The Home Improvement Thread

[undercoverbrother]

Hey I'll drop this question in here.

We are doing the basement and I need to fill in the concrete that was broken out for the ####ter.

There isn't a tonne of it, but I want to make sure it is done right.

any suggestions on product or tips on what to do or avoid

[Fuzz]

Pretty sure you can just use bags of concrete, like quickcrete. If you want it smooth, it's easiest with a magnesium trowel. Princess Auto has the best prices on those when I bought one.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by speede5

True, but is it more expensive than ripping out the entire interior to add Poly? spray foam forms its own vapour barrier hence the suggestion.

Unless I'm missing something I dont see how you'd spray foam the walls without having clear access into them? I dont think you can just spray foam from the top or anything.



And ceilings can't be spray foamed. And its not recommended to spray foam the u/s of the roof sheathing without some sort of venting accommodations.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by rohara66

Unless I'm missing something I dont see how you'd spray foam the walls without having clear access into them? I dont think you can just spray foam from the top or anything.

You would have to remove the sheeting on the outside, and I wasn't thinking that through too well in my original suggestion, I had to do it to an addition, and it would still be easier than gutting the OP's garage to do it internally.

Originally Posted by rohara66

And ceilings can't be spray foamed. Really? Why not?And its not recommended to spray foam the u/s of the roof sheathing without some sort of venting accommodations.

Agreed on the u/s as that seals up the eave venting and the building then needs air exchange, hence why I suggested the ceiling only.

[calgarygeologist]

Is anyone familiar with heat pump water heaters? The feds announced details on the new home efficiency grant program today and one of the items available is a $1000 grant for a heat pump water heater. We have an older gas water heater that could benefit be replaced. We also have a door or two that need to be replaced. So I'm thinking if the grants out there maybe I should look into one of these water heaters. I see this on Home Depot but I'm not sure if this is considered at heat pump water heater: https://www.homedepot.ca/product/rhe...ter/1001586346
It is quite a bit more expensive than a gas heater and gas is cheap so I'm not sure if there would be any cost/energy savings.

[timun]

In principle a heat pump water heater is a great idea: from an energy efficiency standpoint they're much, much more efficient than a typical electric heater, which is more efficient than any gas heater to begin with.

The crux of the issue is the cost of the energy in the first place. The cost of natural gas, factoring in variable (per-GJ) delivery charges, rate riders, municipal fees and federal carbon tax, is about $8/GJ. The cost of electricity, factoring in variable (per-kWh) transmission and distribution charges, the Balancing Pool Allocation, rate riders and municipal fees, is about 12.5¢/kWh.

1 GJ = 277.777777778 kWh, so converting and restating in both units for comparison:

• the cost of gas is about 2.8¢/kWh (or $8/GJ), and,
• cost of electricity is about (12.5¢/kWh or) $34.70/GJ (!!!!)

Electricity is almost four-and-a-half-times as expensive as natural gas, so for you to see any overall operating cost savings the heat pump unit needs to be ~4.5x more efficient or better. That sounds kind of ludicrous, but the heat pump units are actually not that far off. You may come quite close to breaking even here.

But, the way the heat pump unit heats the water is pumping heat from your house into the water. This is a great thing when you live in a hot climate where you need A/C a lot of the year, but not so great for our very cold climate. A heat pump water heater will gobble up the heat added to your house by your furnace, thus the furnace has to run harder to make up the difference, and there go your energy savings.

Personally I wouldn't go with electric heat where you could easily have gas instead. The economics just don't make sense. Even when(/if...) the federal carbon tax jumps up to $170/tonne in 2030 that's only an extra ~$6.93/GJ on your gas bill; gas will still be less than half the cost of electricity.

[photon]

Not really a home improvement, but anyone know where one could buy portable air conditioner exhaust hose to replace existing stuff? The usual suspects don't seem to stock that kind of thing.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by photon

Not really a home improvement, but anyone know where one could buy portable air conditioner exhaust hose to replace existing stuff? The usual suspects don't seem to stock that kind of thing.

Have you tried like an actual hose place (weirdly, there is such a thing and we have a few in Calgary)? I've used these guys and they have basically a warehouse full of hoses they'll cut to the length you need:

https://www.greenlinehose.com/?gclid...EaAiboEALw_wcB

[Titan2]

Where would such a place be located? To get a hose?

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Titan2

Where would such a place be located? To get a hose?

We're spoiled by choice, my friend. There are two in the Foothills Industrial Park that I can think of...both between Peigan and Glenmore. One right off Barlow. One maybe on 61st Ave or something? I think there is at least one more hose place in town, too.

You wouldn't think you'd ever need anything from them, but you go in and you start seeing reasons you need hoses all over the place. Maybe head over there this weekend...you could spend a nice little Saturday in one.

[photon]

It never ceases to amaze what kind of specialty stores there are. I didn't see anything on their website but I'll give them a call.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Sliver

We're spoiled by choice, my friend. There are two in the Foothills Industrial Park that I can think of...both between Peigan and Glenmore. One right off Barlow. One maybe on 61st Ave or something? I think there is at least one more hose place in town, too.

You wouldn't think you'd ever need anything from them, but you go in and you start seeing reasons you need hoses all over the place. Maybe head over there this weekend...you could spend a nice little Saturday in one.

So we have a hose district? Niiiice.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Titan2

Where would such a place be located? To get a hose?

Originally Posted by Fuzz

So we have a hose district? Niiiice.

Haha OMG, that must have broken Titan's heart that he set me up and I whiffed. Sorry dude. The GD hose district is where you'll find your hose, photon.

