THE PROS AND CONS OF PANELIZATION Homes built with factory-assembled panels appeal to buyers and builders alike, but do they make financial sense? ISSUE 321 // FEBRUARY·MARCH 2024
FEATURES NEXT-LEVEL LIGHTING 28 DESIGN 28 A New Look at Lighting Understanding our field of vision offers a novel approach to lighting for comfort, work, safety, and more BY DAVID WARFEL COVER STORY 36 The Pros and Cons of Panelization Homes built with panels appeal to home buyers and builders alike, but do they make financial sense? BY JOSH SALINGER 42 8 Common Building Science Mistakes to Avoid From oversized heating and cooling equipment to incomplete roof venting, understanding how things go wrong is the first step to getting them right BY BRIAN PONTOLILO ET AL. TOOL TEST 50 Cordless Planers With quick and effortless stock removal and easy-to-replace disposable blades, these power planers make it easy to leave your hand plane safely at home BY TIM SNYDER 42 56 GET SPRAY FOAM RIGHT INSULATION ON THE OUTSIDE 56 Larsen Trusses Live On Hanging a truss outside a stick-framed wall is an old idea that hangs in with modern materials, building science, and energyefficiency goals BY BRIAN PONTOLILO THE BEST POWER PLANERS Tablet editions free to subscribers Our digital editions include all of the magazine’s 50 content, plus searchability and a host of interactive extras. Download the app at FineHomebuilding.com /apps. Access is free with your print subscription or FineHomebuilding.com online membership. Cover photo by Patrick McCombe ISSUE 321 // FEBRUARY·MARCH 2024
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VERENGANS QAGH 00 WA’ BUD YOD AH REH 00 Rubber roof pipe flashing Exterior trim AC line set VALVES WITHIN REACH TEACHING THE TRADES 8 OUT OF PRINT 10 CONTRIBUTORS 12 LETTERS 16 TIPS & TECHNIQUES ▪ Handy tool cleaner ▪ Better thinset bond ▪ Stain your tongues …and more 20 KNOW THE CODE Minimum dimensions in the IRC 24 TOOLS & GEAR ▪ Beefed-up biscuit joints ▪ Smooth skim coats ▪ Miters made easy 64 HOUSES BY DESIGN 71 SPEC ▪ Fire-rated composite cladding ▪ Time-saving supply valves ▪ Reliable radon readings 74 ASK THE EXPERTS ▪ Wood lintels ▪ Don't forget the disconnect 78 BUILDING MATTERS Building confidence, community, and inclusive trades 82 KEEP CRAFT ALIVE Alex Meaney, HVAC design trainer and consultant 71 82 SMALL HOUSE, BIG LIVING 64 16 20 DIMENSIONS IN DETAIL LINE SET RE-BOOT CAM CLAMPS FOR TIGHT MITERS 24
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FineHomebuildingMagazine @finehomebuilding fhbmagazine @finehomebuilding @fhbmagazine finehomebuilding BUILDING BEYOND THE MAGAZINE’S PAGES ■ HEARD ON THE PODCAST HVAC design The crew responds to a listener’s question about finding a good contractor and handling load calculations. FineHomebuilding.com/podcast ■ AMBASSADORS Attention to craftsmanship Watch Tyler Grace expertly join two pieces of mitered trim in this satisfying video on the @finehomebuilding Instagram. ■ SHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA Wiring and plumbing with ICFs In response to a video we posted of Sam Fertik from Carbon Custom Builders explaining the use of insulated concrete forms (ICFs), a user asks about installing wiring and plumbing with an ICF assembly. Follow along on TikTok @finehomebuilding. ■ AS SEEN ON VIDEO Integrating an addition At the FHB House, builder Jon Beer shows some of the ways he marries new-construction details with older elements when it comes to floor systems, roofing, windows, and doors. FineHomebuilding.com/addition-details ■ FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Weatherstripping doors In this how-to article, learn how to seal under the door and weatherstrip the jambs to eliminate gaps. FineHomebuilding.com/weatherstripping ■ FROM THE FORUM How do I integrate an ICF floor with the wall assembly? Hop onto the forum to chime in or to ask your own building questions. FineHomebuilding.com/321-forum Scan here to check out these exclusive online extras 602 8 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photos: top left, Photo by Mike Litchfield and Ken Gutmaker; bottom middle, Brian McAward
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 9 nakamotoforestry.com The original yakisugi"shou sugi ban" FW-FH-FC 1/6h ad 30p x 13p6 Trusted Building Advice. Anywhere. Anytime. • Unlimited site access — every video, every article, every tip, and more • Print magazine delivered to your door • Online archive of past issues • The Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling • Code Check Online Collection Start your 14-day free trial. Go to FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM/MEMBERS Executive Editor Samantha Maver Creative Director Rodney Diaz Senior Editors Patrick McCombe Brian Pontolilo Senior Editor, Kiley Jacques Green Building Advisor Digital Editor Lana Melonakos-Harrison Assistant Art Director Melinda Vazquez Editorial Assistant Jennifer Morris Technical Editor Mark Petersen Editor-at-Large Charles Miller Editorial Adviser Mike Guertin Contributing Editors Josh Risberg Janice Rohlf