Renovation & Design
Renovation & Design
Get home ready while weather's still decent
It is now time to pull out those favourite sweaters from the back of the closet and dust off those wool blankets, because cool, wintry days are just about upon us.
The autumn is also the right time to prepare your home for Old Man Winter.
With advice from some experts, we have compiled a number of fall "to-do list" chores. Their advice will ensure you get your home ready for the cold weather ahead, avoid costly heating bills and even worse -- possible expensive repair bills.
Roof and gutters
The changing colours of the leaves are beautiful but once they die off, they can make a mess of your roof and gutters.
As the leaves fall, you need to keep them off the roof because as they decay, as they will break down your cedar shingles.
Once the roof and gutters are cleaned properly, inspect for leaks and misaligned pipes. Then, check your roof for curled, warped, cracked or buckled shingles, as they will need to be replaced.
Furnace
A smooth-running furnace can save a lot of headaches later on, so the first order is make sure to change your filters often, every six weeks or so.
If your filter is clogged, your furnace won't run as efficiently, which costs you more money to heat your house. Have a furnace inspection and cleaning done yearly to keep it in good working order.
Draft-proofing
Wait for a windy day, then, with a lit incense stick placed close to windows, door frames, electrical outlets and recessed lighting, slowly move it across and see if there's movement.
If it moves, that's a clear indicator that there's a draft or leak, which can be easily fixed with caulking or weatherstripping.
Another simple way to save on your heating bill is to keep your southerly window covering open during the winter, to allow the sun to heat your home.
Meanwhile, years of wear and tear can cause doors to allow heat to escape. An easy solution is to seal any gaps or cracks by installing weatherstripping and caulking at the bottom of the door and on the sides to block off air.
Heat can also escape through your wood-burning fireplace. A slab of Styrofoam, covered with cloth and pushed into the rectangular front of your fireplace can correct heat loss.
To keep cool air out, keep your chimney damper closed when the fireplace isn't in use. You can also purchase a protective cap with a screen for your chimney, keeping foreign objects, like birds, out.
Thermal insulation, when correctly installed, slows heat from escaping your home in winter and from entering your home in summer, making your home more comfortable and saving money on energy bills.
Check your attic and basement's insulation to make sure it's properly in place. Then update to a more energy-efficient insulation or increase the amount of insulation you have, because you can be losing lots of heat.
-- Canwest News Service
Renovation & Design
ASK THE INSPECTOR: Keeping a dry roof over your head
QUESTION: Your column has me thinking about my double garage. It is not attached, the walls are 10-feet high and I have finished insulating them with R12 fibreglass batts. The ceiling joists are covered with three-quarter-inch sheathing to provide a floor in the attic storage area.
I have no intention of insulating between the two-by-sixes forming the top webs of the homemade trusses that hold the roof sheathing. The roof has two vent caps. Access from below is through a five-foot-square opening that I plan to fit an insulated, two-part door-like affair into. I have started to insulate the ceiling with R24 and I will cover that with vapour barrier and panelling on the underside. The walls are already covered with vapour barrier and panelling.
I rarely heat the garage with my small construction heater. With what I've done already, that takes the chill off enough to work in there, in all but the coldest weather. When my insulation job is done I may use it more often in the winter. Is this arrangement acceptable without constant minimal heating? I rarely park in the garage, but that may change. I could install a fan controlled by a dehumidistat, if you foresee problems with this arrangement.
Regards, Peter Knip
ANSWER: It is admirable to see you are thinking ahead in advance of planned renovations to your garage instead of going ahead without knowing possible concerns. In this case the concerns may be largely unfounded, mostly because you appear to be properly insulating the space for heating.
The critical issue in deciding whether heating your garage will cause any issues, or damage, is the insulation and ventilation in the attic space.
If you install adequate insulation, a properly sealed air/vapour barrier and hatch, and adequate roof and soffit ventilation, there should be no problem. Any warm air that may escape into the attic from heating the garage periodically should properly vent out the roof, with little problems from condensation. This is assuming that you are properly installing six mil polyethylene sheathing, caulked at each ceiling joist and where it overlaps with other sections of the plastic sheathing. This includes caulking the joint between the poly on the wall sections and the ceiling at the entire perimeter of the garage and the attic access hatch.
The next question to ask is: Are you putting in adequate insulation in the ceiling to prevent excessive heat loss and moisture issues? R24 is considerably less than the standard of R40, and well-below the recommended level of R50 by some government programs.
Having said that, the R40/50 recommendations are designed for homes with permanent, heated living space. As you have already stated, you plan only to heat the garage occasionally, only when you want to use it as a workshop. It may be unreasonable to suggest that you should install twice as much insulation as you intend, only for temporary use.
While R24 in the ceiling will not make the garage energy efficient for constant heating, it may reduce the amount of heat loss through the attic to allow for heating it without damage to roof components.
The main concern with heating an uninsulated, or poorly insulated garage is damage to the roof sheathing and shingles. Poorly insulated attics will become relatively warm when the garage is heated, and that will cause the roof sheathing and roofing to warm enough to easily melt the snow cover in the winter. When the heat is turned off, the melted snow will freeze and the ice may cause damage to the shingles.
Also, if the roofing becomes warm without much snow cover, the shingles will curl prematurely, lessening the life expectancy significantly. The roof sheathing can also become moisture damaged, even with decent ventilation.
The seven to eight inches of insulation that you are planning to put in should be sufficient to prevent overheating the attic, under normal circumstances, as long as you have properly spaced and installed vents.
