Green Homes News

I have varying ceiling heights on the second floor of a two story home. Because of this, the attic floor has a "step off" where it drops down.When adding blown…

We are extending the hardwood floor in our kitchen area into a mudroom area that is slab-on-grade. (Existing hardwood over crawlspace) There is about 1-1/2" step from the existing hardwood…

Industry pros share insights on how installers and homeowners can protect their investments

After going down the rabbit hole on cathedral roof/ceiling details I'm almost ready to commit to an air permeable insulation approach between rafter bays while utilizing a vapor diffusion port.…

Zone 6A. I am installing and air sealing exterior polyiso on my old farmhouse.  A few walls have kraft faced batts installed.  Should I remove the batts as to not…

Photos attached:- Roof.- Ceiling. Probably done in 1980 when the house was built. Spray foam? It's orange, painted white.- Sheathing. I don't know how the whole roof is sheathed, but…

Generally speaking I have two options. Currently the upstairs HVAC in the unconditioned attic is exposed and leaky, and very inefficient and causes passive and active air leak.I think I've…

We're placing a Broan 150 CFM HRV in the vented attic of a small, one-story cottage. The HRV will be in an enclosure, insulated on sides and top, with uninsulated…

Doing a home addition in Seattle and the framing is just completed.  It's an addition to a mid-century modern home with a low sloping unvented roof (no attic) with 2x8's…

Field data from a simplified building envelope designed for comfort in a cold climate

I'm navigating a water intrusion problem in one of my bedrooms and one of several issues I'm tackling to attempt to solve the problem is replacing some rotting wood cladding…

I have an old outdoor red pine log sauna (6 inch thick logs) that I've been remodeling. My wife doesn't like the pine pitch on the logs on the interior…

New construction slab on grade two story project will be starting soon. Architect has specified a sleeper subfloor system consisting of pressure treated 2x4's (green) with 23/32 Advantech (light yellow).…

We are converting our oversized garage to add a mudroom and half bath. The crawl space will be really low at about 16 inches. The planner added two vents to…

It's been a few years since I built our small 1000 sq ft home near Vancouver BC. With the help of GBA and its contributors (Malcolm Taylor in particular) it…

I'm planning a new build, 2200sf, 1 story, 1/2 the house will be on frost-wall & slab, and the other half (beds and baths) has a full foundation and basement. …

I have an 800 sq. foot cabin in upstate NY, zone 6a, with > 60 lb/ft2 ground snow load. I use the cabin as a full time residence. The ice…

I’m facing a dilemma with insulating a very room in my house where I feel like I’m in a catch-22. It’s a utility room with a giant hole to the…

Looking for the best brands of walk in freezer condensers. Looking for the daikin and mitsubishi of the HVAC minisplit world for the walk in freezer units as we are…

We need to re-side our 2100sqft house 20mi outside of Boston. Original sheathing with cellulose blown into the walls. Windows were deleaded and restored and mostly work well (newer Harvey…