Throughout all my home renovations, I constantly think to myself how easy life would be to be doing this and that in a NEW CONSTRUCTION situation, rather than nightmare retrofit unique problem situations, one after the other. I HATE drilling through old siding ahhhhh
I had to reframe an exterior wall on my house, and seeing your previous videos I did cedar blocks for the outside lights, house bib, and an outlet. I did red cedar shingles, so the cedar blocks blend in great and look super pro for a homeowner job. Thanks!
I’m an HVAC contractor and we use the airex titan outlet on all of our projects, it’s a clean look an keeps the critters out. We also use a UV cover that go over our linesets where exposed to the outdoors & secure with stainless steel straps. I stopped trying to sell it as an upgrade because most customers don’t understand so instead we made it a standard. Great videos, I’m hooked
Very much appreciated/interested in non gut it renovations that can help us do better. Most houses are already built. Most viewers live in their homes. We need more high end retrofit stuff.
Matt, Your energy and your desire to share your knowledge and experience are so invaluable. This is very similar to how visits with my clients go. I am explaining all the amazing solutions I've found for the problems they are discovering and I feel they need a visual reference to back up my claim, but I carry yours in my head. Keep up the great work and again thanks for your tireless dedication to HONEST building practices. I was actually working on a very difficult security system install today and could not get wires to feed correctly and I took a break and thought, "How would Matt Risinger handle this ?" It forced me to think about the layers of construction and the decades of tradesman that did the work. It was like I had X-Ray vision when I figured out that the security system wires were installed prior to drywall and mud and my client was amazed that I found a work around on the spot. It's not just your know how, its your attitude, insight and enthusiasm that are infectious and impactful. Thanks for all your expertise, insight, and most of all POSITIVITY. BUILD ON!
Hey Matt, I’d love to see a series on how you’d deal with electrical panels, gas lines and hose bibs in a retrofit/residing. So many thermal ply houses that need new siding, wall sheathing and windows. But those services leave a major hurdle to overcome, what are builders doing to deal with these situations?
Dont discourage the use of bubble covers, they are a code requirement those flap door ones arent code anymore. Covers needs to be "while in use" meaning they have to be able to close while something is plugged in, and alternative can be an accordion cover
Those bubble covers suck esp anywhere where it's hot and dry (and sunny) the sun just eats that plastic, and after a few years you go to use it and it breaks. EVERY SINGLE TIME so then you have to replace it because now you have no cover for water over live outlets.
Thanks Matt! Perfect timing. I constructed three small conditioned buildings for personal use at my residence and just finished with installing zip system panels. I was wondering how properly flash my exterior penetrations. Right on time boss!
Good general information, please follow thru as you are working with many rookies. I like using the blocks or boxes, I believe it would help show a visual using a level to explain that they make sure these items are level so the next step with siding per say the meet horizontal and vertical.
We use the QuickFlash P-50 for hose bibs. We tape it to the Zip sheathing then the plumber stubs in a temporary pipe sticking out that’s capped. After siding is installed, we remove the temporary pipe and then install the hose bib with the permanent pipe. The gasket seals around the permanent pipe even though it’s installed after the siding. Doing it this way keeps us from having to build a mounting block or calculate the thickness needed for the pipe before the siding and rainscreen are installed. QuickFlash also makes a good HVAC line-set gasket product.
Matt, Im interested on how the perfect wall and high efficiency insulation concepts can be applied to concrete/block buildings common to south Florida. also thank you for all the effort you put into bringing so much knowledge to homeowners and pros
Very welcome! The concept of Perfect Wall works great on a Florida block construction. Use a fluid applied WRB outside the block then add all your insulation outside! Makes a 500yr assembly
Thanks so much for showing us all this great info! And tell your camera ops that they need to remember to white balance - the color difference between the shots and the reds looking very orange on one of the cameras is pretty distracting. Again, thanks for the great content!
Lexel really is a fantastic sealant. It’s not just marketing hype. I love that stuff. My only complaint about it is the price (expensive) and the flash time/tooling time.
and the other ind of the scale is clear quad. (colored quad is just fine) had a guy insist I use it, once, and I put on the bead, then licked my finger and rolled it all up into a ball and handed it to him. I don't think you could stick that stuff to fresh lexel.
It makes it so much easier. Use the spray and not the pump. The spray always feels oily kind of over the pump. The cheep spray works way better as well.
