r/buildingscience

what do I do about this? I took over as my own contractor. They put 8’ osb and then a separate foot tall piece on top. I can see gaps like this many places throughout the home.

I’m trying to figure out the cleanest way to add real exterior venting for the range in this kitchen.

The stove is under a sloped A-frame ceiling, so a normal wall-mounted hood doesn’t seem like an easy fit. I’m also getting the roof replaced this fall, so I’m hoping to sort this out now in case the best option involves a roof penetration.

Main things I’m trying to balance:

• Good actual ventilation, not just a recirculating hood
• Something that works with the angled ceiling
• Not creating an awkward-looking interior setup
• Keeping the exterior roof vent as subtle as possible

For anyone who has dealt with a similar setup, what would you do here? Custom hood, hood insert, ceiling-mounted option, sidewall vent, roof vent, or something else? Also interested in anything you’d avoid.

The red X's are the approximate location from the roofline to ceiling above the range.

am a bit at a loss and don’t want to screw up here. We live in zone 5. Just had new siding put on (Hardie) which included 1/4” foam board underneath (I understand this is more for leveling than a vapor barrier). My problem is now the basement. I am doing a quick Reno. I discovered that the original owner used insulation with a plastic vapor barrier behind d the drywall. I removed the old ceiling tiles which were foil backed along with Kraft backed insulation in the joists. My plan was to spray everything black and leave it open. I discovered some mold near an exterior wall around Kraft backed insulation. I am certain that the initial install by the previous owner was done wrong.

Take a look at pics. Orlando I properly insulate this? The area is about 2-3 feet above foundation. The current vapor barrier stops at the top of the drywall. There is a gap to the exterior framing then this is where Kraft backed was added (and mold appeared). How do I properly insulate this? Rockwool up to finished wall without foam board? Lay foam board horizontally up to vapor barrier? I feel if I add foam board it will trap moisture here actually. Worried about both the exterior framing to the foundation as well as the interior cavity.

Any advice appreciated. I’m conflicted!

This is a 1960 chicago house, with brick and concrete veneer it appears. I am replacing an exterior facing wall due to mold and condensation. Images attached of the issue, there looks to be furring strips and then the drywall was attached. No insulation at all. Right now I’m thinking closed cell foam applied to all the corner (only) and then moving up stud frame 1-2 inches from the brick for more air space. And then adding smart vapor barrier on the room facing side and then dry wall. Don’t want any further condensation risk so will leave it at that, will this work or better considerations????images

Climate 3A, just finished retrofitting Vulcan Vents’s eave vents as intakes (not pictured). I’m on the border of a WUI zone surrounded by a preserve. Just knowing of these products is beyond the scope of contractors for my area.

In the past year of researching products, I’ve not found specific ridge vent products meant that’d be ember resistant. The closest is Coravent’s 600-TE (pictured w/ VV’s continuous ridge vent for my style roof), though I have doubts with corrugated plastic being sufficiently fire resistant, plus it doesn’t have enough NFA for the aspect ratio of my roof. Also, there’s still a part of me that doesn’t trust the product enough to stop an ember’s ingress and ignite or smolder the sheathing.

“It’s not hard” to go pick up sufficiently dense wire screen from McMaster-Carr. Figuring out how to securely raise the ridge tile and have it live through yearly 40 mph winds, 60 mph gusts, is also a concern. Roof is currently concrete tile with a “not felt” underlayment from ‘94 when the house was made.

Interior ceilings are a mix of 8’, 10’, and half vaulted with a pitch going between the two. This makes it infeasible to convert the vented attic to a sealed, conditioned air space.

How’d you approach making a fire resistant ridge vent? If the individual products aren’t recognized as WUI listed, will this matter for insurance coverage?

