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Showing posts from February, 2016

Window and Door Installation

Window Installation Now that we have created a pretty airtight structure we can begin poking holes in it. To ensure our next blower door test is as good as the 1st one we have to maintain our air barrier. Step 1 Cut open the window rough openings I was very impressed at how well the inner wall and outer wall rough openings lined up!  Step 2 With the Zip board removed, we used 6" Grace Window flashing to extend the Zip System to the inside face of the inner wall.  With the air barrier extended into the house we can build the solid window buck.  Step 3 We chose to use 1/2" zip board (the cut out section of the window) for the 2 sides and top. We used left over sub floor for the sill. I figured the thicker sill material would be a good idea with a heavy window suspended between the 2 walls. Step 4 Now we need to install our 2" rigid foamboard to insulate the window buck and prevent "short circuiting" around the window frame Step 5 Install beveled rigid foamboard t...

1st Blower Door Test

The Initial Blower Door Test Airtightness is of a building is related the the overall comfort of a building. The tighter the house, the less drafty it is and the more comfortable it is. In this Blower Door test we will be verifying the tightness of the primary air barrier, and sealing any holes we may have. It is much easier to seal them now, than after the insulation is in and the drywall is up. The blower door is a diagnostic tool used to measure how tight (or leaky) a structure is. You should see a blower door done when you have an energy audit done on your home or if you own a Certified Energy Star, LEED or NAHB Green Homes you have had this test performed on your house (probably before you moved in).  A few acronyms before I move on: ACH 50 - Air Changes Per Hour at 50 Pascals - With a blower door running at 50 Pascals (forcing a 20-25 mph wind on all 6 sides of the house at once). The number time time you will entirely replace the air inside the house in 1 hour CFM 50 - Cub...