Best Practices (Residential)

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Best Practices (Residential)

Best Building, Retrofitting, or even Auditing Practices - what are they, what should change, what needs to find it's way to the dust bin of history?

Members: 213
Latest Activity: May 17

Discussion Forum

Correct way to install foil faced insulation blanket in attic 3 Replies

Hello everyone.....I was at a job this past week and was just curious what the insulation experts think of the installation job of this foil faced attic blanket that the H.O. had put in a few years…Continue

Tags: convection, stack, effect, blanket, attic

Started by Joshua Knittel. Last reply by Robert H May 17.

Crawlspace Vapor Barrier: Install Correction and Future Guidance 13 Replies

Hi There Folks,I came across this crawlspace vapor barrier installed by a BPI contractor.  Location:  Bay Area of California- near the ocean.  Environmental Factors:  The area receives a lot of rain,…Continue

Tags: barrier, vapor, space, crawl

Started by Jennifer Rupnow. Last reply by John Nicholas May 17.

Drilling B-Vents 10 Replies

Leslie McDowell was nice enough to reply to one of my latest blog posts (…Continue

Started by Sean Lintow Sr. Last reply by tedkidd Apr 12.

insulation 6 Replies

Speaking of blown in.....does any one out there have any knowledge about rodents moving in and nesting in cellulose with borates? Any one ever take apart an old job and find critters in borate…Continue

Started by terry nordbye. Last reply by Bill Bradbury Apr 12.

Bowed sheathing & advanced framing 8 Replies

We have been encouraging builders to follow the ENERGY STAR recommendations to go with advanced framing methods. For this discussion I'm referring to 24" oc studs.  Many have gone with it & not…Continue

Started by Kent Mitchell. Last reply by Joseph Lamy Mar 15.

Blown fiberglass vs. cellulose 16 Replies

Hi, just wondering your thoughts are regarding blown F.G. specifically the atticcat system with proper air sealing vs. cellulose.ThanksContinue

Started by Paul Lasicki. Last reply by Debra Monte Mar 9.

What to do with a pocket door 13 Replies

 Good Morning   I wrote this in one of my groups and i didn't get a reply, maybe I didn't do it correctly. I recently did an audit on 2 homes in Hollywood , Ca built in the 50's which have pocket…Continue

Started by Judi Lyall. Last reply by Joseph Lamy Mar 1.

One room's hot, one rooms cold. Where to investigate? 5 Replies

Hi, I'm doing an audit on a client next week and I thought I'd ask this question to help me prep for it.  The customer is calling me in because one bedroom on his second floor is to hot in the winter…Continue

Started by Joel Greenberg. Last reply by Bob Mariani Dec 22, 2011.

Fixed Duct Leakage & now we have a dusty house? 6 Replies

Comment by Judi LyallGood morning,   I have a client that complained that certain rooms were either cold or hot. She had 45% leakage. We gave her more air, tightened…Continue

Started by Sean Lintow Sr. Last reply by Joseph Miuccio Dec 22, 2011.

What to do... 10 Replies

Hi everyone,   I am new at Home Performance and I am looking for some advise. I did a test in, where the water heater , washer and dryer, and fau is in a utility room in the house. It had 2 small…Continue

Started by Judi Lyall. Last reply by Sean Lintow Sr Nov 19, 2011.

Comment Wall

Comment

You need to be a member of Best Practices (Residential) to add comments!

Comment by Sean Lintow Sr on January 25, 2012 at 2:24pm

Yes I am and agree it is a good site & program to check out - also another good group to consider joining

Comment by David Eggleton on January 25, 2012 at 7:20am

Are you a member of the 1000 Home Challenge group?  There are many common interests.

Comment by Sean Lintow Sr on December 18, 2011 at 5:20am

Hi Judy, I have  few thoughts on this & I am sure many others do as well. Unfortunately with it being on the comment wall, not to many people may see it so I am going to create a copy of your question in the discussion area above. Not only will this allow for everyone to reply directly, but everyone should get an email of the question.