I am closing on a land purchase in the northwest of Puerto Rico (Aguadilla) and it will take at least 16 months from what I am told before I can get permits to build. My Asthma is chronic and I have slept in tents, in my car, on the floors of offices, been hospitalized numerous times,etc etc to find relief. Allergy shots did not wok, biologics did not work, and at 60 feeling I cannot last much longer I went to PR and slept outside on my friend's 2 acre property and after 10 days I was 90% better for the first time in my life. The only time I went indoors was to shower or eat. I had already rented at least 30 different apartments and homes in PR and other places and while opening windows helped, it was not enough. I need as close to outside ventilation as I can get. I will hire an architect of course, but I could not help using Claude to design something that would allow air to flow freely from East to West (trade winds) with windows open on both sides and no obstructions. I might even add some mechanical ventilation to draw air through. Thoughts on this approach?

Looking to understand the best way to insulate this building (western OH).

Moved into a new house last fall that came with this newly built detached garage/mini pole building. I park my wife’s car and my project car in the two car bay, and have a small teardrop under the mezzanine and some pedal bikes stashed in various places.

Id like to maintain some of the recessed space on the wall for storage, will likely finish out with OSB so I can hang some shelves/racks to get garden tools and bikes off the floor. Winter was brutally cold here and the building was unusable as far as hobby work. Also had issues with condensation on my tools and vehicles. Also had some issues with the posts sweating.

My thought is to use foam panels between the girts and OSB over the foam/girts. Do I need an air gap between the metal siding and the foam board? And the vapor barrier on the inside of the building, sandwiched between the foam/girts and OSB?

I am a total newbie, primarily want to make sure I don’t cause condensation/rot issues but would like the building to be more comfortable during the winter/summer extremes. I’m also on a budget so spray foam is probably not an option.

Thanks

Hi everyone,
I invented this product and I do have patent pending but however I am stuck at marketing stage and need help with some ideas how to bring it to people’s home.
What it is: It is made from foam and Mylar( reflect 97% radiant heat)

Where to apply?
Apply between roof rafters under plywood sheathing. Sprayfoam can be apply under and still have airspace for radiant heat and air ventilation from soffit to the ridge vent.
It can be made 24” center or 16” center. Expandable to fit tightly between the rafter without too much effort.
Lightweight and diy install friendly.

Why we need this?
Typical roof for summer is extremely hot and in winter if you dont have cold roof ice dam can occur from the heat leakage melting the snow.
If you have sprayfoam insulation, if any roof leak it’s almost impossible to detect where and you may have to remove either the roof or the spayfoam.

How can this safe the home?
the radiant heat keep enter your home regardless what type of insulation you have. With the mylar ability to reflect all those radiant heat out and the airflow to bring those hear and humidity vent out of your home.
If you have a roof leak, you are most likely to able to detect it by looking at the color from water build up at the soffit.

I have a friend Corbett from Home Performance did a review for me on youtube if anyone interested to see. It is at 2:30 Minute
https://youtu.be/\_TicXBQkH2Q

Sorry for not having an actual video on the product yet. Still in production.

Thank you for reading this Reddit communities.

Sincerely
Huu

I live in a century home on Long Island, NY that had a detached garage in the backyard. At some point past owners finished it up and converted it to a studio with carpeted floors. The studio is built on a concrete slab (not sure if theres any footings). The studio is right at the property line and so theres concrete on front, back, and right side while there's soil on the left. There's 4x4x4 PT lumber as the sill/bottom plate for the walls to stand on and I believe it is sitting square at the edge of the slab. The wall is then constructed such that sheathing is nailed to the studs down to the bottom plate, then foam board, and finally vinyl siding. All of this directly at grade so no concrete wall for the bottom plate to sit on. The stud bays have fiberglass insulation between them. Outside, there's a few conduits to run electricity to the shed.

The first problem is that one of the past owners put up a garden bed on the soil side. This meant that the soil side siding was actually below dirt. Over time from moisture it seems the bottom parts of the sheathing have rotted and have given way to termites and carpenter ants.

The second problem is that the monolithic concrete slab in the front of the studio cracked thereby creating a slight negative slope towards the structure. During heavy rainfalls the water pools and thus causing the same set of problems.