The one thing you have not addressed in your question is soffit venting. While often overlooked by the home handyman, proper soffit ventilation is critical to proper air flow through your attic.
I constantly see homes and garages that have major, premature deterioration to the shingles near the eaves, and perfectly fine-looking ones near the peak. This is normally caused by a severe lack of ventilation in the soffits or improper installation of excessive insulation in this area. If cool outside air cannot enter the attic through the soffits, it will be more difficult for warm air to rise out through the roof vents. The more cool air entering the attic from the soffits, the better the convective forces will work, which allows warm air to rise out the roof vents mounted near the peak.
Once this warm convective current begins, it will try to draw even more air in from the bottom of the attic. If the soffits have multiple small openings, that is where this air will come from. If this area is blocked by insulation, or vents are too few and far between, this air may be drawn in through small gaps in the garage ceiling and attic access hatch, instead.
To sum up, and answer your main question at the same time, installation of a moderate amount of insulation for temporary, periodic heating of your garage should not cause any major problems, as long as the attic is properly air sealed and vented. Use of mechanical ventilation devices, such as attic exhaust fans or dehumidifiers, should not be required as long as you are not adding a large amount of moisture to the garage air through your activities.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the President of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors - Manitoba (www.cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be e-mailed or sent to: Ask The Inspector, P. O. Box 69021, #110-2025 Corydon Ave., Winnipeg, MB. R3P 2G9. Ari can be reached at (204) 291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca.
trainedeye@iname.com
Renovation & Design
SOLUTIONS: Pull no punches with stinky boxing gloves
QUESTION: A group of us hope you can suggest how to effectively clean the inside of smelly boxing gloves. So far we've tried Febreeze, Javex and vinegar. We've heard rumours about freezing but at the same time we want to make sure we don't damage the gloves. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you. Karen, Winnipeg
ANSWER: The unappealing stench that you refer to comes from mould and bacteria collected from your hands; both thrive in warm and humid environments. Always air dry gloves when not in use. If you can't hand-wash them in the bathtub, spritz inside the glove with 50/50 rubbing alcohol and water. After a few minutes, slide one of the following inside gloves; a cotton ball with a few drops of tea tree oil, a sock full of cedar chips, or dry coffee grounds. Also store crumpled up newspaper inside each glove when not in use.
If you can pop one of your old gloves into the freezer for 24 hours, this will be a great test as to how well your gloves will hold up to freezing temperatures (a great way to combat smells). Freezing temperature will kill bacteria.
QUESTION: I cleaned my stainless-steel fridge with Windex. It has left a shine where it should be a brushed look. Do you know of any way to rectify this problem? Bev, Winnipeg
ANSWER: Windex is ammonia and may have permanently stripped the brushed finish. Your best bet is to contact the manufacturer and ask for the recommended fix. Please do not experiment with products advised to you by other stainless-steel appliance owners because they may be dealing with stainless steel that differs from yours. Please let me know what the manufacturer says.
QUESTION: I have two of your books and find them very helpful. However I could not find anything about cleaning silicone cookie sheet liners and utensils. Hope you can help. Thanks. Nancy, (Treherne, Man.)
ANSWER: Silicone is a non-porous option for cookware and bakeware. Some people love it while others will drive to the ends of the earth to avoid it. For daily cleaning use a little warm soapy water or toss them into the dishwasher. Every once in a while, use my 'Corellabunga' recipe (page 88 of Household Solutions 2). In a large pot combine: 4 cups water, 3 cups vinegar and 2 tbsp. citric acid (found in pharmacies). Boil for 5 minutes and remove from water. Scrub with an S.O.S. pad and dish soap. The faster you clean up after each use, the easier the task.
QUESTION: Here's a problem I think has no solution. Being a novice at hair colouring, I tried a non-permanent ammonia-free colour. I tried to be careful but a spot must have landed on my white vinyl flooring and I didn't even notice it until the next day. I have tried everything but the colour is not budging! I wrote to the company, they suggested Javex. That did nothing. Do you have any suggestions? Appreciate any advice,. With thanks. Marlene, Winnipeg
ANSWER: If acetone didn't do the trick and rubbing alcohol had no results why not tackle that stain with a taste of its own medicine? You dyed the floor, now use RIT dye remover to 'undye' the mess. According to the RIT website: "RIT can be used to dye many different types of materials including wood, paper, plastic, feathers, and even canvas shoes!" So why not the floor? Test the product on an inconspicuous area to be certain that the floor will not discolour. Soak the area with hot water and RIT dye remover, pour the contents onto the affected area and note the difference. Worst-case scenario: Replace a small section of the floor.
Reader feedback
Hi Reena,
A belated thank-you for solving the sediment problem in my dishwasher. I poked the upper spray arms with a toothpick and loosened all the sediment and eureka it worked! I also changed the dishwasher powder. Now I have nice clean dishes. Grace
Fabulous pumpkin treat of the week
Make your own Jell-O Pumpkins by dissolving two, six-ounce boxes of orange Jell-O in two-and-a-half cups boiling water. Let set for 30 minutes. Whisk together one (3.4 ounce) box of instant vanilla pudding with one cup milk. Mix until smooth. Pour pudding contents into Jell-O. Blend and pour into greased 9x1- inch pan. Chill to set. Cut into circles using a glass or pumpkin cookie cutter. Decorate pumpkin face with candy corn and black licorice.
Reena Nerbas is the author of the national bestselling Household Solutions series. Her website is www.householdsolutions.org. You can contact her at Box 429, Blumenort, MB, ROA 0C0.
