Exterior / Discussions

Hello I have a semi detached house in Toronto Canada. The house built in the 1930's is double brick wall. The house is original and has little to no insulation right now. I want to insulate the house from the outside with as high R value as possible. After insulation I was thinking James Hardie siding. Apparently brick...

Hello, our house built in 1920 untouched save for a simple kitchen. It's walls are toung and groove pine. No heat no insulation just the wainscotting walls. The interior frame ar 2 by 4's. we wish to live there through the summer from May 1st to October 8th ish. We have to install heat and insulation for the times when...

...exterior of walls, and your question is sort of answered in there anyway – The best way to insulate walls is from the exterior Since you’re already going to be insulating the exterior, rather than incurring the cost and hassle of insulating the outside AND the inside, I think you’re way better off on all fronts if you ...

I want to use grey water in yard, ideally without having to replace entire watering system.  Water would come from laundry and shower.  

...exterior foundation insulation is an excellent idea. It’s great to have on the inside of basements, but exterior insulation is even better as you keep the thermal mass of concrete warm to help regulate interior temperatures.   You will have a choice between foam panels, we would recommend EPS rigid foam instead of XPS ...

Is it a good idea to add comfort board or similar to outside of SIP, and if so how do u deal with window set back?

...exterior structural walls will then be exposed to moisture and freeze every winter since you are preventing heat loss. This would be contrary to the advice you received to keep it warm.  For typical homes in situations like this we advice people to insulate the exterior of the walls to protect the stone or concrete wal...

...exterior can I use formular 1/2" or does the foam sheet need to be foil faced? And can i also use 1/2" formular between the studs on the interior along with my fiberglass insulation? Would I need to  peel off a little bit of the fiberglass so it doesn't smash against the formular or not? Thanks

...exterior finish is 3 times the cost and 3 times the value of any other cladding, so I wouldn’t get rid of it on a whim. If you really can’t stand the look of it or its crumbling, I would make those the deciding factors. If you’re doing an interior renovation anyway then I would say you are best to insulate from the ins...

...exterior of the footing insulation once the forms are removed, specifically the top of the roxul that would be exposed after building the exterior walls. Just to be clear when you say the 'top of the Roxul', the top horizontal edge of the slab insulation has more insulation sitting on top, so there is no exposed 'top' ...

...exterior of a slab we did and had to rig up a method to attach them. It’s pretty redementary and we would do it differently in the future but it did work.  you can see here in this video –  How to finish the exterior of a slab on grade foundation If you say you saw a foundation with parging flaking off in two years, th...

My husband is finishing our basement and installed 1 inch foam insulation to the exterior wall before framing and then installing fiberglass insulation. When he began drywalling he noticed moisture behind the fiberglass on the secrion of the wall that is above ground. At this point we are wondering what we could do to ...

...exterior of the wall (so between the studs but from outside)? Is spray foam reccomended or is there something I am missing? Any help is grately appreciated! Simon Spray foam in this case will provide everything you are looking for – insulation, air barrier and vapor barrier. You are wise to consider the toxicity of spr...

...exterior then insulation then an exterior like painted wood or something engineered.  Should we use a foam insulation or could that lead to vapour issues?  Thanks!!

...exterior.   Is there a method to do this that would not put the structure at risk from water penetration?   How much benefit would we get from just insulating attic area and crawl space?  We were going to install cold weather heat pumps and realize that an efficient building envelop is important for these work well.

...exterior Insulation These are panels that come in 4x8 sheets up to 8 inches thick with a metal rail in the middle to secure them to the walls. And you are right, they can be an excellent insulation system for wood-framed houses, and done with 2x4’s as well since you no longer need the depth of the studs to accommodate ...

wood, composite, or any other? What brand do you recommend? To learn what materials are best for decking and for how to build durable deck that will last you will find what you need on this page -  How to Build Beautiful Decks that Last - Top Tips & Photos There are a few minor tips for deck building that can grea...

...exterior home siding so it can dry properly (read more here), and Choosing the right exterior rigid insulation (see here) is very important. It is best to install a vapour open exterior insulation so you don’t trap moisture inside the walls, which is why we most often recommend installing some sort of Mineral Wool insu...