I was hoping to just use this space as a home office so trying to limit drastic changes to the structure while still being able to repair and prevent further damage.

I've called an exterminator who will drill holes in the concrete + trench the soil and do termite treatment. After waiting 48 hours we'll resume repair work with the following plan:

The Plan (Soil Side):

1. Snap a level line 9.25” above the final dirt grade, removing/cutting away the rotted lower siding, foam, and sheathing.
2. Install a 3/4" PVC trim sheet in place of the cut out sheathing. Top half screwed to the studs and bottom to the PT lumber. The sheet will go down to grade.
   1. Use liquid flashing like Flashmate to flash the seam between the concrete slab and PVC trim
   2. Slip aluminum z-flashing strip over the trim and under/behind the older sheathing, overhanging the PVC trim to shed water
3. On the "older" wall right above the Z flashing strip, install new vinyl starter strip and reuse vinyl siding.
4. On the inside if any insulation was cut, place foam board in the stud bay and fill with expanding foam. Will look for insect resistant products here.
5. On the outside perimeter, dig a 1' wide and 4" deep trench that slopes away. Plat heavy duty landscape fabric and fill with river rocks to prevent muddy splash back and help with drainage during rains.

The Plan (Concrete Sides):

Follow the same plan as above however we'll cut the PVC trim just enough to leave about a 1/4" gap between it and the concrete slab. For that gap we'll use Sikaflex construction sealant.

For the corners we'll just overlap the trims together instead of doing a miter cut

Any glaring red flags with this plan?

Thanks in advance!

Hey guys, I'm really panicking and don't know where to turn.

I had a Heatpump system installed last October for heating and cooling in upstate New York Zone 5. It's ducted in the upstairs bedrooms+bathrooms, and mini splits everywhere else.

This April, I decided to try to fix some high heating bills (3000kwh for a really cold month) with an attic insulation. I had passive gables on a raised ranch, no vented soffits, and a few passive vents near the ridge. I had read somewhere briefly that I could condition the attic with spray foam, bringing the HVAC system inside the conditioned space, better air sealing, etc.

Then things went wrong.

An energy auditor company referred me to an insulation sub contractor (call them company A) who took me to r38 open cell foam and r22 closed cell on the gable walls. They sealed up the limited aforementioned vents before spraying.

What I have now is the following:

- I'm almost positive that open-cell was wrong in the roof deck because of roof rot concerns and code for my climate (dc315 ignition paint but NO vapor retarder paint). Minimum of a class 2 vapor barrier is required for zone's 5-8.

- they attempted to remove all of the visible old r13 fiberglass insulation in the ceiling joists, but did not use a vacuum, and half the attic has osb (where the air handler sits) that they did not access. Another company (call them company B) claims that the smell I get is from the spray foam residue mixed with fiber glass. They offered to remove it and do better air sealing on my ducts.

- attic humidity swings from 55 percent in the morning and can top out around 70% on the hottest part of the day. It doesn't seem to do this on cloudy days, and seems to correlate with the sun.

- I had company (B) come and do a blower door test and they claimed that my humidity was stack effect driven from my rim joists, and that the results of the blower door test indicated that I now need an ERV. The same company had previously quoted me to put an attic dehumidifier in in addition to removing the remaining fiberglass but now wants to do the ERV instead.

I attached an image from my humidistat, and I think my primary issue is solar vapor drive

During the blower door test when the house was under negative pressure, all of that attic smell came into the living space. My wife started coughing and had to leave the house or faint..I fared a little better but now I'm super concerned. We also have a young child.

I found the following building science: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/high-humidity-in-spray-foam-attics which mirrored the problem I was having. They suggested cutting a supply for the attic or adding a dehumidifier. I don't see an ERV here. I feel like I have analysis paralysis and don't know what to do.

My goals:

- take a deep breath

- not be killed by my house

- resolve the moisture issues

- fix air quality issues

- fix vapor retarder.

Any advice on how to unpack this and move forward is invaluable and greatly appreciated