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Q. I'm pricing cedar for a replacement deck that was formerly built with treated yellow pine. A local supplier is telling me his "northern white" cedar will last far longer than "Alaskan" cedar, which I can purchase for about half the price. Is there real
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Q. How can I kill moss growing on cedar shake roofs? And after I've killed the moss, what can I put on the roof to keep it from growing again?
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Q. Why are LVLs sized differently than framing lumber? I can understand the 13/4-inch-thickness dimension, because two laminations make up a matching header for a 2x4 wall, but why are they 91/2 inches deep instead of 91/4?
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Building energy-smart homes
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Q. I recently requested a quote for 1x4 T&G fir for a covered porch. The lumber supplier added two new species, meranti and Brazilian redwood, to the quote list. How do those woods stack up against Douglas fir, which has been used traditionally for porch floors in my area? I plan to paint all sides...
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Q. I'm removing the wood siding from a '70s colonial, down to the sheathing, and plan to put up vinyl siding. I'm thinking of covering the exterior with foil-faced foam for extra insulation but am concerned about trapping moisture in the walls. The house
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Q. The owners of a post-and-beam we've just completed are having a condensation problem on the inside of the windows. The colder it gets, the more ice develops on the glass, to the point the windows won't open. We used good-quality windows. The temperatur
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Q. I recently installed 20,000 square feet of 1/2x4-inch cedar siding, rough side out, on a project in Connecticut. The exterior wall construction was 6-inch metal steel studs sheathed with 5/8-inch exterior plywood and covered with building wrap. Inside,
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Q. We build timber frame homes and wrap them with insulated panels made with skins of OSB on the outhouse and rigid foam insulation on the inside. We've been pleased with the results except for one thing: the swelling of the OSB at the edges. We've seen n
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Q. I have been a contractor for over 25 years, but I recently ran into a new problem. We installed a 1x8 T&G pine soffit at the eaves and under the gable overhang on a new home here in Washington State last summer. The material is select tight-knot Ponderosa pine, kiln-dried and of good quality;...