Where Design Meets Building Science. Building science is the broader understanding of how architecture is intertwined with applied physics, engineering, chemistry, and health, in order to create durable, safe, comfortable, and healthful buildings that will last for many generations. Every aesthetic decision has technical implications, and every technical decision has aesthetic implications. Oftentimes, we use building science principles to address problems in existing structures, such as water damage and rot, mold, condensation, and poor indoor air quality. I make videos about how to prevent, mitigate, and address these types of failures in common building assemblies in the design phase, and how this approach should be integrated into the design process.
First, I want to say awesome video! packed with great info as usual! you make great content packed with a ton of good stuff for such short videos compared to the other building science channels on YT. I want to begin planning a home build soon. I have not yet spent any money and don't even know what the first steps would be. Although I do already own the property where it will go. I'm not in a hurry and don't mind planning this out for years possibly to make sure all the details are hashed out and building science principals get followed so it's the most durable and healthy home possible. I'm leaning towards a small and simple size and shape home, keeping the sqft low and using premium materials instead with my budget. The property is 17 acres of cow pasture that remind me of The Shire in lotr due to the rolling hills, 20 acres of forest that's mostly pretty steep, and 20 acres of tilled farm field. In the pasture portion there's an artesian spring well that keep the cows watered. I would use this for the homes water supply. And I think there's some great views in the area to capture anyway. But besides building near enough to the well I don't even know where or how to pick the best spot to build. Can someone give me some advice to point me in the right direction?
@@000OO0OOO0 It certainly is a lot to take in! This is the important stuff condensed down, but of course we could get into much greater detail for each of these systems if this is something people would be interested in, though the manufacturers of these products tend to have pretty good resources as well.
@@ASIRIDesigns This is a great video, it describes all available waterproofing options with their pros and cons. Could a liquid applied membrane be used to airseal between foundation and sheathing form outside?
Be careful about any surface primer coatings off-gassing volatile organic chemicals, probably solvent, that may persist for a long time. Before installing new French drain lines in my then 20 yo house, i did this close to 10 years ago, I had a bituthene membrane attached and covered by a durable mechanically attached dimple mat. The contractor had never heard of nor done anything like this before. He first brushed the foundation wall “clean” to remove soil then generously rolled on the primer to make sure everything attached. Once the primed surface was tacky, they covered it with the bituthene membrane, he said that was acceptable according to manufacturer’s guidance. The bituthene membrane seemed to be well adhered to the wall. The bituthene strips were well overlapped. He installed the bituthene membrane and continuous dimple mat, put new stones and drain pipes in, fabric to block soil infiltration, and back-filled in one to two days. The excavation was done the day before. The chemical odor was noticeable for over a year. Solvent vapor may come in through the wall itself as well as through the new drain lines placed on both sides of the footing, inside and outside. Also, be careful of what they may put at the footing and wall seam, it may not be compatible. I hope contractors are getting better information on all these technical issues and showing more of an interest in new and better techniques. Allowing time for off-gassing before everything is covered back over sounds like a very prudent idea and something manufacturers should address. Also, attention OSHA and NIOSH, the crew who did this work absolutely hated the odor from the primer. Their exposure to it was made worse by the fact that they were all down in an 8” or so deep trench.
@@DitDitDitDahDahDahDitDitDit Thanks for the advice, the solvent based primers and adhesives can certainly generate a lot of fumes. They absolutely must be allowed to offgas, but then the tricky part with the Bituthene product that you mentioned is that it has to be backfilled soon after installation. There are some low VOC primers and adhesives out there, I think the manufacturers are realizing that this is a problem. Thanks for watching!
@ASIRI Designs, Could you cover Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF Blocks) foundations or contrustion video's in the near future??? Thank you Liked#33 N Subscribed!!!
@@ASIRIDesigns Reason why I asked, I am trying to design a single story Passive Solar Double (Skillion or Clerestory) Shed Roof house plan with Exposed Wood Ceilings beams. And my I am going to use ICF's for the foundation that consists with the left side as a Slab (stepped down) and the right side will be a full basement... Thanks!!!
This video is stunningly comprehensive. Thorough, accurate, and zero unnecessary babbling. This video should be required viewing for every university and trade school associated with construction. Design professionals absolutely need to understand this material and the skilled trades should have a better understanding of how their respective activities may impact the structure and why it matters. Well done, sir!
Installing the barrier on the interior is the badest ideea a constructor can make. The insolation should be installed on the exterior to keep the fundation dry and to avoid water to penetrate inside.
our finished basement ( house built in 1950's) is Partially below grade and we have never needed a sump pump What about wrapping the cinderblock wall with Delta Vent SA? This was suggested in another video, but almost all of the building science videos suggest the outside Delta membrane, which would entail digging up the foundation for those of us in older homes
In Strategy 4, is it necessary to maintain a ratio of outward/inward insulation (Let’s say 30% of the R-value goes above the roof), like you mentioned in Strategy 2? Or does the smart retarder eliminate this issue? Thank you. Thank you for this excellent video.