Ian Schwandt Contributing Writer Glenn Mathewson Executive Producer Colin Russell Video Producer David Fishel Associate Video Andres Samaniego Producer Production Manager Jessica Chaloux Publisher, Books Jennifer Dorsey Fine Homebuilding: (ISSN: 1096-360X) is published bimonthly, with a special 7th issue in the spring and a special 8th issue in the fall, by the Home Group of Active Interest Media HoldCo, Inc. The known office of publication is located at 2143 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312. Periodicals postage paid at Des Moines, IA, and additional mailing offices. Subscription Rates: U.S., $39.95 for one year, $68.95 for two years, $94.95 for three years. Canada, $42.95 for one year, $74.95 for two years, $99.95 for three years (GST included, payable in U.S. funds). Outside the U.S./Canada: $55 for one year, $99 for two years, $135 for three years (payable in U.S. funds). Postmaster: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 707.4.12.5) Non-postal and Military Facilities: Send address corrections to Fine Homebuilding, PO Box 1471, Lincolnshire, IL 60069-9828 Canada Post: Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Fine Homebuilding c/o Worldwide Mailers, Inc., 2835 Kew Drive, Windsor, ON N8T 3B7. Privacy Statement: Active Interest Media HoldCo, Inc. is committed to protecting your privacy. For a full copy of your privacy statement, go to aimmedia .com/privacy-policy. Printed in the USA
10 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photos: courtesy of the contributors write an article Fine Homebuilding welcomes articles from our readers. We’ll acknowledge all proposals and return any we can’t use, and we’ll pay for any articles we publish. For details, check our website at FineHomebuilding.com. After a few false starts at college, BOB SWINBURNE finally found something he enjoyed at Roger Williams University architecture school. After graduation, he worked for several architectural firms in Vermont and spent six years as a carpenter before becoming a licensed architect and starting his own firm, Bluetime Collaborative. In his residential work, Bob practices the Pretty Good House approach, and sometimes designs energyefficient walls using the “Swinburne truss,” which you’ll find on pp. 56-63. JOHN LARSEN emigrated from Denmark to Edmonton, Alberta, in 1957 at 8 years old. He studied geology at the University of Alberta before dropping out, becoming a hippy, and taking a job with a construction company that travelled from city to city building steak and lobster restaurants. That’s where he learned carpentry. John says the Larsen-truss business (pp. 56-63) gave him and his wife, Margaret, a great life and allowed them to travel extensively. They now live in a 100-year-old house in Edmonton and own a farm outside of the city. KERRI GAFFETT is a registered general contractor in Rhode Island. She got her start in carpentry working alongside her was-band, frequent FHB contributor John Spier. After 25 years as a carpenter, Kerri went back to school and became a licensed psychotherapist. Today she splits her time between the job site and her therapy office, in both places helping people help themselves. In this issue, she writes about gaining confidence in the trades and learning to work with the physics of your body (Building Matters, pp. 78-80). Contributors THE VOICES OF EXPERIENCE Associate Publisher/ Noelle Kennedy Advertising Director 203-304-3530 [email protected] Senior Account Manager, Michael Boyle Midwest/West 847-778-9877 [email protected] Sales Assistant Olivia Dalmedo [email protected] Marketing Director Kelly Kingston Digital Advertising Erin Nikitchyuk Operations Specialist Director, Consumer Matthew Ulland Marketing Marketing Director, Sara Decanali eLearning Marketing Manager Danielle Pendergast Senior Manager, Heather Lee eLearning projects E-mail Operations Michael Hendrick Member BPA Worldwide Senior VP, Content Rob Yagid Director, Heather Glynn Sales Operations Gniazdowski Chairman & CEO Andrew W. Clurman Chairman Emeritus Efrem Zimbalist III Chief Operating Officer Brian Van Heuverswyn Chief Financial Officer Adam Smith Chief Revenue Officer Gary DeSanctis Senior VP, Marketing Erica Moynihan VP, Marketing Amanda Phillips VP, Circulation Paige Nordmeyer VP, Sales Operations Christine Nilsen VP, Events Julie Zub VP, Digital Ashley MacDonald Product Development VP, Strategy & Research Kristina Swindell Director, Scott Roeder Human Resources Director, Production Phil Graham Director, Retail Sales Susan A. Rose Director, Andrew Shattuck Information Technology
