The HTRC – Page 39 – The Homeowners & Trades Resource Center

Common Sense Building: Dryer Venting

I have seen a lot of things in my time, but seeing a gutter downspout in the attic, which was being used as a dryer vent was definitely worth a double take. As you can tell from the pics, there wasn’t too much lint that ever made it out of the “vent.” Now as for […]

Common Sense Building: Build Radon Out

As many of you probably already know, January is National Radon Month. Just like CO, it is an odorless & tasteless gas; however, unlike CO there are no warning signs that it might be affecting you until it is too late. It is estimated that elevated levels are found in 1 of every 15 homes […]

Wacky Weds; Feeling a little twisted

Airflow is so overrated…

A Contractors Oversight… the conclusion

Just as a reminder, this is the second part of a guest piece by Jay Preston on: A contractor’s oversight turns into my first big project? When we left off last week, the dreaded while we are it disease kicked in & besides rerunning the vent line, he had also decided to swap out a […]

Common Sense Building: To Tyvek or not to Tyvek, that is the question

Lately there have been numerous questions on the use of WRB’s or Weather Resistive Barriers. For example; do I need it if I am using foam? If I am installing foam, should it be placed over the foam or under it? According to the ZIP system, I don’t need one, is this really a good […]

Wacky Weds: Clothes dryer taking forever to dry?

Amazingly the home inspector missed this… As mentioned in our latest article; Section M1502 in the IRC governs dryer exhausts – the salient points for new or retrofitting work (2009 IRC) are that it must terminate outside & be at least 3’ from any opening (so far so good.) With the exception of the piece […]

A Contractors Oversight Turns Into My First Big Project?

The next two weeks we have a guest blogger joining us for an interesting spin on a DIY project. While we generally don’t do articles like this, he agreed to let us use his project to help draw a few lessons out as it relates to industry standards & codes. The guest blogger is Jay […]

BS4D: Ice Dam’s, Icicles & Attic Condensation, Oh My…

Living in Arizona, I used to love traveling up to Flagstaff especially during the winter months. One of my favorite places was the Little America as not only did they have a huge roaring fire, an awesome buffet, great Christmas light display, but some of the largest icicles I have ever seen. Ahhh if I had […]

Wacky Weds; Deck ledger & post failure

The answer to last weeks issue – posts were only a few inches in the ground & completely unsupported, add a little frost, water &… good thing it was less than 2′ of the ground. For a little shameless self promotion here is how things should be done… Proper Footings & Attachments… Leaves one one […]

Green Ways To Deal With Pest Problems

Many individuals don’t like or simply can’t use chemicals in their houses do to chemical sensitivity issues. While there are numerous ways for cleaning ones house, what happens if despite your best interests some problem pests decides your place looks like a great home? This week we have a guest post from Karen Miller who […]