Home renovation / Discussions

...home grants and loans programs in Canada are currently being released, see below to find out more about them and how to apply.  Canada Greener Homes Grant 2021 - How to Apply Step by Step $40k Interest-Free Loans for Green Home Renos, How to Apply Canada 2021 There aren’t any US national green home renovation programs ...

Eight years after our house was built, we noticed that the MDF baseboards in our finished basement became discoloured and swollen from potential moisture. We removed the dry wall, the vapour barrier and the fibreglass insulation in two large areas along the same back wall. The concrete appeared to be saturated with wat...

...home or renovations  Thar should provide all the answers you need, and feel free to ask a follow up question once you've read it over. And specifically to your questions - If the basement is more than 5 years old then it should *mostly* be dry by now, but if a foundation wall isn’t protected on the outside against mois...

I have a crawlspace with 4' concrete walls and a cement floor, insulation between the floor joists and has  3 - vents to the outside. I am thinking of 1" foam boards on the walls, sealing the floor. There is no moisture only when I put a piece of plastic down.  Just want to warm it up a little and keep away any smell. ...

I'm a tenant, not a homeowner, so I can't tear down drywall and reinsulate but winter is coming and drafts are already getting in. Is there anything I can do to prevent that without upsetting my landlord? The wall I'm concerned about is the only exterior wall in the apartment, it has one window and one door. And it's i...

...home is a great source of tips and info for older home maintenance! The cheapest and more effective way to remove humidity from a basement is without a doubt, a continuously operating dehumidifier. Select one that is sized to manage the amount of space you have, and try to keep it about 40% RH. If you don’t already hav...

I am about to start a full strip out and rebuild of my basement to make a secondary suite. I've been reading all the information on the site and find it very useful (and educational). I am a carpenter from Scotland living in British Columbia now and as we tend not to have basements at home, I'm finding it a learning cu...

...Homes Preventing Mold when you Insulate your Basement Building Better Basements: How to Insulate your Basement Properly  

We just had a rare flash flood which raised the water table and forced water into our basement between the floor and wall. It was a finished basement with carpeting. We don't plan to put carpeting back in but would like something nice looking that would not have to be removed if this ever happened again. It previously ...

...home in south-central Pennsylavnia was built in 2001. The unfinished basement (walls and floor) surfaces are formed of poured concrete. One side of the basement has full-size regular casement windows, but the bottom of those windows is nearly at-grade. That wall is still full-height poured concrete. The rest of the bas...

...home, and hemp is a natural and non-toxic insulation material that will protect the air quality in your home. We will have an order page coming soon, but for the moment you can drop us an email at info@ecohome.net and we can send you hemp product and pricing information. Wool insulation does exist, but we have yet to f...

I bought an old timer home on Gibsons, BC and the siding needs replacing. I want to use the opportunity to seal up and insulate the wall cavity once exposed. I expect to see insufficient or no insulation. After applying spray foam what is best to apply (tyvek vs. something other) before installing the new board and bat...

...homes. Have a read over that to get some ideas and send us more details if you like and we can help come up with a solution - are you planning to strip it to the studs? And did you have a performance goal in mind (as in how many inches) or a budget limitation? Best is to strip it back to the sheathing then choose an in...

Hello, I'm in the midst of a post-flood basement renovation and have been doing some reading on your website only recently. I'm realizing that I may have made some mistakes and would like your advice as to what direction to take in order to minimize future problems. The basement was partially finished when it flooded a...

...home I am sold on using this technique to air-seal my 50's house after doing renovation work. The missing part is how do I deal with recessed lighting and electrical boxes that penetrate the walls and ceiling. Any tips on this?  The short answer is that you can’t, the vapor retarder primer won’t do anything for air lea...