Here’s some stuff we probably should have been offering years ago in conjunction with hot water heater replacement. Thermostatic Mixing Valve These are installed at the hot water supply line as it leaves the tank. Good idea for a few reasons: We can greatly reduce the potential for scalding people in buildings. Sort of a big deal for making things […]
All posts tagged Water
All of the Cost and Half of the Performance
We have the capacity to build much better buildings. Buildings withdrew a fraction of the energy consumption. Buildings that require painting less than every 20 years. Buildings that don’t leak water, even in extreme conditions.But we don’t build many buildings like this. Instead we use a hodge-podge of glitzy new technologies and really poor techniques that result in not very […]
Category Construction, News
Tags Efficiency, Siding, Water
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 […]
Category Construction, News
Tags Porch, Water
What have you been up to?
Fixing water in buildings doesn’t make for very pretty pictures. Here are some progress shots from a recent job. Photo above shows a fairly recent repair to the chimney. Key to fixing water problems is ensuring that there’s no opportunity for water to pool against the building, for instance, at chimneys. New flashing is kerfed into the chimney and caulked. […]
Category Construction, News
Tags Bad, Performance, Quality, Roof, Water
Well what about unicorns?
I’ll just give it to you straight. Dry rot is a myth. Excessive dryness doesn’t cause it’s own special kind of rot. While this might seem intuitive for the layperson, it’s a pervasive misconception among those working in the building industry. From Paul Fisette’s article on wood myths, ” Wood needs 4 things to decay: water, oxygen, food (wood) and […]
