I use a portable a/c to do mechanical ventilation dehumidifier plus heat in winter. It works great

Just another inaccessiblechannel's video I was interested in watching, but am unable to because of the distracting music. When you remove the music (because this is not a music video, it's an information video), I'll return and remove the thumbs down and actually be able to watch the whole thing. I WANT to watch it, but CAN'T. Please consider the thousands and thousands of people who need a silent background to learn. Thank you.

Basements are good if finished properly, but not for living and only for party room or work shop. Also need to monitor for mold and use a dehumidifier.

I used to live in a house with a basement that was finished by the previous owner back in the 1950’s. It had a thick pine wood paneling and no insulation. Probably that was good.

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Could you do double stud, walls, and exterior insulation?

This is a similar problem that 'energy efficiency' has introduced into the automobile market. We seem to have cut vehicle longevity to about 1/3 of what is was just ten years ago, but marginally increased fuel efficiency. You get what you measure.

Those are not walls. Just cheap wooden sticks filled with chemicals.

You have the right idea, but the incorrect process…we did a wall of R-54, and we are earthquakes proof…

Anybody that repairs houses knows this product is destructive to any cladding or trim applied over it. I work on old houses and most of them have no barrier and no rot as well. These products wee originally created to go under roads, yes, buried in the ground....And that's what they are good at.

A totally bad product and the recommended sidewalls are a joke. The underlying problem is that the folks who build houses do not repair houses so they do not know how detrimental modern products are to a building. All the chipboard products are not a long lasting alternative to actual solid WOOD.

What's the right strategy in the desert southwest, with hot and cold extreme but interior humidity always exceeding exterior humidify?😊😊😊

I renovated a house in the late 1980's my Dad told me to go with the double system. He had helped build one in the 1960's her in Manitoba. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I am sharing your videos with some friends who have had condensation problems.

I'm not a fan of having a super efficient sealed home. A few drafts bring fresh air, and I don't mind paying higher energy costs as a result.

Any thoughts on using 2x4 sleepers with 1.5 inch more foam between them and a single layer of subfloor, on top of the 2 inches of foam? As opposed to the 2 layers of subfloor. Thanks

I renovated an old service station into a double wall on a floating floor. 360 ° radiant foil against the outer wall studs, 3 layers of r 12 fiber between the outer and inner wall studs, then another layer of radient foil. I've never had cold walls.

Why cant you put poly on interior wall before framing?

Dimple mat costs a fortune...can we put poly on floor and side walls ? Is that better or worse than nothing?...my basement is dirt floor.

I wish you had a link to your drawings so I could print it out as I'm doing my own building in the NW in a rainforest (150 avg rain per year) and its in the hills were heat is wood stove or propane, or heatpump. That's the only three choices as everything else is cost prohibited.

Ok, I live in a rain forest zone (105 inches of rain yearly) and maped by forest service as 90% likely forest fire likely? Should I do rockwool on the inside and outside? I was going to do LP siding (concrete). Your advice will save me. Thank you.

Dude you need to come to my house…if contractors knew what you knew less problems would occur.

The problem with air tightness is that houses/buildings can no longer breath. The exchange of air is what keeps black mold from colonizing in high moisture areas, especially with forced air heat. Any movement of air creates eddies in the flow (from forced air or ambient air exchange) which in turn allow particulates (black mold spores, which are everywhere anyway) to be deposited in corners and along the bottom of walls. In homes which see little use, as in in bedroom communities and resort rentals in the off season, all sorts of accumulations occur. Discovery and damage have become quite the business as a result. I am a big fan of tar paper myself.

I have an older house with a stone foundation and I poured a new slab with stego under it, stone under that with drainage. If I want to put a floor on top of this slab, do I still do the same dimple matt and vapor barrier assembly?

How many decades do we reckon it'll be before what is essentially polystyrene wrapped in paper is banned for being poisonous as well as just a terrible building material?

Is drywall a sufficient vapor/air retarder with unfaced mineral wool cavity insulation in zone 4?

This is over engineered and some design aspects are just wrong. For example at 14:44 the gap between the spray foam masonry wall and the drywall interior has no place for vapor to go but the toe plate of the wall as it condenses on the impermeable spray foam layer and drips down the inside of the stud wall.

SOLID CONCRETE OR ICF ARE THE ONLY WAY TO BUILD

Thanks for the good Info

Asiri, do you mean clean stone when you call out “crushed stone”?

Unbelievable that builders who have supreme understanding of Vyvek House Wrap and can't stop the industry from using it. It is discouraging when buyers count on their professional home builders and the building codes they follow to be of the highest standard and we learn they are not. Like basement foundations, there should be a spray on rubber seal that is placed on the home's exterior and around windows that has a sealing effect if penetrated with nails, staples or screws.

USA makes construction so complicated. Creating problems to solve. And then in a strong wind the houses just blow away. 🤦‍♂️

Another excellent video. What’s cold climate for this discussion? Zone 5 and higher? I have a structural brick home in Philly - zone 4a - so I was less concerned about these issues.