Comment by Judi Lyall on December 17, 2011 at 6:44am

Good morning,

   I have a client that complained that certain rooms were either cold or hot. She had 45% leakage. We gave her more air, tightened the ducts and now she called and said that the home is now getting very dusty. What is the cause and what to do next. It has gone through the summer with the air blowing thru it, I would think the the dust in the ducts are already blown out

thanks for your reply

Comment by Sean Lintow Sr on July 17, 2011 at 6:52pm
Thanks Thomas, I don't know what happened there - http://blog.sls-construction.com/tag/recovery-thru-retrofit is the main page for all articles on it. Thanks
Comment by Thomas Burke on July 17, 2011 at 5:14pm
Hey Sean- your links here don't work.
Comment by Sean Lintow Sr on July 16, 2011 at 2:24pm

As I am not the type to recomend something and never do it myself - My review on the new draft Workforce guidelines: Combustion Safety, Ventilation, Air SealingHeating & Cooling, Insulation, Crawl Space & Basements, Base-Load aka Appliances & Lighting.

 

Just remember all the comments from the organizations need to be in by this Friday to DOE, so you should get your comments finished up quickly - RESNET's cut off is Monday & BPI's is... (Sorry I never saw anything from them, but was told they did send out a request)

Comment by Sean Lintow Sr on June 29, 2011 at 6:10am

Residential Workforce Guidelines Part Deuce:

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) developed a draft Workforce Guidelines for Home Energy Upgrades with the goal to foster the growth of a high-quality home energy efficiency industry and a skilled and credentialed workforce. 

RESNET and a broad range of contractor associations had serious concerns with the draft and requested a second round of public comments.

DOE has agreed to seek industry input on the draft guidelines.  RESNET has been invited to part of this review process.  This industry review and comment process is open through July 22, 2011.  After the review DOE will make changes to the draft guidelines and open a public review in fall 2011.

To view the draft DOE Workforce Guidelines for Home Energy Upgrades click on http://www.nrel.gov/applying_technologies/retrofit_review/pdfs/work...

If you are a member of RENET - send comments to sbaden@resnet.us by Monday, July 18, 2011

*** At first glance, it appears they listened to many of our comments & have eliminated a lot of the duplicate material & created a global section. Unfortunately they still have plenty of issues - like all fans WILL be orientated to final termination point (Nice but not doable in all cases) & hardly any mention of building codes, or using anyone licensed  trades (electricians are covered - not HVAC, plumbing, gas)

Now even if you don't belong to RESNET or your group has not sent out an email, I would encourage you to read through them & forward any comments you have to any "industry association" you belong to. If all else fails - create a thread above & I will add it to my comments & it may also get picked up by others

 

Comment by Sean Lintow Sr on March 19, 2011 at 5:58am

As an FYI, a new group has been created on here for historic homes by my good friend John D. Poole. It's mission is "Historic and vintage homes are significant to our cultural heritage, yet often lack energy efficiency and comfort. Our mission is to identify key issues, solutions, and best practices when retrofitting much older homes."

As some of us know from experience, what might be a best practice or a semi-easy fix on say a ranch house, becomes a totally different animal when you are dealing with a Victorian house built in the late 1800's, etc... So if historic homes are in your area, you are just interested, etc... I encourage you to check it

 

Speaking of items to check out, I also encourage everyone to check out the discussions above, add in your 2 cents or create a new discussion on

Comment by Sean Lintow Sr on January 18, 2011 at 4:55pm

John most of the larger foam companies offer a system like that - to my knowledge this is Demilec's version http://www.demilecusa.com/Default.aspx?ip=3&sip=19 which I have not used nor heard about.

I have heard some great things about Icenyne's version. I should also mention though - a few of their installers won't use it based on concerns of drywall popping off the walls (same issue with dense packing cellulose - if the wall panel isn't attached properly, it can blow off and make a big mess)

 

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