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT The biggest mistake of all? In one way, a builder’s job is simple: Provide a structure that is safe and resilient and meets the basic needs of its owners or occupants. But today’s homes are intricate systems. Over the past decades, building enclosers have evolved with layers of complexity, heating and cooling systems have become more sophisticated, and new mechanical ventilation systems, meant to provide healthy indoor-air quality, are often misunderstood by the people living in the home. Because these systems work together, it’s important that the owners understand how they operate, how they are maintained, and who to contact when there is a problem. Unfortunately, homes rarely come with an owner’s manual. Some systems in a home are easy to understand, such as changing the cooling setting on a thermostat, but others are more nuanced, such as determining thresholds for indoor-air-quality metrics to set balanced ventilation system rates. Training homeowners is no longer optional, and there’s a long list of topics that could be covered. The intended temperature range for heating, cooling, and indoor humidity levels should be a top priority. Heating, cooling, and ventilation equipment maintenance schedules are important. Newer electrical systems with smart-breaker technologies and high-tech lighting controls need to be discussed; so might on-site wastewater treatment systems with alarms and maintenance schedules. Chances are that a few hours of training on how to operate a new home will be overwhelming for the owners. But getting all the BS right (see “8 Common Building Science Mistakes to Avoid,” p. 42-49) is of little use if the homeowners do not understand how the house works, and what needs to be done to maintain its durability, efficiency, comfort, and health. Creating an owner’s manual is a great start. Periodic return visits for basic inspections, to review operations and maintenance schedules and procedures, and to answer questions may pay dividends. But not educating homeowners is a sure way to undo all the shared knowledge, brilliant design, and critical craftsmanship we put into our work. Let’s not make this mistake. —RANDY WILLIAMS Builder and energy auditor Grand Rapids, Minn. Letters READER FEEDBACK More on frost heave I wanted to add a comment about the answer in “Avoiding frost heave on an unprotected foundation” (Ask the Experts, FHB #319). With the 8-ft. foundation wall backfilled on only one side and left exposed to freezing temperatures, there could be an issue with buckling of the wall as well as uplift. One thing I learned in Arctic engineering is that frost heave occurs opposite to the direction of freeze. With an exposed foundation wall, the freeze front will penetrate the backfill horizontally, pushing the wall To contact us: Fine Homebuilding 2143 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312 Send an email: [email protected] Visit: finehomebuilding.com To submit an article proposal: Write to Fine Homebuilding at the address above or Call: 800-309-8919 Email: [email protected] To subscribe or place an order: Visit finehomebuilding.com/fhorder or call: 888-304-6044 9am-5:30pm ET Mon-Fri To find out about Fine Homebuilding products: Visit finehomebuilding.com/products To find answers to frequently asked questions: Visit finehomebuilding.com/FAQs To contact Fine Homebuilding customer service: Email us at [email protected] To sell Fine Homebuilding in your store: Call us toll-free at 866-452-5179, or email us at [email protected] To advertise in Fine Homebuilding: Call 800-309-8953, or email us at [email protected] Mailing list: We make a portion of our mailing list available to reputable firms. If you would prefer that we not include your name, please visit: finehomebuilding.com/privacy or call: 888-304-6044 9am-5:30pm ET Mon-Fri To speak directly to a customer service professional: Call: 888-304-6044 9am-5:30pm ET Mon-Fri Copyright 2024 by Active Interest Media HoldCo, Inc., Des Moines, IA. This publication may not be reproduced, either in whole or part, in any form without without permission from the publisher. 12 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
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Email your own letter to us at [email protected]. your safety Home building is inherently dangerous. From accidents with power tools to falls from ladders, scaffolds, and roofs, builders risk serious injury and even death. We try to promote safe work habits through our articles. But what is safe for one person under certain circumstances may not be safe for you under different circumstances. So don’t try anything you learn about here (or elsewhere) unless you’re certain that it is safe for you. Please be careful. Protect your vents Regarding “A Vent for Every Roof” (FHB #319): We used to have a power vent in our attic. We built our single-story ranch in 1986 when power vents were one of the rages. Somewhere along the line, a young mother raccoon figured out that a power vent is actually a raccoon entrance and made a home in our attic to have her babies. She climbed up the trellis and went right in. Her claws tore the “protective” screen easily. We had to hire someone to trap the raccoon and her babies. The squeaks drove our dog nuts. Recommendation: If one does put in a power vent, add some sort of grate so critters can’t get in. I used a length of wire closet shelving. —BRIAN LITTLE Marion, Iowa An accessible suggestion In the podcast aftershow discussion of Mike