Thermal shorts and good design don't mix

With blower door tests in the building code, it is up to more than just the insulators or the GC to deliver results: many trades have a stake.

Weather Barriers done right means weather barriers that go to work on more than just sunny days

The biggest hole in the bathroom

 

For the price of a drywall repair, you can look inside walls with a thermal camera at insulation and air leaks

You can use your hand to detect some air leaks, but smoke puffers make other air leaks easier to "see."

Surfaces and subsurfaces are on the same team, remember?

 

Insulation does more than slow heat flow: it sells houses, future proofs, makes floor plans bigger, and sends your kids to college. Really.

 

But let me axe you this—how do they keep 'em sharp?

Soffits should be tight boxes hidden in your ceiling.

Two packages for high performance homes. Vented and unvented roof insulation retrofits and exterior wall insulation details along with rainscreen wall details for furring strips.

Water and air leaks in a building shell are difficult enough to detail on simple buildings. Complex structures can cause headaches for builders, remodelers, and architects who don't pick up their pens and trace at the design stage.

Crawlspaces offer all of the headaches of a basement and none of the benefits. 

 

But some buckets are more relative

Why a rain screen wall is important to the energy and durability detailing on a Passive House.

How to detail the foam at corners and connections when tightening the energy efficiency of an old house

The biggest crack in the house, revisited for #ThrowbackThursday

Roofs get wet at night—Heat flows through the easy path—Framing is a bridge.