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    Fireproofing for Foam

    Intumescent latex-based coating for foam-insulated attic and crawlspaces.

     
  • Soundproofing an Apartment Ceiling (Subscriber content)

    How do you make a downstairs apartment quieter when the apartment upstairs is inaccessible?

     
  • On Your Toes: Keen Goodyear Welt Boots

    Tough construction lets these boots weather the roughest jobsites.

     
  • What I Like: Grace Vycor enV Fully Adhered Weather-Resistive Barrier

    Roller- or spray-applied, Vycor enV covers all seams and fasteners in sheathing and serves as a premeable vapor barrier while protecting homes against air and water intrusion.

     
  • Reflective Insulation

    Reflectix. Reflective Insulation consists of two layers of 5/16-inch-thick polyethylene “bubble wrap” with a reflective foil layer bonded to one or both exterior faces.

     
  • Weather-Resistant Sheathing

    Drywood is a structural wall and roof panel with an integral weather barrier that eliminates the need for roofing felt, waterproof membranes, or housewrap.

     
  • Lightweight Stone

    Although BellaStone looks remarkably authentic — thanks to the real stone used in the manufacturing process — the 50-inch-by-24-inch panels weigh a fifth as much as traditional stone and install 50 percent faster, says the maker.

     
  • A Practical Prefab Dormer (Subscriber content)

    Building on the ground is faster and safer than framing on the roof.

     
  • Air Barrier

    Sto Corp. Designed to meet new, more stringent building codes, StoEnergy Guard combines a fluid-applied waterproof air barrier system with a drainage mat to create an energy-efficient breathable wall assembly behind any type of cladding.

     
  • Getting Started in Infrared (Subscriber content)

    During the late 1970s and early 1980s, I supervised residential insulation projects in central Vermont while working with a couple of regional agencies.

     
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    Gift From the Sea

    A remodeler encountering a layer of Cabot's Quilt inside an old building might mistake it for the tattered remnants of a Hawaiian grass skirt -- hastily stuffed into a wall, perhaps, during a police raid of some Prohibition-era costume party.

     
  • Betting Big on Spray Foam in Coastal Carolina

     
  • Fixing a Botched Stucco Job (Subscriber content)

    Late last year, a couple called me about some leaking windows on the back of their 5-year-old stucco house. My company hadn't built the home; it was part of a tract development in Southeastern Pennsylvania thrown up during the recent housing boom.

     
  • Builder's Guide to Windows (Subscriber content)

    There are more than 100 million homes and approximately 20 billion square feet of clear-glass residential windows in the U.S. Most of those homes are more than 30 years old, and as a result, the market is growing for replacement windows with energy-efficient insulating glass.

     
  • Engineer's Assessment of Tornado-Damaged Homes

    As a structural engineer with the APA/Engineered Wood Association, I perform forensic assessments of single- family homes after hurricanes and tornados.

     
  • Tightening a House When Replacing the Siding (Subscriber content)

    I don't think my client was planning on an energy retrofit when he first talked to me about repairing and repainting the shingle siding on his 120-year-old Massachusetts home.

     
  • Open-Joint Siding (Subscriber content)

    In the Seattle area, where I work, we get a lot of rain. From the mid-90s to the mid-2000s, there were many high-profile cases of water damage caused by improperly detailed siding, mostly on condos and other multifamily housing.

     
  • Smooth Window Replacement

    In this article I'll describe the method I use to install replacement windows - a method developed over 15 years and hundreds of windows.

     
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    Attic Insulation for Hot Climates?

    Q: Builders in cold climates often go beyond code-required attic insulation levels, especially when using a relatively inexpensive material like blown-in cellulose. Is the same approach helpful in cooling climates?

     
  • Maine Passive House: Transition Details ~