Guertin’s “forever home” (#597), he talked about changing needs as we get older. When we were planning the home I ultimately built in Colorado, we read a lot of books on aging in place and went to several home shows. We picked up one idea from a remodeling contractor who specializes in accessibility. He always raises the dishwasher a foot off the floor. I did this on our new home and it makes loading and unloading much easier. Since I was building all our cabinets it was no big deal, but with a little creativity it can be done with stock cabinets. The raised section of counter provides a perfect place to put our microwave at eye level. It’s impossible to think of everything, but we can try. —DOUGLAS YOUNG Florissant, Colo. heat and cool. How applicable is this model to areas that are both cooler and hotter than Seattle (where average temps range from 21°F to 94°F)? —EDWARD POTTER Torrington, Conn. Watertight mudsills Perhaps I am missing something, but how does the builder keep water from traveling under the mudsills and entering the home or rotting the sills as shown in “Make Mudsills Square and Level” (FHB #318)? Even with a large overhang and sill sealant this could still be a problem. When I was building homes, the mudsills were placed at the outside edge of the foundation so the finish siding, stucco, etc. would lap over the foundation and direct the water away from the building. —GREG WESSEL Gold River, Calif. Author John Spier replies: I don’t love this detail, but it was done by a respected architect and left up to me to figure out how to make it waterproof and durable. There is a cast plinth set on this exterior shelf, with a sloped top. I flashed the framing-tofoundation connection with a bonded-on flexible membrane; set the plinth in an Ardex mortar base with weep holes every 12 in.; and sealed the plinth to the wall with backer rod and sealant, followed by a copper flashing, followed by butyl tape and then a Henry Blueskin WRB. Above the plinth is exterior rigid insulation and a second nail base sheathing, which brings the siding surface closer to flush. It’s perhaps not ideal and does defy tradition, and it’s not how I would have designed it myself, but I’m not worried about its longevity or durability. inward and possibly cracking it. As the article mentions, if backfill against the wall and under the footings is welldrained NSF material, there may not be an issue. If a portion of the backfill is native soil with high fines content and it was a wet autumn, there could be a problem. Prior to taking Arctic engineering I learned this through experience on a twobay garage wall with 6 in. of backfill in Fairbanks, Alaska. —ALAN BRALEY Fairbanks, Alaska How big is compact? I have some comments about the house featured in the cover story of the November 2023 edition (“Flexible Housing Done Right,” FHB #319). The article talks about what was done to reduce the energy use and carbon footprint of the house. It states that ADUs (accessory dwelling units) are “…typically compact, under 2000 sq. ft … and designed to accommodate small-home living.” It is hard for me to understand that a house with 2000 sq. ft. can be considered a compact, small home. To my mind, 2000 sq. ft. is very generous and not at all compact. There is no mention of the cost to build the house featured in the article. I think this is a serious omission. Lastly, I question the energy efficiency of the design: High cathedral ceilings generally require more energy input to Letters CONTINUED “It is hard for me to understand that a house with 2000 sq. ft. can be considered a compact, small home.” 14 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
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Got a tip? Share your methods, tricks, and jigs with other readers. Tag them @FineHomebuilding on social, email them to us at [email protected], or upload them to FineHomebuilding .com/reader-tips. We’ll pay for any we publish. Tips&Techniques EDITED AND ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLES MILLER Handy tool cleaner For some products we use, like epoxy, hot glue, and permanent markers, the recommended solvent for cleanup is denatured alcohol—something every shop should have in supply. However, if you ever run out or fi nd yourself at a job site with no alcohol on hand, consider this: Most common hand sanitizers are ethanolbased. And given our recent heightened germ-related awareness, there’s a good chance you have some in your vehicle. You might even be able to scavenge a few squirts from a nearby portable toilet. Also, most brands of sanitizer are in gel form, which I have found can actually work better than liquid. The gel can be slathered on tools, and the alcohol coating in this form doesn’t evaporate so quickly, giving it more time to do its work. —BRIAN CAMPBELL Minneapolis Better thinset bond When installing uncoupling membranes like SchluterDitra over a plywood subfloor, dry plywood can suck the moisture right out of the thinset so quickly that it can begin to dry out, stiffen up, and skin