By REMODELING Magazine Staff. Remodeler: Jess Arroyo
Company: JFCI Design & Remodel, Boise, Idaho
Product: DuPont Tyvek FlexWrap, www.tyvek.com.
Flex Appeal
The designers at JFCI Design amp; Remodel have speced Tyvek HomeWrap for years. But crews installed other manufacturers' metal and adhesive flashings, which had to be cut down, around doors and windows. When DuPont introduced Tyvek FlexWrap window and door flashing, JFCI readily switched.
FlexWrap -- made of Tyvek, an elastic material, a polyolefin film, and an adhesive butyl sealant -- is designed specifically to provide seamless protection to the vulnerable corners of a window sill. It can also be used to flash the entire window, including round-top or custom-shaped windows, and wall interruptions such as dryer vents. "You can actually flex it to go around windows -- for example, with an arched window," says Jess Arroyo. But it can also be stretched around a regular right-angle window corner.
"Other products' sizes were too big and were cumbersome to use," says Arroyo. But FlexWrap is more versatile, he says. "And they make it in sizes that are appropriate for building. It definitely makes for a cozier home."
FlexWrap comes in 8- or 10-inch widths and in 75-foot lengths and has a two-piece, quick-release backing.
Remodeler: David Bryan
Company: Blackdog Design/Build/Remodel, Salem, N.H.
Product: Fantech RVF and RE Series exhaust fans, www.fantech.net.
Keep It Quiet
Installing a quiet bathroom exhaust fan may seem like a small concern, but it can make a big difference in a homeowner's satisfaction with a bathroom remodel. "The biggest complaint that people have about fans is about the noise," says David Bryan of Blackdog Design/Build/Remodel. "They don't want to turn on a fan that sounds like a plane taking off."
Bryan started installing Fantech's remote-mounted exhaust fans about five years ago, and since then, he says, he has never had any callbacks related to product quality. He likes using Fantech's RVF and RE Series exhaust fans because being able to locate the motor remotely, outside of the living space, keeps fan operation quiet. "The noise is almost non-existent," Bryan says. "When you turn one on, you hear the air movement, not the fan." Also, the fans can be installed in multiple-port configurations to ventilate two bathrooms or two areas of one room.
An additional benefit, according to Bryan, is the simple appearance of the fans. "The diffusers are relatively small and innocuous," he says. "It's not a big clunky plastic housing. They're pretty sleek."
Fantech offers several different interior- and exterior-mounted exhaust fans for bathrooms and kitchens, as well as dryer boosters for laundry room applications where long runs of ductwork are in place. Digital timer switches are available.
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