637: Joe Lstiburek, Ph.D., P.Eng - Moisture Control for Residential Buildings

This week we welcome back Joe Lstiburek, PhD, P. Eng. for a discussion about his new book “Moisture Control for Residential Buildings”. The first edition came out in 1991 and with all the changes to code, materials, methods, etc. it was time for a new edition. Mission accomplished, now it’s time to LEARN MORE about the current state of Moisture Control for Residential Buildings!
Joseph Lstiburek, B.A.Sc., M.Eng., Ph.D., P.Eng., is the founding principal of Building Science Corporation and an ASHRAE Fellow. He is a building scientist who investigates building failures. Dr. Lstiburek received an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto, a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto and a doctorate in Building Science Engineering from the University of Toronto. He has been a licensed Professional Engineer since 1982.
The Wall Street Journal referred to him as “the dean of North American building science.” Fast Company magazine called him “the Sherlock Holmes of construction”. He is internationally recognized and his work has influenced building codes and standards in every climate zone. He is a recipient of the Carl Cash Award from ASTM, a “Becky” from the Ontario Building Envelope Committee (OBEC) and the EEBA Legacy Award all for lifetime contributions to building science. He has also been inducted into the Building Performance Industry Hall of Fame and has received the NESEA Professional Leadership Award for “changing the way we think about building science and how we perform our work”. Dr. Lstiburek is an acclaimed educator who has taught thousands of professionals over the past four decades and has written countless papers. He has a joy for telling tall tales to his protégés and audiences.

[@alexanderclaylavin]

As soon as I accidentally stepped in the hole called architecture, smart people quickly pointed out that Joe's concepts were the real action.

[@donm2067]

Joe is so fvcking smart it hurts my head.

[@peterbeyer5755]

In rammed earth houses the bathroom rammed earth walls absorb the vapour to such an extent that the mirrors don’t mist.

[@TedKidd]

3:20 CV 5:20 drying is an energy exchange 9:30 don't fully remove drying because sometimes it's easier, AND sometimes stuff will get wet no matter what you do.

[@mzerk1021]

Wow, I've watched hundreds or thousands of videos over the last 18 months as I've been remodeling my new/old home --- this was an outstanding interview and I will definitely pick-up a copy of Joe's book! And, I'm located in eastern PA not far from the Delaware Water Gap, Bucks County in ZONE 4. Thanks!

[@henrygagejr.-founderbuildg9199]

Excellent interview. I met Joe in Rochester NY during the ICC public hearing where the US Hemp Building Association presented our hemp-lime proposal. I like how you cover so much content in a short time. What if we spent some time talking about Hempcrete as a wall infill. It has amazing properties like the ability to absorb, diffuse and release moisture. Let me know.

[@henrygagejr.-founderbuildg9199]

I like Joe as a person and a building science professionals. He is a straight shooter, which often pisses off some who like to judge and humorous to those like me who respect his journey. Preach Joe. Be you.

[@3leggedgenes]

Excellent question about dealing with existing brick veneer. I've personally dealt with a 50s, a 60s (current), and a 70s construction 2 story full brick veneer home here in Western PA and they were all fundamentally the same; wood framing sheathed with Celotex and an air gap of varying width before factoring in the mortar droppings. Even in the areas the Celotex was perfectly installed it was far from an air barrier for varying reasons. Further, all 3 homes utilized building cavity returns and leaky supply ducts throughout. As Dr. Lstiburek notes, drying is an exchange of energy, and in the scenarios I'm describing it seems that energy is, at least in part, coming from the HVAC any time it's in use. Without air sealing at the sheathing first I can't imagine retrofitting for back venting of the brick veneer being a worthwhile endeavor. I wonder though if one was to effectively air seal the envelope of one of these type of homes if it becomes a necessity to either back vent or seal the brick surface from intrusion.

[@timjameswarner]

Great content, thanks for sharing!

[@hectormarcayda8608]

Is Mr. Lstiburek available for consultation by private citizens? I would very much like to reach out to him as we are building a custom home in Newcastle, WY. Of note, I've read his book (cover to cover, and taken copious notes) on "Builder's Guide to Cold Climates".

[@flinch622]

Oh, no. There's plenty of attorneys. But most people come kind of close to the edge on home projects - a $5k retainer [and a year of mucking about] is not part of most peoples bid acceptance calculus. What I find helpful is after talking to a contractor, does the bid address all my items, or are there assumptions? Assumptions tend to not perform well, especialy on materials procurement. Am I clear on methods, and asked all my dumb questions? Case in point, a business I bought years ago failed an inspection in multiple areas. On the plumbing end, first bid missed half my concerns, which I tried to correct... second attempt still had holes in it, so I found another plumber. Job cost "more", but I suffered no change orders, and no re-inspect: all matters attended to. If I had gone with the first...lost time on delayed opening [and additional cost on "new" work] would have likely cost me triple the difference. Anyway... seems I need to get the second edition - lots of new materials out there.

[@nikdoznamej7698]

faith based ventilation, got me on this one :) :) :)

Great info, as usual, but I'm still a bit unclear on how to best do an ICF house. So.... for a planned ICF house near Chicago, does it need an external (e.g. peel'n'stick) water control/barrier layer or does the external EPS insulation (of the ICF) fully serve as such layer? If it should still have an external water barrier, is it ok if there is no insulation on top of it?