over, failing to form a proper bond with the membrane. Some installers will use a grout sponge to dampen the plywood first, but this can take a long time, tear up the sponges, and result in dry patches in some locations and puddles of water in others. Instead of using a sponge, I spritz the plywood using an inexpensive garden sprayer filled with clean water. Using a sprayer is easier, allows me to cover large areas quickly, and results in more consistent coverage. I spray less water on the section I’ll be working on right away and more on those areas that I won’t get to for a while. I often use the same technique when applying thinset to cement backerboard as well. —CHRIS WAND Lafayette, Colo. Garden sprayer A spritz of water keeps thinset from drying out. Gel hand sanitizer that contains ethanol can pinchhit as a cleaning agent. Plywood subfloor 16 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
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Tips&Techniques CONTINUED Manage trim expansion As a siding contractor working during a Minnesota winter, I had to be careful when installing products that have a high rate of expansion and contraction with changes in temperature. Trim products made of PVC are definitely in this category—if you install a PVC garage-door weatherstripping when it’s 1°F outside, when the weather warms up that weatherstripping will expand and likely bow out between the fasteners. Longer lengths and dark colors in the direct sun are particularly susceptible. I’ve learned that whenever possible, avoid installing PVC trim if it’s very cold outside; but if you have no choice, warm up the trim before installing it. You don’t need to get it hot; room temperature will make a big difference—just bring it into a warm house and bring it up to room temperature. The trim will likely shrink a bit when it cools down and create small gaps at the joints, but those are much less visibly offensive and can often be concealed with elastic sealant. —MARK PETERSEN Waco, Ky. Reciprocating-saw blade guide A reciprocating saw is one of the handiest demolition tools there is, but it’s not that great at cutting perfectly straight lines. Sometimes, when I need an accurate cut and a recip saw is the only tool for the job, I’ll install a temporary guide board. In this case, I wanted to cut off a deck post nice and flush with the band board. To accomplish this, I used a Speed Square to create a line on the post opposite the band board. I then used screws to temporarily fasten a scrap 2x4 to the post just below the line. Having two boards for the recip blade to ride along on ensures I get a nice straight cut. If I’m worried about leaving behind screw holes, I’ll use clamps to hold the guide board(s) in place. —AARON MIILLER Pollard, Ark. Stain your tongues To accommodate a different rate of expansion and contraction between a panel and the stiles and rails in a five-piece cabinet door, the panel is meant to float within the frame. Changes in temperature and humidity levels can cause the panel to shift within the frame, which is normal. However, when staining a panel door, if the tongues on the panel don’t get coated with stain, when the panel does shift within the grooves of the frame, bare wood on those tongues might be exposed. The darker the stain, the more noticeable the bare wood will be. To avoid this, I apply a heavy coat of stain around the perimeter of the panel and use a blower on the end of a compressor hose to shoot the stain into the grooved area of the door. To prevent blasting stain all over my shop, I hold a towel as a backstop as I move along the perimeter of the door. To prevent water in the air hose from creating a blotchy finish, make sure that the compressor you use is equipped with a reliable moisture filter/trap. —KYLE HANSEN Rosemount, Minn. Blow stain into grooves. Towel prevents overspray Cutline Line set re-boot When I built our new home, I wanted to seal up my AC line set with something simple and readily available that would prevent water infiltration and rodent and bug infestations. My solution was to use a 2-in. Oatey plastic/rubber flashing designed for roof plumbing penetrations. I simply installed the boot before the line set was installed and had the siding subs trim around it. I am very happy with the result. —TONY O’NEALE Flowery Branch, Ga. Rubber roof pipe flashing Exterior trim AC line set Cabinet door frame Panel Blower attached to end of aircompressor hose Panel door frame Recip saw Scrap 2x4s Deck post 18 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
