There is an incredible wealth of information on how to construct energy efficient, durable, and comfortable buildings. Sure, most of that information is totally disregarded when buildings are constructed. But it would be difficult to argue that houses in the US are constructed poorly because technicians don’t have access to good information. This wealth of information should be directly applied […]
All posts in News
Changing heating costs
One of the most complicated issues for homeowners is determining whether or not to make a change to their 1) heating system efficiency, or 2) heating fuel type. There are a multitude of factors that could go into making this decision, including: Current system efficiency, Proposed system efficiency, Current cost of heating fuel, Future cost of fuel, Cost of change […]
Category Construction, News
Tags Energy, Heating, NJHPwES, Performance
Home Performance and Hard Choices
I spend a lot of time reading about carpentry, building science, and construction. One of my hopes for this blog is to help others apply good building science under a multitude of real-world constraints. Common constraints include: Budget, Owner’s expectation that they won’t be in the house for long, Contradictory assertions from everyone and their brother who works on houses, […]
Larry Haun RIP
Fine Homebuilding has this obituary for Larry Haun. An icon of carpentry, I was inspired to switch to gang-cutting rafters by watching his videos and reading his books. One of the building construction greats.
Category News, Process
Tags Philosophy
Testimonials
Here’s some more feedback we received on a job completed last year in the NJ Home Performance with Energy Star program: “Jesse and Abel Smith of Tay River completed the insulation of my 2500 sqft house according to the NJ energy saving program. We found their level of competence extremely high to give valuable advice while completing the work agreed […]
Category Energy Efficiency, News
Tags Efficiency, Testimonial
Look Ma, No Replacement Windows!
Here are the blower door results from one of the NJ Home Performance with Energy Star jobs we did this week. In most houses we anticipate 30%-40% leakage reductions, which is generally considered pretty good. But 55% leakage reduction is pretty awesome! I’ll try to find time over the weekend to elaborate on our evolving techniques for sealing buildings. Here’s […]
Category Construction, News
Tags Air Sealing, NJHPwES, Performance, Technical
NJ Home Performance with Energy Star
Just found this video tutorial regarding New Jersey’s Home Performance program. We’ve been doing quite a bit of NJHPwES work. Enjoy!
Category Construction, News
Tags Heating, Insulation, NJHPwES, Performance
Replacement doors and windows are still bad
Not to belabor the point, but it’s very difficult to integrate replacement-style doors and windows into a system of shedding water away from buildings. This replacement door was installed into an opening that already had water problems. From Replacement doors
Category Energy Efficiency, News
Tags Air Sealing, Windows
Testimonials
Testimonials can demonstrate that at some point someone said something nice about you. Despite my skepticism, I’ll be posting some of the nice things people occasionally say about us. None of the testimonials will be from my mother, who probably doesn’t have much nice to say about Tay River anyway. The most striking aspect of our NJ Home Performance with […]
Category Construction, News
Tags Energy, Insulation, NJHPwES, Performance, Testimonial
What have you been up to #2?
Here’s a porch restoration we’ve been working on. Interestingly, the original porch is probably 70-80 years old. Repairs had been made to the stairs within the past few years, and these failed almost immediately. The original deck had some rot, but was considerably more robust than the repairs. For drainage, the bottom rail has been left open so the balusters […]