[Titan2]

The funniest part is your first paragraph was perfect then ... nothing.

[kevman]

Originally Posted by rohara66

And ceilings can't be spray foamed. And its not recommended to spray foam the u/s of the roof sheathing without some sort of venting accommodations.

I thought exactly that was common practice for the vaulted ceilings with no eaves that are common on many contemporary builds. In my community there are plenty of new infills with no eaves and no signs of vents protruding through their metal roofing. How are they venting this space? What am I missing?

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by kevman

I thought exactly that was common practice for the vaulted ceilings with no eaves that are common on many contemporary builds. In my community there are plenty of new infills with no eaves and no signs of vents protruding through their metal roofing. How are they venting this space? What am I missing?

You can strap the roof to create a vented airspace above the sheathing and vent up to a ridge vent. At lower scissor truss slopes you can use batt insulation and attic vent above. There’s a cathedral vault type batt for sloped dimensional lumber, but you then need to vent every bay.

Most just do a non vented roof and hope it’s “fine” unless the inspector calls them on it.

[Fuzz]

Topfiverecords, you seem to know about this stuff...I'm in a bungalow with a hip roof where the rafters come down below the wall height. I had to remove some sofit because the idiots who did it used 3 nails on a 2x2 and it was all sagging and coming apart(pic below).

Anyway, not relevant. I know I need better ventilation, because my shingles didn't last 15 years. So I've cut some openings in the soffits, but even reaching up in there, there is very little room for air flow. Of course it's stuffed with blown in insulation, so I'll need to go in the attic and peel it back as well. I'm wondering how many holes I need to cut, and if distribution matters. Do I need them on all 4 sides? I have a whirly bird roof vent, and 4 others. Removing the soffit is a PITA because it is secured with sheathing staples...

I'm also wondering what to do about the insulation. It's wood chip with cellulose fibre on top. I am considering getting a company in to vacuum it all out. I wasn't sure if I should replace it with blown in, or use batts. I was also wondering how to handle that interface at the wall. I could barely fit insulstops in there if I need to. Or should I use rigid foam in the top fo the wall plate to provide a little bit of insulation on it?

Spoiler!

I despise whoever did this not even half assed job. 3 nails to secure a 2x2! I've used screws, it's straight now.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Topfiverecords, you seem to know about this stuff...I'm in a bungalow with a hip roof where the rafters come down below the wall height. I had to remove some sofit because the idiots who did it used 3 nails on a 2x2 and it was all sagging and coming apart(pic below).

Anyway, not relevant. I know I need better ventilation, because my shingles didn't last 15 years. So I've cut some openings in the soffits, but even reaching up in there, there is very little room for air flow. Of course it's stuffed with blown in insulation, so I'll need to go in the attic and peel it back as well. I'm wondering how many holes I need to cut, and if distribution matters. Do I need them on all 4 sides? I have a whirly bird roof vent, and 4 others. Removing the soffit is a PITA because it is secured with sheathing staples...

I'm also wondering what to do about the insulation. It's wood chip with cellulose fibre on top. I am considering getting a company in to vacuum it all out. I wasn't sure if I should replace it with blown in, or use batts. I was also wondering how to handle that interface at the wall. I could barely fit insulstops in there if I need to. Or should I use rigid foam in the top fo the wall plate to provide a little bit of insulation on it?

Spoiler!

I despise whoever did this not even half assed job. 3 nails to secure a 2x2! I've used screws, it's straight now.

Was there two soffit layers then?

I’d think you could get away with venting on 2 of the 4 long side eaves, opposite each other. Could you manage 48” spacing of the vents? Those insulation stops are probably a nightmare to install in a retrofit situation and I hope I never have to attempt that in a hip roof attic in my lifetime. Might actually be easier to do it all from outside and remove all of the soffits, clear the airspace all the way around. Retrofit in some type of cardboard insulation stop to keep if from falling back into the soffit and replace the soffit with new bug screening already applied. [Or do new ugly perforated aluminum.]

If you go the removing all the insulation route, replace with blown-in and I bet you can get them to put the rookie of the crew up there to install new stops.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by photon

It never ceases to amaze what kind of specialty stores there are. I didn't see anything on their website but I'll give them a call.

Also for a weirdo Sliver is fairly useful.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Was there two soffit layers then?

I’d think you could get away with venting on 2 of the 4 long side eaves, opposite each other. Could you manage 48” spacing of the vents? Those insulation stops are probably a nightmare to install in a retrofit situation and I hope I never have to attempt that in a hip roof attic in my lifetime. Might actually be easier to remove all of the soffits and clear the airspace all the way around. Retrofit in some type of cardboard insulation stop to keep if from falling back into the soffit and replace the soffit with new bug screening already applied. [Or do new ugly perforated aluminum.]

If you go the removing all the insulation route, replace with blown-in and I bet you can get them to put the rookie of the crew up there to install new stops.

Ya, what you see is the plywood with zero vents. Over that was perforated aluminum that I removed for one section. I've already cut in 3 8"x12" vents spaced ~6ft apart, the house is about 45 feet long.


Sorry, are you suggesting just pull the plywood out completely, and just use the standard perforated aluminum? I hadn't considered that, but they'd probably pop right out. I suppose they have no purpose now. I'd then have much easier access to get some cardboard up there. The gap between the wall and the roof sheathing is under 2". Super tight. Maybe when it gets cooler this weekend I'll look in the attic. It's probably hotter than Death Valley right now.