Whether you live in a single-family detached house, duplex, condo, or apartment, we all have something in common: We share our homes with other animals. They crawl in from below, squeeze in through the sides, or fly in at the…
We're working on a project, so we got a set of plans to get started. It includes the attic kneewall and vaulted ceiling section you see below.This is typical of plans that architects draw, and builders build houses this way…
Peripeteia and anagnorisis. Not the kind of words you expect to hear from people who do 'dirty jobs.' Of course, Mike Rowe doesn't do dirty jobs for a living the same way that most of the people he covers do.…
Earlier this year I got a question about a home that had spray foam insulation in the attic. Nothing unusual about that. A lot of builders and homeowners are going with spray foam insulation because of the airtightness benefits. But…
Overall, the state of the construction industry is improving. A lot of home builders and remodelers are learning, either out of interest or coercion, about building science and how to apply it to their work. Overall, the state of the…
I'm a big advocate of getting ducts inside the building enclosure. In cooling climates, getting ducts out of an unconditioned attic can save you 15% on your electricity bills. It can reduce the size of air conditioner you need by…
Remember those old metal playground slides? You don't see them all that much anymore, but recently I found one. It was in the quaint little Southern town of Rutledge, Georgia, near the Hard Labor Creek Blueberry Farm where I'd been…
The air has been thick with spring for weeks — and I do mean thick. The pollen count in Atlanta this year has set records, our highest getting over 9000. We had a warm winter and a condensed spring. Now…
I get asked a lot of questions about windows, air conditioning, and other energy efficiency topics: What size HVAC system should I install? Is it true you can seal a house up too tight? Can I use a CFL bulb…
A couple of months ago, I wrote about why you don't want power attic ventilators in your home. Whenever I've written about this topic, it just seems to set some people off. I get comments like, "You really should do…