Repair / Discussions

...repair the studs, put in rockwool for the last foot or so of insulation, put drywall back up and call it a day.  Save money to redo the whole assembly. My question is: Is there anything else I can do about that vapor barrier without tearing out the whole wall? I've read enough of the basement articles to know that on a...

An insulation contractor toured my 100-year old house near Toronto and told me that they wouldn't recommend installing any insulation in the basement because it could cause freeze-thaw damage to the foundation. Their stance was that these old houses like to "breathe" so it's better to avoid any changes because it's las...

I am redoing a basement wall that has a lot of moisture and has rotted the studs I see you mentioned to do drywall, studs with mineral wood then 2" of rigid insulation attached to block foundation would it be ok if I put Delta MS against the block foundation then apply the rigind insulation Thanks for your help. Puttin...

House built in mid 1890s. Installed gutters with leaf screens which caused ice dams during unprecedented winter storm. How to prevent it in future? Contractor said it wasn't a big deal. Crawl space under house with pipes which froze during same storm. Is it wise to insulate the wood skirting around the house to prevent...

...repair them? Northern Ontario is a pretty tough climate, so I admire your ambition to build EPS shutters, but were you planning to do that on the inside or the outside? Obviously it would be easier to open and close them from the inside, but then your windows would freeze and that will bring issues and concerns of its ...

...repair skylights? As a rule, we like to ‘repair’ rather than ‘replace’ if possible, but in the case of skylights and windows that depends on the extent of damage and the cost comparison of repairing / replacing. So – in some cases, if you’re sure it’s the condensation that’s the problem, covering the bottom with plasti...

We bought an older home with an existing basement. We would like to take down the top of the house and rebuild on the basement. What do I need to do to make sure it's stable? The house has been there at least 30 years and has zero water issues.  To demolish a house and rebuild on an existing basement foundation can be ...