Recovery Through Retrofit

Some interesting reading for homeowners interested in saving some money on their utilities http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/going-green-and-saving-you-money/

Wichita Area Parade of Homes

The Parade of Homes in our area starts this weekend (Oct. 10-11) and runs for three straight weekends. No matter where you are in the home buying process, from 'window shopping' to ready to move, now's your chance to go see the best of what's out there.
Check out www.wabahome.com for more info.

Caution Ahead: Brick Veneer & Spray Foam

There are a lot of different ways to build a wall. There's standard 2x4 walls, 2x6 walls, ICFs, SIPs, concrete block and steel stud, to name the major ones. Then, there's what to put on the outside the wall (siding, brick, stone, EIFS, etc.), inside the wall (fiberglass, cellulose, spray foam, etc.), then the interior of the wall (what kind of sheetrock, paint, etc.). All of this is your wall system. Yes, the construction industry considers the wall system - not a living, breathing one - but a system nonetheless.

That said, the specific point of this entry is that caution needs to be used when using spray foam insulation & brick veneer in climate zone 4, which is where Wichita and Kansas City, to name a couple of cities, are located. Why? Well, it comes down to a few things:

• Brick veneer can store huge amounts of water.
• Most housewrap, also called a Weather Resistive Barrier, is very vapor permeable (as in water vapor goes through it very easily)
• The sun will drive water vapor towards the inside of the house, through the housewrap and into the OSB.
• The foam, open or closed cell, has such a low permeability that the water effective stops inside the OSB, as it has nowhere to go until it can evaporate back to the outside.
  

Unsurprisingly, this can lead to structural weakening of the OSB.
So, what to do? The two main things to do involve tweaking common building practices slightly, so that we can make longer lastig structure. Notice I'm not saying don't do spray foam & brick veneer - I'm just saying that I would:

• Use a weather resistive barrier with lower permeability. Permeability is rated in Perms. Standard WRBs are 35 or so. 10 Perms or less will keep enough water vapor out to help minimize the intrusion.
• Change the way you build the veneer, to include more ventiliation. Current practices on residential construction use only weep holes at the bottom of the brick at regular intervals. The research I've seen suggests that creating a more breathable brick veneer will keep moisture in the air moving & not heading in, towards your house.

Thanks to Lucas Hamilton at CertainTeed for doing all the heavily lifting with this. All I did was ask the question & thought I should pass along the information. And, again, this is just for Climate Zone 4 - and there are 6 across the U.S., so ask your builder, insulator, architect, energy auditor, what's recommended for your area.

-Jeff

Video on YouTube

I will get this on our main site soon but here's a link to our latest video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4J83FB2x_M

Why pay more to get less?

That's my 2 cents on spray in foam. I'll get in to why in a bit.

Blow-in-Blanket System / BIBS

While we do have a page about it on our regular website, I thought I should mention the Blow-in-Blanket System specifically in this blog - mainly because it's an insulation system that doesn't get the press it should, even though it's been around for well over 20 years. Everyone knows batt insulation, most people have heard of or seen wet spray cellulose and spray foam is the new (or at least the most actively marketed) kid on the block. So, what is this Blow-in-Blanket System?

(For the record, BIBS is the official and registered acronym, although I've never liked it.)

Anyway, BIBS is a blown-in fiberglass product that goes in behind netting that is stapled onto the face of the studs in a wall. Some good pics & info is on the official BIBS site here. The main advantage of BIBS is that it fills the cavity completely by going in and around all the easy to miss/mess up areas like pipes & wires in the wall. Plus, BIBS generally (depending upon the product used) has an R-value of R-15 in a 2x4 wall. It also goes in dry, so you can sheetrock immediately and BIBS doesn't settle - we have a display in our office that has been around since 1990 or so that hasn't moved at all.

That's the 2 minute spiel. I'll get into some product specific discussion & why installers are certified tomorrow.

Jeff

An excellent way to save money, if you qualify

The Wichita Eagle has a story today about how the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation is launching a program to help people buy new and hopefully more energy efficient appliances. I would urge any one who uses this program to look carefully at the annual energy usage cards that are on new appliances - there can be a huge difference between similar models, even if both are EnergyStar certified.
Jeff