Renovation & Design
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.
Renovation & Design
MIKE HOLMES: Your kitchen can't take the heat
Your stove -- whether it's gas or electric -- needs to have an operating hood and extraction fan over it. These hoods aren't just decorative -- they are essential to help control excess moisture in your home, as well as to help remove cooking odours.
These ventilation systems have a decorative exterior hood that hides the works and an exhaust fan and ductwork to extract the air, smoke and moisture. Obviously they need to be over the cooking area -- ideally they should extend over the stove's surface area. They need to be close enough to the stove to extract air, but not so close you can't comfortably cook. If they are too high, like many 'designer' hoods, they aren't doing an effective job.
It's ideal if your kitchen exhaust fan discharges to the outdoors. Never exhaust into the attic or soffits or crawl space. I've come across situations where the kitchen fans vent into the attic space; this is a really bad idea, for many reasons. First, the last thing you want to do is allow hot, moist air up into your attic space, especially in winter. It will lead to ice dams, mould, rot and a world of trouble caused by condensation. Second, if you ever had a fire on the stove, the exhaust fan could pull the fire into the attic, and allow it to quickly spread throughout the house.
The ducting should be smooth, with a short, straight run to the outside, with as few bends and angles as possible. This will help with your fan's efficiency in moving the air out. If the run is very long, you might need a bigger fan, so check with a pro. The joints need to be sealed, and if the duct runs through an unheated space, they should be insulated. If they aren't, condensation might form on the duct.
Kitchen exhaust fans come in different sizes and need to be appropriate for the size of your stove and house. It's very important that you get the correct size of ventilation fan. It's not as simple as 'bigger is better.'
Not only will your utility bills be higher because you are running an oversized fan, you are also exhausting larger amounts of heated or cooled (depending on the season) air from your home. And that's air you've paid to condition, which will affect the energy efficiency of your home. A fan that's too large will create air infiltration and compromise the building envelope.
If you have installed an exhaust fan that's too big, you can cause depressurization, which will lead to backdrafting. Backdrafting happens when exhaust fans pull the gases from combustion back into the house. These gases are the byproduct of fireplaces, hot water heaters, furnaces -- any combustion appliance that is vented to the outside -- and these gases are dangerous. They can kill you.
Most new homes are pretty airtight -- that's one of the reasons we have few problems with indoor air quality and mould growth. Airtight homes have mechanical ventilation systems such as heat recovery ventilators, to provide a fresh air supply. If you don't have replacement air coming in, you'll risk creating negative pressure (backdrafting), but also your fan will be starved for air and won't work properly.
You often see recirculating kitchen exhaust fans that don't expel air to the outside. They pull steam and smoke from the stovetop, filter it and recirculate it through vents at head level. These fans might remove odours, since they usually have a charcoal filter but they don't remove steam.
Don't forget that boiling water and steaming vegetables create a lot of moisture that needs to be discharged. These recirculating fans don't cause depressurization since they aren't vented externally.
They don't remove much odour or grease, and they blow into your face when you're at the stove. Replacing the filters can be expensive so people don't do it as often as they should, which means they don't work well.
I really believe you need to have your kitchen fan exhaust outside.
Catch Mike in his new series, Holmes Inspection airing Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV. For more information visit www.hgtv.ca
-- Canwest News Service
Renovation & Design
ASK THE INSPECTOR: Adjusting teleposts a skill best left to pros
QUESTION: We are in a six-year-old home in Richmond West. This house has two beams and is a cab-over design, so telepost adjustment may present problems. The doorway leading to the master bedroom in the cab-over has been sticking in the winter. I have recently replaced this door with a solid-core door for a few reasons -- sound being one, and the ability to shave off and trim the door if needed.
Our basement is completely finished, and my concern is that as soon as a contractor sees this, assuming I can find one, he will only want to do the adjustment once, and I won't do it that way. Of course, we now have some drywall cracking as well.
I wonder if you had any feedback from customers or contractors who have dealt with this problem in the correct way by doing a slow adjustment. The average homeowner doesn't even know what kind of contractor to hire, and I am certainly one of them.
Susan Maxwell, email
I read an article you wrote in the Free Press on how to adjust teleposts. We live in River Heights and we have a bungalow that has two teleposts. When we moved in back in 1995, the house had already shifted and is lower on the right-hand side. We never had the teleposts adjusted. It did not really bother me, but now I feel that I should look at adjusting the teleposts as it bothers me when we open our cabinet doors and they stay open. Our basement is undergoing renovations and is not yet finished. I was thinking this would be a good time to revisit the teleposts.
When is the best time to adjust the posts and how many times during the year? What would happen to the base where the concrete and the frame of the house meet when I adjust the teleposts?
John Ticzon, email
I bought a 28-year-old house in Winnipeg and recently moved in. I did a pre-purchase home inspection. There are two doors that cannot be properly closed and the home inspector told me I probably have to adjust the teleposts.
I am new to Canada and I wanted to know whether this is big job and who can do this for me.
Mahinda Jayaratne
ANSWER: All of your questions pertain to the normal, yet frequently misunderstood, need for telepost adjustment in your homes. The common thread in all three inquiries is the difficulty finding proper contractors to do the job. I will address that pressing question and the others, as well.
As pointed out in the first question, it can be difficult to find contractors willing to do multiple, slow adjustments of teleposts to minimize cracking and structural movement in the home. The more gradual the adjustment, the less the chance of major cracking in the walls and increased squeakiness in the floors.
If adjustments are done no more than a quarter to half a revolution at a time, several days or weeks apart, the house will be more prone to slowly adapt to the movement. If posts are lowered even fractions of an inch or more in one fell swoop, cracking walls are a certainty. As to the second inquiry, there should be no damage or negative effect of lowering teleposts on the floor structure over top of the perimeter foundation, as long as one thing is taken into consideration. The interior partition walls must not be installed tight between the concrete floor slab and the underside of the floor framing prior to adjustments. A slip joint or substantial space must exist between these two components, or damage may occur to the floor structure during telepost adjustments.
This can occur because most teleposts require lowering, which may allow the partition walls to improperly assume the support of these posts if they don't have enough space at the top or bottom. In that case, new floor bumps may occur, teleposts may become loose and, in rare cases, differential movement and damage can occur over top of the foundation walls. If your basement walls are not currently "floating," this can be easily remedied by cutting the existing framing to allow for future telepost adjustments.
These repairs and adjustments can be done at any time of the year, but should be avoided in the early spring or late fall if possible. At those two times of the year, the freezing and thawing of the soil and daily temperature fluctuations above and below the freezing point may cause the basement floor slab and footings to move, making telepost adjustments more difficult.
The final and most important part of all your inquiries is finding the best person to hire for this important maintenance issue. If your basement is mostly unfinished, or you are certain that all basement walls are sufficiently floating to allow adjustments, you may want to call a reputable foundation contractor for the repairs. Some of these foundation repair experts will come in several times to do periodic adjustment, but don't hire a contractor that tells you the adjustments can all be done in a matter of hours, rather than months.
If there are walls that need to be cut down, or the telepost adjustment areas are covered, enlisting the services of a good general contractor will be your best bet. An experienced contractor should have sufficient knowledge of the proper amount and rate of telepost adjustments necessary to achieve a relatively straight floor system without major damage to the walls or floorboards.
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 emailed 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