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20 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Drawing: Martha Garstang Hill According to the most recent data from the National Association of Home Builders, the median size home built in 2023 is over 2200 sq. ft. While this number has dropped a bit in recent years, it is still more than double the approximately 1000 sq. ft. that was common in the 1950s. When you look at the trends over the last century, you’ll find that the size of homes being built is related to current social and economic trends, generally increasing in size each decade but with some periods where sizes contracted. Though many planning and zoning ordinances across the United States dictate the minimumsize house that can be built, the International Residential Code (IRC) has no such requirement. Under the IRC, a single-family dwelling has no minimum or maximum size, but does have a variety of minimum sizes for specific rooms and features within a dwelling. The only concern the IRC has with the total size of a dwelling is whether it is small enough to be considered a “tiny house.” In the 2018 IRC, a new appendix was included, Appendix Q, which provides reduced spatial requirements for dwellings no larger than 400 sq. ft. (see “Tiny homes get big recognition,” Know the Code, FHB #278). If your plans are for small living, then looking into those special reductions might offer you some additional design flexibility. Other than this, the IRC does not restrict or differentiate code requirements for the overall size of a dwelling. Appendix chapters must be adopted by governments into the ordinance individually, and since the small-living lifestyle of a tiny home is not yet mainstream in America, many areas have not adopted this appendix. However, that may just be a result of lack of demand rather than intentional omission, so you can always ask for the appendix provisions to be approved for use in your project. Inside a dwelling, the IRC does specify some minimum dimensions for the floor plan and others for headroom. That’s what we’ll cover here. Minimums on the floor plan Prior to the 2015 edition of the IRC, at least one 120-sq.-ft. habitable room had to be provided in a dwelling, but this is no longer required. Today, section R304 of the IRC requires all habitable rooms to be at least 70 sq. ft. in area. This becomes a starting point for just how small a house can be. A “habitable space,” by definition, is a space intended for living, sleeping, eating, and cooking. A “dwelling unit” is a facility that includes permanent provisions for those same purposes, and sanitation. So, at a minimum, 70 sq. ft. of habitable space is required in a dwelling to provide for sleeping, living, and eating. For cooking and sanitation, section R306 more specifically requires a kitchen area with a sink, and at least one “water closet, lavatory, and bathtub or shower.” These are the only requirements that would limit how small a house could be. In addition to the minimum required 70 sq. ft., habitable rooms must also be not less than 7 ft. in any horizontal dimension. This requirement dates to tenement housing in New York in the early 1900s, with the purpose of stopping slumlords from renting small spaces to desperate occupants and to limit the density of people in buildings for exiting purposes. A kitchen is a habitable space, but it is the one exception to the minimum required 70-sq.-ft.-area and 7-ft.-horizontal requirement. Hallways and stairways are two other locations that have minimum horizontal dimensions, found in section R311 of the IRC. Hallways can be no less than 3 ft. wide. Though the doors leading to the hallways do not have any minimum required width, it’s recognized that hallways are the travel corridors where sufficient space needs to be provided for moving furniture and both injured and healthy occupants. Plans often specify 37 in. between framed walls of hallways to allow for 1⁄2-in. gypsum board on each side. Though unusual, I am aware of unfortunate situations where inspectors have rejected hallway construction due to baseboards or heavy texture applied to the walls that result in widths just slightly under 3 ft. But anytime the IRC provides a regulatory value, whether minimum or maximum, that is a convenient and exact measurement, like 3 ft., I remind myself that it’s highly unlikely that value was derived from precise data. For this reason, I always consider if a small deviation would greatly increase the potential hazard as I interpret the code for various applications. Baseboard encroaching in the 3-ft. hallway width is a good example of a harmless deviation. Similar to hallways, stairs must be at least 3 ft. wide, but only in the area above the handrail height of 34 in. to 38 in. and up to the minimum headroom of 6 ft. 8 in. (more on headroom and ceiling heights to come). When one handrail is installed, MASTER THE RULES OF HOME BUILDING Code Know the Minimum dimensions in the IRC BY GLENN MATHEWSON
DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 21 it can project into the 3-ft. width up to 41⁄2 in., and that includes everything beneath the handrail as well. When two handrails are installed, both can project 41⁄2 in. So, the distance between handrails, and anything below them—the balusters, for example—can be a narrow as 27 in. Minimum ceiling heights The minimum required headroom at stairways is 6 ft. 8 in. measured from the nosing of each tread and from intermediate landings between stair flights. I note this now because we’ve been discussing stairs, and because it is found in a different part of the IRC than the rest of the ceiling-height requirements that we’ll discuss next. For headroom requirements at stairs, see section 311.7.2 of the IRC. “Ceiling height” is defined in chapter two of the IRC, and there is a nuance to the definition worth mentioning. Ceiling height is “the clear vertical distance from the finished floor to the finished ceiling.” The term “finished” can lend one to think of a carpeted or tiled floor and a textured drywall ceiling, but that’s not how “finished” is meant to be interpreted here. A better way of understanding this is with the term “completed.” A house with an unfinished basement still has a required minimum ceiling height in the basement, as would be the case for an unfinished, but habitable, attic (see “The story of habitable attics,” Know the Code, FHB #318). In this case, the concrete floor in the unfinished basement is the finished floor; it is complete. So, ceiling height would be the vertical distance between the bare concrete floor and the bottom of 1 5⁄8-in. type X drywall on ceiling 2 Exposed house ducts protected by drywall or made of min. 26-ga. steel 3 Light outside every nonvehicle egress door 4 Ignition source on nonflammable vapor ignition resistant appliances 18 in. or more off the floor 5 Garage and house cannot share heat source 6 Bollards protect appliances 7 Fireblocked penetrations 8 Fire-rated, self-closing, and thermally appropriate exterior-type door 9 Min. 1⁄2-in gypsum on walls that support living areas above 10 One GFCI-protected outlet per bay 11 Floor sloped to vehicle garage door or drain 12 Min. 1⁄2-in. gypsum on walls shared with living spaces 13 Insulation behind drywall (recommended) KEEP ‘EM SEPARATED Most garage code provisions have been implemented to protect the home and people inside from fires and harmful fumes that originate in the garage. CEILING HEIGHT AND HEADROOM Habitable rooms—the living, sleeping, eating, and cooking areas in a house—must be a minimum of 70 sq. ft. Other than a 36-in.-minimum dimension for hallway and stair width, that’s about all the code requires on the floor plan. Most of the minimums in the IRC relate to headroom at stairs and ceiling heights. Code requires a minimum 7-ft. ceiling height in habitable rooms, with a number of exceptions in basements, bathooms, spaces with exposed beams, and rooms with sloped ceilings. 7 ft. 7 ft. 6 ft. 8 in. 6 ft. 8 in. headroom at stairways 6 ft. 8 in. 6 ft. 8 in. required over showerheads 6 ft 4 in. 6 ft. 6 in. Nonhabitable basement space Finished basement Reduced height allowed as long as toilet is usable. Rooms with sloped ceilings must have a minimum 7-ft. ceiling height for at least 35 sq. ft., and a minimum 5-ft. ceiling height for the remaining minimum70-sq.-ft. area. Living room Bedroom Bathroom Dropped beam Habitable attic 7 ft. 7 ft.* 5 ft. *Listed dimensions are minimum requirements
22 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM the floor joists above. Of course, in new construction it is advisable to allow enough height for future floor finish surfaces or finished ceiling membranes to be installed and still result in ceiling heights greater than the minimum requirements. Section R305 in the IRC provides details for minimum ceiling height. For all habitable space and all hallways, a minimum 7-ft. ceiling height is required—and that includes any habitable spaces created in basements. For bathrooms, toilet rooms, and laundry rooms, a 6-ft. 8-in. ceiling height is permitted. This means there are no minimum ceiling heights in closets and storage rooms, as there is nothing mentioned of them in the IRC. There are several exceptions to these general ceiling heights, however. The IRC says that the ceiling height above bathroom fixtures simply must allow the fixture “to be used for its intended purpose.” This exception is primarily written for the common powder-roombelow-the-stairs design, where the toilet is placed beneath the sloping underside of a stairway. The idea is that even with a lower ceiling height, you can still sit on the fixture and use it for its intended purpose. Similarly, a surface-mounted medicine cabinet can be placed on the wall over the sink—and though measured less than 6-ft. 8-in. from the floor, it does not inhibit the use of the sink. There is some additional clarity provided in this exception, however. Where a showerhead is provided over a bathtub or shower pan (called “fixtures” in the IRC), there must be at least 6 ft. 8 in. of ceiling height at the showerhead for a horizontal area of not less than 30 in. by 30 in. This would allow, for example, a bathtub to be partially placed under a sloping ceiling, but a showerhead cannot be under the sloped portion. Sloped ceilings, dropped beams, and more Another exception to minimum ceiling heights involves sloped ceilings and dates to the late 1800s, where you find identical requirements then as today. This exception is intended for sloped ceilings found in habitable attics. In habitable rooms, ceilings are allowed to be sloped