Why not use a surface mounted weatherproof electrical box? Feed the wire through the back and you can caulk the entire back to the sheeting before installing it and then caulk around it. Even on new construction, this maximizes the seal and minimizes the penetration. This isn’t unlike the pvc backer block you used for the hose bib. If your electrician/plumber doesn’t use good caulking, they’re cutting other corners.
I always only tape/caulk the top and sides of the mounting box and leave the bottom open in case any water needs to get out. In your video you did all 4 sides every time. Is there a reason you are taping/caulking all 4 sides? I always worry about water not being able to get out, but I feel as though I am missing out on that extra bit of air/bug sealing that I would get from doing the bottom too.
Caulk around the bubble cover... What happens when the GFI goes bad at year 1.5 and you need to remove the bubble cover? I guess in this scenario you cut the caulk, replace the GFI, then add another bead of caulk.
On my 80’s house, used Arlington in box for the look, but compromised insulation behind. At least the ones I added was the garage. The oil heater doesn’t mind, just not cheap.
I stumbled x your. RU-vid. Retired Police Patrol Captain HERE . CANT WAIT FOR MORE CONENT I’m Amateure Serious Dyi son of a Contractor died last year at 90. My HERO I CALLED HIM THE WORKING MAN. HE WAS PROud TO BE AN AMERICAN, A KOREAN WAR VETERAN AND A FATHER OF THREE. YOU REMIND ME OF MY DAD YOU HAVE HIS MANNERISMS. HE ADORED MY MOTHER AND NEVER raised HIS VOICE AT HER. SHE WAS HER PRINCESS. Screw TV shows I live your videos. I showed my mom your channel, she cried as soon as she saw you talk. Said yes that’s your fathers Angel…sorry if I’m cornie from South San Francisco. WHEN HE DIED 50 former employeesHe taught me little of everything with three sons their own houses. Also
They aren't rookies they just don't care! I worked in a few trades; mainly as an Electrician. I'm done with the B.S.! Most builders suck these days. They literally call up everyone to the job. I've experienced early in my career, builders that managed the project. There is an order that the trades should follow. Sometimes it's necessary to have meetings with all the trades to work out issues. At the end of my career, I've been called to jobs in the middle of framing, before HVAC and places with no floors, just floor joists and a single piece of plywood to move over joist so I can set ladder on it. Did I mention having to figure out how to assemble 1 million different light fixtures? Or arguing with a 27 year old architect, a female designer, or an engineer that has no clue how the stuff actually goes together. And if you make it through all that, good luck getting paid!
Hey Matt, in this video from NS Builders they installed a piece of PVC pipe in the exterior wall before they installed the hose bib so that the bib can be more easily removed and replaced in the future (They caulk the pipe to the sheathing and the bib to the pipe) Minute 3:30 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GRozbvKYAss.html They also do something similar for electrical penetrations through the wall (minute 5:05).
Great video But I got to point out one of the biggest rookie mistakes on this video was that disaster of a finish caulking bead on that box that Matt did
Note for future reference: don't let anyone install services through the outside skin of the house. Outdoor electrical outlets can be fed with a conduit down from the eaves, and outdoor water outlets can have a pipe up from the subfloor. Both much easier places to seal everything than the middle of a wall!
I don't know if it has become trendy in Texas but in California, they have decided to start installing the outdoor outlets horizontally rather than vertically. They seem to all be in "old work" plastic boxes. If an extension cord plugged in is yanked sideways it will pull the box right out of the wall. As a service Electrician I have had to repair these numerous times.
If you're not careful that romex will wick water through that outter jacket. A better option is using a rigid close nipple threaded into a weatherproof box and a plastic bushing on the end. Use whatever sealant on the back slide romex through the nipple and screw it on. Use duct seal putty to fill nipple after to prevent thermal transfer.
Have your trades, who are doing work that passes through the sheathing, wrap, and such, put a slightly larger piece of pvc pipe or conduit in the opening to pass wire and pipes through. If you do that prior to cladding, you can seal up the opening in the rainscreen, and you can seal the pipe or conduit caulk. That way, you don't lose the integrity of the wrap or sheathing. It will act like a grommet.
One thing when you were cutting the tip off the sealant is most of the time the gun has a snip built in to cut that off.. a lot easier and safer than using a pocket knife..
Just remove the screws on the hose bibb or outlet box and put the sealant on the back side. You’ll almost always have enough slack in the pipes (regardless of pex/copper/pvc) to pull the hose bibb out far enough to squirt some lexel behind it.