[@peterfroese8606]

Hey Thomas, doesn't look like you got a reply. In my experience a weather barrier is recommend. In my building jurisdiction they require a tyvek overtop of the icf. And even from experience i'd recommend it. I don't think anything above grade requires a peel a stick, its a better product, but not required for its air or vapour barrier characteristics. Most of that is covered by the icf itself. But a weather barrier, and maybe even a rain screen wouldn't hurt, even if its less fun to apply when the icf studs are covered.

[@aramcanin6918]

i can't find the updated edition. is it out yet?

[@b-ryanistryin]

The Huber zip system with foam applied seems like a great idea, but it’s completely backwards to the perfect wall system, which puts sheathing on the studs and foam on sheathing. Wouldn’t installing the zip R sheathing backwards be the most efficient way to create a perfect wall system?

[@arvidjohansson3120]

No, sadly not. If the zip is applied with the foam facing out the water barrier will be on the wrong side of the OSB. Hence the OSB will deteriorate.

[@stevecrawford6958]

zip r is not joe's perfect wall. it's not exterior insulation.

[@stevecrawford6958]

@@arvidjohansson3120 are you saying this relative to osb and not sheathing per se? meaning zip r would work backwards if it was plywood?

[@canonicaltom]

Zip R is not only backward, after a half inch of insulation between the studs and sheathing you lose significant strength. You'd be better off using two Zip R sheets insulation layers facing each other to make an overly expensive SIP panel.

[@peterbeyer5755]

Joe should share his weight loss tips, he look completely different from his earlier videos!

[@OgFurious1]

Stop eating your jacket and start wearing it on the outside of your body 😅

[@davidbruce5377]

Hello, we live in Zone 1, Florida and have planned a tight home with an ERV. Our question is. Does an ERV utilize dry waste air to assist the drying of incoming moist humid air?

[@jacobpalmer9247]

yes

[@coasttal123]

I live on the coast of SC and have used and ERV for 11 years with excellent results. I exhaust the bathroom air on a continuous basis and put the supply into my supply duct in a place where it mixes well with room air, but does not blow on anyone, giving plenty of time for the new air to mix. My bathrooms never fog up and smells are gone in a hurry.

[@hosoiarchives4858]

The more I learn the more confused I get

[@iancormie9916]

When using external rockwool insulation on a house, is house wrap ever put on the outside surface of the insulation? The housewrap would then be then be the drainage surface (rather than the rockwool) behind the exterior sheathing. If not, is there a reason for not doing this? It would seem that putting a layer of house wrap over the rockwool would minimize air (and moisture) infiltration when the wind is blowing.

[@coasttal123]

House wrap is your air barrier and not your drainage plan. You need a gap to have a drainage plane.

[@therianstrauss]

How do you best deal with gutters in heavy snow load areas?

[@IAQTraining11]

Good question. One thing is to make sure you air seal very well and avoid allowing heat to cause ice damming. We have used commercial gutters when appropriate here in the ski resort area of PA although I do not consider us to have really heavy snowfall. Some of the local ski resorts, homeowners groups do not allow gutters but that is more for aesthetics and causes its own problems. I will pass this along to Joe and see what he thinks.

[@therianstrauss]

@@IAQTraining11 thank you 🙏

[@IAQTraining11]

Reply from Joe: Sometimes we add heat strips to the gutters…. Stuff I have written about ice dams…. buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-046-dam-ice-dam buildingscience.com/documents/building-science-insights-newsletters/bsi-097-de-icing-ice-dams

[@GreenIllness]

41:30 wtf are those sounds?

[@IAQTraining11]

He was getting windows put in during the interview.

[@GreenIllness]

I've listened to this several times and it happens every time! He does the windows every single time?@@IAQTraining11

[@noelmuller5755]

You really don't get to tout yourself if you have been involved in the building envelope disaster over the past 40 years....especially not being this arrogant about it

[@jiwbink]

Please elaborate. I'm confused by your comment. Before I watched this,I watched A presentation by this guy. He appears to RESLLY know what he's talking about. He's caused the changing of building codes,as well as written them himself. So again your post confused me. Thanks much.

[@noelmuller5755]

@@jiwbink The building envelope issues of the last 40 years prove that the codes weren't working. Billions of dollars wasted and lives and homes ruined. If he wrote the codes - he's to blame. Everybody is stupid but me? I've followed this guy, he's no genius. Rather, a clever marketer of himself...

[@peterbeyer5755]

Dr Joe gives his knowledge, based on his own decades of experience, free, at no cost, you don’t have to pay for it, he is also, I think, very entertaining, many brilliant people can get frustrated that the knowledge is there yet the people who understand it don’t implement it because others don’t want to pay for it.

[@AudioFanMan]

@@noelmuller5755 from the position of an industry professional, 30+ years, failures are the cause of poor half baked craftsmanship. Almost every failure was the cause of someone not careing or understanding building science. If you want to live in a hut, go for it. If your spending the most amount of money you have ever spent on 1 thing, you should expect what code (minimum allowed by law) requires in most areas. Your home is supposed to keep the outside out, and the inside in. Ventilation is the only exception. After literally close to a thousand homes under my belt in one fashion or another, a well designed home , and well built home takes .02% more attention and .02% work. What it does take is a leap of faith, and an entire mind set change. You can't mix typical 1950 construction with 2020 construction and get away with it.

[@markervice2936]

@@noelmuller5755 Ummm, exactly who are YOU?