Question. What about rigid foam exterior. Below grade. Applies over a proper waterproofing membrane applied directly to exterior concrete foundation. Foam is sealed onto exterior as well. Then the foundation is allowed to breath and dry out properly for a couple of years. Then, finish basement. No vapour barrier. I’m not an engineer. I’m asking a question. What is the best most effective method of having a finished basement.
@@FrankandaTrailer That works well, but only if you're able to keep the rigid insulation dry and away from ants and termites (easier said than done). Ants love to burrow into foam, especially damp or wet foam, and so from a durability standpoint my preference is to locate that insulation layer on the interior.
Cold humid climate, coastal maine. Can I still use a smart vapor retarder if I can't put furring strips on the interior side of the wall for a service cavity/air gap? Can it directly sit up against the back of the drywall? Renovating an old house on the inside and there's an existing window on the wall, so I can't just make the wall come out more
Great video. If you want to go even one step further than the samet VB you show, look into SIGA Majrex, it allows moisture to only move in one direction (think check valve for vapour) as opposed to “conventional smart VB” that can also allow moisture to move into the wall when the moisture content of the air on the inside is high.
Certainly interesting and an in depth look at insulating old houses.. However seems like it would be better to bulldoze the house and put up a replica?? I did want to hear what the thoughts are of close cell foam ? If it is impermeable to moisture ? which is the problem, moisture getting trapped in fiberglass insulation..??
Depends on the climate and nothing else. If you are in the south, where inside temperatures are below ambient ground temp then the vapor barrier must be outside or you must allow the wall to breath to the inside. If you. Are in Canada where the inside is always warmer than outside, then the vapor barrier must be inside. You must never however, put a vapor barrier on both sides of the wall.
I saw on the build show where 3 inches of Rock Wool was applied over 3/4 advantech and the engineer indicated the furring strips only needed to fully embed in the Advantech, not the wall studs. The vertical siding was apparently not very heavy.
Beautiful!! I was sceptical at first, but all that you detailed follows all that I know and makes Perfect logical/scientific sense. You have just upped my game. I'm in and subscribed! Thank you. Ps, just by default, I installed riding sheet foam on my basement walls, YAY!
One Way to Control the Problem of MOISTURE and MOLD in our Home --------- What I did when I REBUILT My Home , it was build in the 1800's . NO MOLD When I Tore into it , BUT LOTS OF COAL DUST . ----------------- I Hooked Up a 3 in VENT From Outside to My RETURN AIR BOX on My Gas FURNACE . When the Furnace kicks on and Starts Blowing Warm Air , It SUCKS FRESH AIR In From Outside Also . = In the Last 30 Plus YEARS , NEVER A MOLD PROBLEM and it PRESSURIZES The House From INSIDE To Outside , Stays Nice and Warm . --------------------------------------- DO NOT KNOW IF IT IS THE RIGHT WAY OR LEGAL WAY --- BUT IT WORKS .
Your content is amazing. I (a diy'er) wish I could contact and pay you for advice on what insulation to use in some walls in my old house. I'll watch more of your content and hopefully I'll be able to understand it. I live in coastal maine, where it obviously gets cold, and it usually pretty humid. main section of house is like 1920's, with a 70's expansion i'm currently doing work on. there was no insulation in the 70's walls, just some type of thick foil. I removed it because I'm planning to replace it (I also wanted to see behind it). 15 year old vinyl siding on the outside, going off memory i think some 1/2" foam board under the vinyl siding. No sheathing, looks like what your video shows in walls without sheathing (I have 2x4 walls). I just want to put some insulation in, that will result in the lowest possibility of mold occurring in the future. I don't care about anything else (edit: I don't want rot either, obviously), I just don't want mold in the future. This 70's section is also over a crawlspace that is ventilated and not encapsulated or anything. I'd be happy to throw some $$ your way if you happen to see this and could give advice.
Does the Oregon building code still allow HVAC ducts to be placed in a vented (untempered) attic or crawl space? I know it’s bad practice and that model building codes have moved away from this formerly common practice. Just wondering if OR code has gotten there yet. Thanks.
Not just the water, but summer shading as well. Passive houses are usually designed with big south facing windows for winter solar gain, but also seriously place overhangs for summer shading.