So what about a situation where you have a cinder block from foundation to roof with a brick exterior. 🤔

I am loving these styles of information dense videos! I live in southern NJ(4a Mixed-Humid) and I am looking to replace my siding. It is a slab on grade 70s build, I believe the house is just sheathed with blue rigid foam board(i do see fiberboard in the garage) with aluminum siding on top. Is my most cost effective option to re-sheath with OSB with a self-adhered weather barrier and beveled lap siding?

Is the roof drain catch the surface water also the drain for the water above waterproof membrane layer? How do the roof drain or scupper lay in this method?

Just saying, nails are going to pentrate the outer layer and allow moisture in. The weak points of both systems is around the foundation.

You made it sound as if all SIPs are made with OSB sheathing. You should have mentioned the fact that it is possible to buy SIPs with other sheathing material such as sheet metal, pressure-treated plywood, fiber cement board, fiberglass, and fiber-reinforced plastic.

Do you have any information about ICF houses I am thinking of building one in a year or two

You need to apply elastomeric rubber to the inside of your foundation to air/water seal the blocks. Then only after sealing you can add whatever material you want. There’s enough air to dry the wall cavity as long as you have proper draining and ventilation on the outer layer of cinder for wicking away.

Have an ICF home in Wisconsin. I use a very small window AC unit I can run it near continuously this cools the large house in full sun. But it also dehumidifies. My friends have 3-$400 a month in AC bills I have $65.

Thanks. I've been considering the roofing design for an off-grid home in Northern Idaho on a partially wooded parcel. My current idea is combining rigid mineral wool on the top and edges of a roof for wild fire resistance, with ISO insulation inside of this for its cheaper cost per R. The roofing would be snap lock metal panels installed on top of purlins. Similar approach for the walls. From what I've gathered, 2" of mineral wool would be sufficient for fire protecting the ISO, especially if installed as two layers of 1" board. What do you think of this approach? The air barrier would be at the sheathing surface. Minimal interior insulation in the attic with open faced batts in the cavity.

How about block off all your windows? That will save at least 40% of all your energy

Holy smokes don’t worry about insulating there is no savings in the long run. Use insulated concrete blocks proper over hangover windows

great video, but why no mention of ICF?

I’m interested to know more about the impact of adding exterior rigid foam on the ability for the wall to dry outwards when using a vapour permeable SA membrane. Does the foam board installed tight to the SA WRB prevent drying? If so how important is it to use a SA WRB with an incorporated drainage plain (like Hydrogap SA)? I understand that rock wool would solve this potential problem but I’m trying to understand the best methods of using foam board on the exterior. Love your channel and the comprehensive information that you share! It’s an incredible resource.

thank you for this video I am an ICF home builder in IL. I'm all about high performance, I've even done some research on the SIPs failure in Juneau, in fact I met Joe Lsitburek (who performed 3rd aparty inspections on the failed buildings) at a GBA event earlier this year, very smart man. As much as I love the high performance community, sometime they deviate from what is practical, common sense, or appealing to consumers. The biggest issue I see is an unfounded fear of carbon and greenhouse gases, with no consideration for other aspects of a building and its materials such as longevity, safety, disaster resistance, etc. This fear leads builders, designers, and other building professionals to limit what materials they use, and essentially stick to products like wood almost exclusively. products like ICF are frowned upon because of their supposed environmental impact. However, as you mentioned, more insulation = less drying potential, High performance double wall assemblies have more failure points, and wood homes lack disaster resistance. Furthermore, deforesting the earth and producing milled lumber is not carbon neutral either, requiring gas powered equipment to plant, grow, harvest, plane, dry, treat, transport, and install the lumber. I Couldn't agree with you more when you said "'There’s nothing more sustainable, than building something that is going to last for a long time". ICF building solve the mold issue, the air tightness issue, the insulation / efficiency issue, and also provide disaster resistance and are built to last. While it may initially use more energy to create this building, it will not need to be rebuilt several times unlike its wooden counterparts. just my 2 cents. Sincerely, a biased ICF builder :)

The presenter is talking way too fast to understand the material and does not use the correct scale of illustrations. The illustrations are not readable. The material sounds good though.

Love the video. Insulation is one of my favorites and I love Rockwool. I think it’s best type of insulation for climate 5. You also need to install vapor retarder behind your drywall to all the cavity to dry out if condensation forms. Long lasting walls are the goal. This is also why I will build post frame. Can’t wait for the vapor retarder video.

On a related subject somewhat, I've never used anything but water in 4 different radiant floor homes and shops, no anti freeze, for the last 40 years. In the Idaho mountains, so real winters, the homes had basements but the two shops were an insulated slab with insulated foundation walls to the top of the footings. Even after a couple weeks of no aux heat the slabs never got below the low '50's.