS
Pot lights, or recessed lighting fixtures as they are properly called, do create a lot of heat and it is tr...
One of the most reliable ways of both keeping our walls dry, and allowing them to dry out if they do get wet, is to construct the wall with an outer shell that we call a rain screen.
Rather than trying to make the siding on the house absolutely waterproof, which never works for a very long tim...
Often in constructing a house, the sequence of putting up walls, applying outside sheathing and installing insulation batts can leave the outside corner as a hollow spot with no insulation. The carpentry work was done and the hollow corner closed and hidden before the guys with the fiberglass eve...
