Mold / Discussions

...moldy and rotten again but comply with code?   Unfortunately, your situation is pretty common. Basements are built wrong all the time, and many contractors want to fix moldy basements by repeating the process that caused the problem in the first place. And the biggest problem, is that building code not only allows thes...

...mold problems in the future? We're thinking of doing this job ourselves, do you think it's possible for reasonably competent DIY'ers to complete? Building below grade is a very different beast that building above grade, and the most common mistake builders make is building basements walls the same way they build above ...

...Moldy? How to Fix & Prevent Mold in Homes Preventing mold when you insulate your basement Marmoleum : A healthy and non-toxic green flooring product The Difference Between an HRV and an ERV    

Good morning, I bought an older house (built 1965) in September 2018 and shortly after moving in (mid October), I was experiencing extreme joint pains. Strangely, I was feeling pain and discomfort only inside my house, everywhere else I was perfectly fine. One year later, the moldy batt insulation in the basement has b...

Concrete block basement wall. Moisture issue in spring ( and I suspect fall). We get a lot of people asking about the best way to insulate a cinder block (CMU) foundation wall, I would say the first place to go is this discussion here which I think already answers all your questions -   How to insulate a cinder block f...

...mold Given the description of the wall assembly you listed, we realize you’re not likely to change course, but even just for other readers we need to point out that in an ideal world you would always insulate a basement from the exterior. Structures are like humans in the sense that they prefer balanced temperatures ra...

I saw in your wall video that you advise to use a vapour retarder paint along with an outside air barrier.  Can you do this for the ceiling as well, thereby taking out that possible weak spot where the vapour barrier joins in with your walls? Vapour barrier paint (or Vapor barrier paint in the U.S. ) is more of a solut...

...mold and mildew forming. Here is a our page all about radiant floors as a starting place - Radiant floor heat - Air heated, electric of hydronic, which is best?  Even in the appropriate climate it is a fairly complicated system and needs to be carefully designed, and it would need to be coupled with a very good ERV to ...

I find the air in my apartment stale and I don't much like the smell. I don't think it's cooking smells and I don't smoke, I just think its the whole building (3 stories, 6 units and the hallway smells the same). I'm wondering if air purifiers really do work, thanks for any advice.  In the absence of an HRV, the most e...

I live in Northern Ontario in a house converted from a cottage, it has a 20 'X 20' crawlspace with floor joists at about 24" on center. I put 6 mm polythene on the ground and put fiberglass insulation between the joists. Since then I have noticed a lot of condensation and mold forming on the insulation despite the craw...

...mold, but the smart money would lay odds on the lack of a fan, so deal with a fan first and then see if there is a problem. Skylights are problematic for condensation at the best of times, that is made even worse by being in an unventilated bathroom. Whether that is causing the mold on the ceiling is tough to determine...

I have a new house (self-built) on a concrete slab insulated with R22 rockwool and R3 panel insulation. The windows are double glazed wood and aluminum. I do not have an air exchanger yet, I’m wondering if that is part of the problem. Thank you in advance for your comments! Condensation forms when humid air comes in co...

...moldy and how to fix it  It sounds like you do have problems caused by excess water infiltrating your basement walls, probably by capillarity, which creates an efflorescence (white stains) on your walls. That occurs when water around an unprotected foundation saturates the concrete (or cinder blocks if that’s what you ...