I hate sprayfoam with the heat of a thousand suns. there was one house I did where I had to spend a half day wrecking out an adjustabox and replacing it because the insulators glued it in place with sprayfoam. once the sprayfoam goes in, there is no repairing or modifying ANYTHING without tearing things apart.
If you’re going to put a sealant around the cable like that it has to be listed for that, is there somewhere that either of those products list it being compatible with the outer jacket of that cable?
I like the airex titan and was considering it as an add on to my currently installed a/c’s. Then I found them on Amazon and the retro is priced out at $295/each. Ouch, I can’t justify tycost and have ugly closed cell foam instead. Seals well and on the side of the house where it isn’t easily seen. The problem I have with the Arlington electrical boxes is how can they be changed out when they are damaged? The flange is buried under the siding?
Matt, thank you for the video. One thing I was hoping to see covered is roughing in round electrical boxes for mounting sconces on either side of my garage door. I will be installing new sheathing in this area so will be able to handle this as though it were new construction. What do you recommend?
Hey Matt, do you have advice for flashing the various penetrations for the exposed board formed concrete wall? It's cast in place so air/vapor barrier is the rigid insulation.
To be honest, I saw a couple of filming mistakes here. Things like where the camera operators didn't line up properly on the product being filmed (e.g., the wedge on the hose bib), or where the scene clearly hadn't been rehearsed enough and the expensive hose bib fell out of the AlumiFlash wall, or where the PVC mounting block had been left screwed into the wall, etc.... But, to me, I appreciate seeing the editor leave mistakes like this in the final version. It helps me connect better with you as a person who is sharing your knowledge with me, as opposed to being some perfect ideal Hollywood presenter who gets all the words right and shows off the product correctly, but who doesn't actually understand any of the things they're saying or any of the products they're holding.
Electrician here. leave a small weep hole under the bottom so when water does get behind the box it has a way out other than filling up to the hole the romex came through and dripping into the wall.
All I need to know is how to put up Sheetrock on a master bedroom roof. It was damaged from water damage and needs to be repaired. I was told that unless you hang Sheetrock, don’t do it. I was told that it is a skill to get it right. Is that right?
You’re on RU-vid, look up how to do it and assess your skill level. If you’ve never done any drywall, you’re likely not going to get it smooth and will see all of the seams. I’d rather buy once cry once when it comes to things out of my level of expertise, rather than look at my own hack job for years or pay someone to fix my mistakes
Hanging sheetrock is super easy. Any one can do it. Hell i HANG better sheetrock than most commercial crews i have seen. But that is just measuring and screwing it to the wall. However the mudding and taping and finishing the sheetrock. That takes some skill and practice.
If you dont have the experience, that is good advice. However, Everyone has to start somewhere right? imo, If you are inclined, go for it, it wont take you long to figure out if you mess it up and then hire it out. You wont be out much $$, and the pro's will knock it out in a hurry. Things to consider: A ceiling is the toughest place to learn. Is there texture or smooth surface? Do you know how to join edges? Does the damage carry up against the wall? And this>> Do you have the tools? If you are the DIY type, it is manageable and can be done. If the location is in a high visibility area like the kitchen or living room that you will have to always look at. I would tend to say it should be hired out, if it is in an obscure location that allows you to cover for learning experience, have a go at it. Good luck.
the biggest problem is when you go for the lowest bid on your subs, they won't want to come out for a half day and preset all the penetrations. if you build a relationship with good craftsmen, they will be all to happy to put in the extra effort to do good work.
Ive installed 100s of those bubble boxes and that gasket has never leaked. I would not put caulk around the bottom of it on the rare chance rain does get into it you have somewhere it can escape.
Maybe a dumb homeowner question but .... couldn't the Oatey Vertical Flashing be installed by itself behind the hose bibb? Or is the white solid square necessary? I'm disregarding the depth required for the bibb to project flush with the siding obviously - just asking if the flashing requires another material between it and the bibb. Thanks
I live in the North East, and none of my exterior faucets are frost proof. In my experience, the frost proof design are a pain in the butt, and fail too often. Much easier for me to go into the basement, shut off the water, and drain that faucet in the fall.
Yes, I've been trying to find the split Airex cover for an existing lineset on my house, but I can't even find the item on the manufacturer's website let alone a link to purchase one
Just curious, can Lexel be used for all of these applications instead of the liquid flash? The reason being the cost. Also, what is the difference between liquid flash and roof polyurethane flashing sealant? Can that be used in this application?
