The Home Improvement Thread

[Fuzz]

I re-did my bathroom a couple years ago. It's a house from the 50's, presumably before plastic was invented. Certainly vapour barrier anyway...Behind the poorly reno'd vinyl tub surround, layer of drywall and original weird tile board was wax paper overlapped but not taped over minimal amounts of insulation.

There was only a small mould spot at the window, but that was because the window was a bare wood frame with 2 un-edged pieces of glass. I'd suspect that it is to dry here for mould to be much of an issue, unless the area has other contributing factors. Everything else behind the mess had no signs of mould and was bone dry.

[Azure]

I would imagine if you properly get rid of moisture and keep your humidity levels stable there shouldn't be much of an issue even with vapor barrier that is either non-existent or not properly installed.

I recently helped renovate a RTM, and the owner didn't properly setup his eavestroughing, so for almost 10 years everytime it rained or snowed, the moisture would actually collect beneath the RTM and saturate the ground. Also, the insulation wasn't evenly blown in and instead only covered around the outside of the attic. Overtime it started smelling and the people living inside had to constantly dehumidify the home and remove buckets of water per day. The ceiling and walls, doors and cabinets would all shift from season to season and started to peel. The homeowners were always sick as well.

We had someone that is trained to detect mold go up into the ceiling and underneath to check everything, and he said because the insulation that was blown into the attic wasn't properly dispersed, there was a lot of excess moisture in the attic, which led to a bunch of black mold being up there. However he also said despite all the other problems, if there have been adequate air movement through the attic, there probably wouldn't have been many mold issues despite the ground underneath the RTM being extremely saturated.

We opened up all the walls and found no mold at all. That was despite the vapor barrier not doing anything. Whoever installed it forgot to let the electrician wire first, so when the electrician came to wire, he had to cut through the vapor barrier. When the contractor came back to finish afterwards he was too lazy to seal off the vapor barrier and just put plywood and drywall on top of it. Basically everywhere there was an electrical outlet the vapor barrier was cut open.

So, knowing all that, I often wonder why some inspectors are so adamant about vapor barrier being so excessively sealed off. Top and bottom I understand, and then tuck tape around the outlets, but why have to seal it all off with that black silicone?

[jeffh]

The accoustic-seal is basically tar. It never really dries out and thus maintains its seal. Whereas tuck tape, like all tapes, will eventually detach from its substrate its applied to. This is what a local inspector and a seasoned mechanical insulator told me(regards to the tape 'sticking' issue). So, you should try and use accoustic- seal as much as possible, granted it can get quite messy. Its cheaper than tuck tape too.

[BigNumbers]

Originally Posted by photon

Anyone ever used Bestar closet organizers? Loews and Costco both have them, but they're online order only, and I haven't been able to find anywhere in town that carries them and don't really want to order them sight unseen. Thinking of ordering the smallest piece first so it's easy to return if I don't like it.

https://www.lowes.ca/home-decor/clea.../brand/bestar/

Interested in hearing how this goes if you go this route... We are building a new home and I have a large walkin that needs to be done up.

[PaperBagger'14]

Azure I hope that despite your electrician having to work around the vapor barrier situation that he at least had used the appropriate box vapor barriers that are always provided by electricians. They generally look like this:

Spoiler!

[photon]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

Interested in hearing how this goes if you go this route... We are building a new home and I have a large walkin that needs to be done up.

Still not sure, had a couple of quotes from different guys and they're coming in at cheaper than just ordering these things would be. I'll probably go that way just because I'm too lazy

[Azure]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Azure I hope that despite your electrician having to work around the vapor barrier situation that he at least had used the appropriate box vapor barriers that are always provided by electricians. They generally look like this:

Spoiler!

Yes he did. But given that the vapor barrier was cut all the way up and down the wall at every outlet did they really help?

[BigNumbers]

Originally Posted by photon

Still not sure, had a couple of quotes from different guys and they're coming in at cheaper than just ordering these things would be. I'll probably go that way just because I'm too lazy

Who are you looking at? kwikCloset?

[photon]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

Who are you looking at? kwikCloset?

Yeah had Kwik Kloset and Unique Storage & Organizers Calgary come out. Both seemed pretty knowledgeable and both came in at pretty close for their estimates.

[Wormius]

Any guess on how long it takes for birds to leave their nest? I have 3 or 4 baby birds in a vent going outside and the chirping is making me crazy. The hole is too small to get my arm into, and the birds are strategically set too far back to do anything about, and off course further in, it is that flexible tubing with ridges so can't even slide the nest out.

So, not being a cruel person. I plan on vacuuming this out and putting a screen on as soon as they are gone... But how long do I have to wait? Did I mention this vent is situated below my bedroom, so the chirping is annoying and disconcerting.

And I don't know what kind of bird it is. Small enough to get through the louvres.

