Thumb and Hammer Blog

Three years ago, when we first moved into this house, we had the roof replaced. Ventilation has always been an issue. We gutted the second floor because there was no ventilation space between the insulation and the roof deck. And although new roof vents were added, we lacked any kind of soffit vents at the front of the house (there are no soffits at the back…the roof line ends at the brick facade). The soffit vents have always been on my “to-do” list, and this weekend, I finally got around to putting them in.

A spin saw and a face full of sawdust

Using my Mastercraft Spin Saw from Canadian Tire (nice unit, by the way), I cut the holes in the plywood soffits at the front of the house. I used large 16×8 “undereaves” vents available at any building centre, that are simply attached using 6 soffit screws. Paintable latex caulk seals all the edges to protect from pests (of the six legged, winged variety). It was a dirty job, but not very difficult, although working overhead is always a pain in the butt.

Another construction snafu by the previous owner

The P.O. had the eavestrough downspout draining into perforated “Big O” pipe which goes through the foundation wall and crawlspace of the addition and out through a hole in the back wall. I guess he thought he was saving a couple of dollars by using a shorter length. The problem is, the Big O wasn’t buried at all, so a considerable amount of water comes out of the perforations next to the foundation wall of the old part of the house. This is the one spot where we have a water infiltration problem in the basement.

As a temporary measure, I added a long section of downspout to divert water from the eaves trough to the front yard. The Big O has been abandoned. This is a very ugly solution, but at least it will help solve the water problem in the basement. I still need to get a few yards of topsoil to build up the area in front of the house where the old wood porch was. We will not have a new porch until the addition is rebuilt. At some point, I might try a more elegant solution such the one available at Downspouts.com. But for now, at least the water is not puddling right at the foundation wall.

Contractor’s mess-up

Something else I discovered recently while doing some research on the internet was that our contractor may have made a major error upstairs. We used a combination of mineral wool insulation and one inch extruded foam boards on the cathdral slopes and the ceilings. He had remarked to me that the foam boards did not require vapour barrier. He sealed up all the seams with Tuck Tape, and taped well the transition between the vapour barrier on the vertical walls and the foam boards. I have since learned that the extruded foam is rated at 1.5 perms (measurement for moisture permeation), while a vapour barrier must be below 1 perm. A polyethelene barrier should have been installed before the drywall, and I am positive that this was not done.

Tear-down?

My first thought was the mess and expense of tearing down the drywall and having it re-done. Budget-wise, this would be a disaster. In the course of doing some more research, I learned that there is a much simpler solution.

Vapour Barrier Paint

In the category of “almost too good to be true”, the problem can be solved with a couple of coats of paint. According to Jon Eakes, just about any oil based paint acts as an effective vapour barrier. Two coats of Behr oil based primer, for example, will measure about 1 perm. This claim is made right on the label. Other oil based paints don’t make such a claim, but according to Eakes, they are just as effective. Read more at this link: Jon Eakes on vapour barrier paints.

Benjamin Moore has a product as well, that rates .43 perms called Moorcraft Super Spec Latex Vapor Barrier Primer Sealer 260. Unfortunately, this product is not available in Canada, but a day trip to the US may be in my future. I am going to have a week off next month and that will be the perfect opportunity to get some painting done upstairs. If fact, I believe that using the vapor barrier paint will actually be better, since it will help stop moisture before it passes through the drywall.

No positive cash-flow

Actually, that’s not entirely true. Our cash is positively flowing out of our bank account! All big-ticket renovations are on hold until my wife can find other employment (her previous job was only a one year one time contract position). At this point, it looks as though we might be spending another winter without getting the heating system updated. With a fairly negative outlook in terms of income potential for the next year or so, I am concentrating on getting our debts knocked down as much as possible. In a perfect world, we’d pay cash for all of our renovations, but the world ain’t perfect!

Next steps:

I still have some cleaning up to do in the basement and in the ensuite bathroom. The only cost will be the garbage bags. The next big expense will be the heating system. That’s looking like that will probably wait until next spring or summer. It’s frustrating, but we just cannot afford more debt right now. I have changed my philosophy of “get it done now and worry about paying for it later” to a more conservative approach. I can deal with the stress of living in a half-renovated house easier than the stress of insurmountable debt.