You're going to save people hundreds of thousands of dollars and lots of stress with this kind of content. Thank you. I'm looking to buy a home in the greater Boston area and the only options in my price range are houses 50-150 years old. Just thinking about buying a house that has little to no insulation and oil heating has made me extremely hesitant, but I'm currently renting out of someone's basement and can't live how I'd like to so buying a house really feels like a must. Hopefully I can find something that I can afford both on paper and in reality (when all the issues start to show). My question is, how likely is it that an inspection done before buying a house would be able to discover whether or not insulation was installed properly? Or tell me that moisture is an issue and I can't simply blow in insulation after buying? Should I simply assume that it's an issue when I'm looking at buying houses this old?
Great explanation, we do a lot of cathedral ceilings and use a 1/2 wood fibre panel as our vent baffle 2-3” below the underside of our roof deck. We install a smart membrane, Intello or Majrex against the interior ceiling side of the truss followed by a service cavity which is key for maintaining airtighness without penetrations.
Great info, but is this video geared towards cold weather climates? The location of the membranes depicted don’t appear to be beneficial in a hot and humid climate.
?located in Oregon? State the climate zone in your videos, not just mixed-humid... If this is in Oregon, it is Climate Zone 4C (Marine) which matters, can't follow If you don't clearly identify the climate zone
I have built a separate extention to our cabin where it is from inner side 45x300 LVL beams with C-C 900mm and in top of those a 12mm plywood sheet making it a closed roof. I was first planning to fill up with 300mm thick mineral wool. But now I am consider to glue a 50 or 100mm EPS towards the plywood with PU foam around each so it gets air tight, and then 200mm of Mineral wool. during winter it will normally be around 25-35 minus degress outside and 20-25 degrees inside, so it will be a bigg difference in temperature, so I was thinking that with 50 or 100mm EPS towards the outer layer the condensation point will be inside the EPS instead of inside the mineral wool. Please give advice if you have time, I was planning to do these parts in around 3-4 weeks. Edit: on the inside of Mineral wool I was planning to add a membrane that will keep moist from going in to the mineral wool)
Great video. I have a brick veneer 100mm cavity, 75mm stud walls with Gyprock interior sheet walls. How's best way to insulate these walls? Will blow in cellulose works?
For my house I am leaning towards using plenum trusses on the second floor. Sheath the bottom of the plenum trusses with taped zip, install the ducts and then cover with framing and drywall. The perimeter would be airsealed with additional zip or possibly Majrex.
I used Certainteed Membrane on the ceilings of my house and Siga Majvest in the walls. All of my lights and such got taped with Siga Rissan tape and although my mini splits aren’t running yet, a small window air conditioner cools my whole main floor about 1000 square feet. Can’t wait to see how it does for heating this winter.
Its fairly easy to prefab insulation baffles from 1x and 3/8” ply and install them pre sheathing. Its ideal to do this even if youre spray foaming the roof. Ive heard horror stories from friends in Wisconsin/Michigan about spray foamed roofs failing from the roof side. These were complete roof system removals
I have been preaching the sheathed ceiling joist system for years. Yes its a tad bit more expensive for the sheathing, but this system gives you a future second story id properly engineered and planned with electrical and plumbing stubs. Not to mention the safety level achieved for rolling trusses or rafters. My 13 yearold son even mention that with this system you could utilize open floor plan/storage trusses and you wont hear the people upstairs because the bottom cord is separated
@@h2s142 It's the best option in my opinion if you're building a vented attic. As you mentioned, a bit more expensive but completely worth the additional cost.
Does the ceiling air / vapor control layer need to connect directly to the wall air / vapor control layer by wrapping the top plate in some way? Thanks for the videos! Consistently more informative and applicable than other building science channels
@@brennangran2763 Thanks for watching, and great question. The answer is yes, and whether that layer is located on the exterior or on the interior is going to entirely depend on the design of the assembly - but it needs to connect to whatever is serving as the primary air barrier in that wall assembly.
i was wondering how much nail perforations through taped seam sheathing affect the the air barrier, when siding it seems unavoidable to miss studs, especially when doing shingles, does anyone have any insight into this, also i know siga majvest claims self sealing, but i assume an exterior membrane like that is the solution, or perhaps this is a negligible affect?
Curious why there is no filter fabric on the soil side of the dimple mats? Without that, you are not creating a space for the water to flow downward to a drain.
Already bought your guide, but there's something that hasn't been explained in this video or the guide. In this video it says you will need a vapor control layer if you're using vapor permeable insulation outboard - but what if you're using polyiso with taped and staggered seams and even using an osb roof deck that is installed with sealant? Can you omit the vapor control layer in this case?
Amazing information and presentation. You helped me to understand a couple B.S. concepts i've been curious about for a while. I've been building with an emphasis on exterior permeability for a few years now. But what happens if you go to all the trouble to make the interior permeable, and then paint over it with a plastic (Acrylic latex) paint? It cuts off all permeability through the drywall, no? I personally like mineral-based paints, but that's certainly not the standard. Thanks again!