[llwhiteoutll]

Probably no more than a couple of weeks. They'll leave the nest as soon as their parents feel they can fly

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by llwhiteoutll

Probably no more than a couple of weeks. They'll leave the nest as soon as their parents feel they can fly

Thanks. I am not sure what it is this year. We have had a few birds attempting to nest in our vents with the flapper type louvres. My wife heard a scratching sound in the dryer vent and freaked out. At least the dryer it is easy to disrupt them from starting anything.

Are there any services for removing the birds from the vent? Would prefer something humane.

[Hockeyguy15]

Anyone know someone who sells appliances looking to make a sale?

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by Azure

I would imagine if you properly get rid of moisture and keep your humidity levels stable there shouldn't be much of an issue even with vapor barrier that is either non-existent or not properly installed.

I recently helped renovate a RTM, and the owner didn't properly setup his eavestroughing, so for almost 10 years everytime it rained or snowed, the moisture would actually collect beneath the RTM and saturate the ground. Also, the insulation wasn't evenly blown in and instead only covered around the outside of the attic. Overtime it started smelling and the people living inside had to constantly dehumidify the home and remove buckets of water per day. The ceiling and walls, doors and cabinets would all shift from season to season and started to peel. The homeowners were always sick as well.

We had someone that is trained to detect mold go up into the ceiling and underneath to check everything, and he said because the insulation that was blown into the attic wasn't properly dispersed, there was a lot of excess moisture in the attic, which led to a bunch of black mold being up there. However he also said despite all the other problems, if there have been adequate air movement through the attic, there probably wouldn't have been many mold issues despite the ground underneath the RTM being extremely saturated.

We opened up all the walls and found no mold at all. That was despite the vapor barrier not doing anything. Whoever installed it forgot to let the electrician wire first, so when the electrician came to wire, he had to cut through the vapor barrier. When the contractor came back to finish afterwards he was too lazy to seal off the vapor barrier and just put plywood and drywall on top of it. Basically everywhere there was an electrical outlet the vapor barrier was cut open.

So, knowing all that, I often wonder why some inspectors are so adamant about vapor barrier being so excessively sealed off. Top and bottom I understand, and then tuck tape around the outlets, but why have to seal it all off with that black silicone?

Who did you have check for the mold? I'm having a heck of a time finding someone who will do the testing. I've talked to a few companies who say they won't test for it as they'll just end up doing the remediation work anyway.

[Bill Bumface]

^AirVironment Canada has done testing for me twice. Did a good job.

[Hockeyguy15]

So the deck of a house I'm looking to buy only has nails in the ledger board. I know it should have been lag bolted, but if I want to do it what size of bolt would I be looking at using?

[llwhiteoutll]

Originally Posted by Azure

And ours made us use it between every sheet vapor barrier going up and down the wall, as well as around each electrical outlet and light fixture. Sometimes I wonder if they even have a clue.

Yes, it is super sealed off now, but it was a lot more work. Good luck trying to get a different opinion though. We had to switch inspectors 3/4 way through and the new one said it wasn't necessary. Problem one was the old one said we had to do it or it wouldn't pass inspection.

What I'm finding, and somewhat confirmed by a SCO, is that the same inspection will vary by who you get. Some will follow the code to the letter, some will be more flexible based on common sense and some just make stuff up because they think they can. You can always call in after your inspection and get clarity from a senior inspector, they review the inspections that come in.

I'm currently in a bit of a dispute with the city right now over the arc fault requirements in the code and how they are applied to a non-dwelling unit. Hopefully hearing back from a senior inspector tomorrow after not getting a reasonable response from the city call center people.

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

So the deck of a house I'm looking to buy only has nails in the ledger board. I know it should have been lag bolted, but if I want to do it what size of bolt would I be looking at using?

Did you discover this during inspection?

If so, I'm impressed, that's a hell of an inspection you got. I'd like his name!

I think the standard nowadays is 1/4" structural lag screws, but you can always use good ol' 1/2" lag screws too.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

Did you discover this during inspection?

If so, I'm impressed, that's a hell of an inspection you got. I'd like his name!

I think the standard nowadays is 1/4" structural lag screws, but you can always use good ol' 1/2" lag screws too.

It was, we went through Home Alyze, can't remember his name at the moment but I can check when I get home if you really want it.

The deck is about 4 feet or so off the ground, he crawled right under and checked everything out.

Are we talking 6 inch long ones, or more? Edit: Would these be too small? https://www.lowes.ca/screws/fastenma..._g2563683.html

[CroFlames]

Is a 2600 PSI pressure washer enough to wash the slab of my garage? I don't have a particularly dirty floor or anything, but I do want to freshen it up. Driveway as well. I'd use the lower settings for decks, patio furniture, etc.

This is the model I've been looking at. It has decent reviews: http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/di...8587p.html#srp