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This report is available from the Canadian Urethane Foam Contractors Association. It is reproduced here for convenience. A common question encountered by SPF applicators, building designers, and code… Read More

Two seemingly innocuous requirements for building enclosure assemblies bedevil builders and designers almost endlessly: keep water vapor out, let the water vapor out if it gets in. It gets… Read More

Good design and practice involve controlling the wetting of building assemblies from both the exterior and interior and different climates require different approaches. Ideally, building assemblies… Read More

Roofs can be designed and constructed to be either vented or unvented in any hygrothermal zone. Air barrier systems are typically the most common approach, however, air pressure control approaches… Read More

Builders for many years have put mechanical equipment and ducts in non-living spaces such as crawlspaces and attics primarily to save valuable floor space. Be that as it may (there are lots of good… Read More

Brick is a reservoir cladding, meaning that it absorbs and stores water (rain) when it becomes wet. In some homes, with brick veneer cladding systems, mold contamination has occurred within exterior… Read More

Most of us are not aware of just how differently these two barriers work in building assemblies. This article makes the differences as clear as the polyethylene film that should (or more likely… Read More

This article is the fourth in a series on various building diagnostic tools and techniques to sleuth out problems in buildings.

Adhered veneers, in which masonry units are directly attached to a substrate via mortar and ties without a drainage or ventilation gap, have become a very popular finish in residential and light… Read More

Top ten blunders that rot your house, waste your money, and make you sick. Reprinted with permission from Fine Homebuilding Magazine, April/May 2004, pages 52-56.