Much of this book has been concerned with controlling humidity in the house. A double-glazed window is a perfect alarm system to warn us of dangerous humidity conditions. A double-glazed window has just enough thermal insulation to allow comfort in the house without producing condensation on th...
Lorraine from Elliot Lake, Ontario has mould growing out from the joint between the wall and the ceiling in her bedroom. This is a common problem caused by the fact that most houses are built with two pieces of wood on the top of the wall called a ?double header?, with no insulation at this spot...
Leonard (Scotty) Wells, a long time floor installer dropped by to discuss hardwood floor expansion and contraction.His greatest recommendation was to try and control the humidity in the house to keep it as even as possible between summer and winter.Pre-finished floors have less problem of expansi...
Gills writes from South Surrey, B.C.:Problem: High humidity in a crawl space. What do you suggest to reduce this problem. Info: Rancher style home (single level), 1800 sq.ft. Crawl space: 6 ft. high, concrete floor No windows The only existing opening is a 6 inch pipe going out side.---------...
Moreno from Port Colborne, Ontario wrote : I recently built a wine cellarThe area I live in allowed me to pour the footings on bedrock and has given me a bedrock floor. This lets the room take the coolness from the rock to help keep the temperature down. The problem I am having is that there...
"A few years ago a contractor installed ceiling grills typically used on the floor for forced air heating in the ceilings of my bathroom and living room. The grills are connected with a "Y" insulated conduit in the attic leading to a 20 liter pail connected to a turbine vent installed on the ...
All air conditioners have a passage for room air to flow into the unit, flow over the cold side of the compressor coil and return to the room. This both cools the air and condenses some of the moisture out of the room air, which makes the room dryer, more comfortable and easier to cool. Wit...
Condensation or frost on cedar wall shingles on the shady side of the house, early in the morning on clear winter days, bothers many homeowners. They imagine that somehow vast quantities of water are escaping from the house.
In fact, what is happening is that the surrounding air is warming up fa...
On windy days, houses in the Prairies often develop a small frost line on the rug about an inch away from the wall on the north or west side of the house. Here the wind is succeeding in lowering the temperature of the most poorly insulated part of the house -- the floor boards.
In most construct...
Draw air off the floor, not off the ceiling
The basement is different than the rest of the house because the floor is colder, attracting more moisture, and the cold air falls and is trapped on the floor as well. So the first step is to plan for the exhaust fan to draw the air off the floor of th...
