Basements / Guides

...basements are cheaper to upgrade as you don’t have the demolition costs and material disposal to consider. If you're home is located in a cold climate area, and the foundation is cracked or made of stone or cinderblocks, it is best to insulate them from the outside to avoid introducing a new environmental strain wher...

There are many ways to build a slab-on-grade (or frost-protected shallow foundation), the following is a step-by-step walk though of a thickened-edge slab floor we built. XPS or EPS high-density foam is typically used under concrete slab floors, in this case we used Rockwool mineral fiber insulation ( formerly known a...

Crawlspace insulation - be careful to get it right A crawlspace comes with all the downsides of a basement, but it is just too low a space to be functional either beyond the folded plastic christmas tree and a couple of boxes of baubles. Unless there is a good reason for it, going through the process of pouring a fo...

...Basements are not usually figured into square footage, so if you want to downsize, try skipping the basement and build a small house on a slab-on-grade where everything is on one floor including beds, baths, mechanical room and storage. Before anyone goes away with hurt feelings, remember that we think building small...

Polyisocyanurate (PIR), Extruded Polystyrene (XPS), Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) or Styrofoam? When building or renovating a high-performance building envelope there are really three main kinds of rigid foam panels you are going to have to choose from - Polyisocyanurate known as Polyiso (PIR), Extruded Polystyrene (XP...

1. Make a realistic budget and schedule: This is, without a doubt, the starting point to a successful build - don’t underestimate the time and money it will take to complete a build or renovation. Even professional contractors tend to underestimate the costs and duration of a project. Get advice from multiple prof...

Vapor Barrier + Air-Con = Damp Moldy Walls So here's a little known fact that most HVAC installers won't tell a potential new client for central air; Polyethylene vapor barriers in combination with air conditioning in homes can rot walls because of the condensation they may cause. This is why if you have a newer hom...