from the minimum 7-ft. height all the way down to the floor as long as certain requirements are met. The minimum required 70 sq. ft. for a habitable room with a sloped ceiling must have no less than a 5-ft. ceiling height. Further, in that minimum required 70 sq. ft., at least 50% (35 sq. ft.) must have at least a 7-ft. ceiling height. In rooms with sloped ceilings, outside of these requirements for the required 70 sq. ft., there is no minimum ceiling height. In the same way that the nature of habitable attics justifies the need for reduced ceiling heights, so does the nature of basements. Beams, ducts, and other obstructions commonly project down from the floor above, and reduced height is expected. For this reason, the minimum required ceiling heights in basements, including in habitable space in basements, can be as low as 6 ft. 4 in. under these elements. Beams projecting below a ceiling above aren’t reserved for basements; they are also an interior-design choice to highlight ceilings in certain rooms. This design concept has been a recent subject in code development, with a new change in 2021 and another one coming in the 2024 IRC. In the 2021 edition, a proposal was approved to allow a ceiling-height reduction under beams in habitable spaces outside of basements, but with specific conditions. Where exposed beams are dropped below the floor and are at least 3 ft. apart (measured between the beams; not on center), the minimum ceiling height can be reduced to 6 ft. 6 in. under the beams. Next up, in the 2024 edition, there will be a new exception for alterations to existing dwellings. When habitable space is created in basements or habitable attics are created in existing attics, a reduced ceiling height is permitted. This is intended to ease the burden and increase the likelihood of people expanding their living spaces within the existing envelope of the dwelling. Instead of 7 ft., the ceiling height of habitable spaces can be reduced to 6 ft. 8 in. Bathrooms, toilet rooms, and laundry rooms can be reduced to 6 ft. 4 in. When habitable attics are created, the minimum 7-ft. ceiling-height requirement for sloped ceilings can be reduced to 6 ft. 8 in., with the same requirements explained above for sloped ceilings. The minimum requirements for area, dimension, and ceiling height we see in the code today are over a century old, and yet still today we evaluate and reconsider if those requirements best serve the public. The model IRC is a living document that grows and changes alongside us. Looking at section 305 in the IRC, you can see the evolution of these provisions, altered and built upon over many iterations. The result we will see in the 2024 edition is a bit clunky, repetitive, and disorganized. This is when another change to the section becomes useful—one that rewrites and reorganizes all the same provisions with the same requirements, but in a simpler and more consistently interpreted manner. All it takes is someone willing to craft a proposal. Glenn Mathewson is a consultant and educator with BuildingCodeCollege.com. Know the Code CONTINUED “Though many planning and zoning ordinances across the United States dictate the minimumsize house that can be built, the International Residential Code (IRC) has no such requirement.”
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Tools&Gear NEW AND NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS BEEFED-UP BISCUIT JOINTS Over the last few months I have had the chance to work with the Lamello Zeta P2 (lamellousa.com) and two of its compatible connectors, the Tenso and the Clamex. Let’s start by saying that this is not an ordinary biscuit joiner and these connectors are not your typical biscuits. The Lamello Zeta P2 creates a uniquely shaped slot with a mechanism that makes the blade oscillate at full plunge, creating a biscuit slot that is keyed at the back for the connector’s matching ridges. The Tenso is a two-part fiberglass-reinforced plastic connector. When snapped together, its geometry creates clamping pressure for glue-ups. I used these connectors to join casing and crown molding, build cabinet boxes, and align baseboard butt joints and cabinet face frames. The system was equally useful for fastening decorative columns to a kitchen island and it allowed me to glue and set face frames to cabinet boxes quickly, securely, and accurately without clamps, nails, or pocket screws. Clamex is a similar connector, but is capable of tightening and loosening the clamping pressure with the use of a hex wrench. You can also take the joints apart once assembled, unlike a glued biscuit. I used them for making removable head jambs for a pocket door so the track and rollers could be easily replaced and maintained. Clamex connectors are great for any millwork or casework that must be disassembled for transport or installation. At $1600, the Lamello Zeta P2 is an investment, but I think it’s worth it for a finish carpenter. It’s a highly engineered and capable tool, it’s intuitive and easy to use, and it helps produce great work more efficiently. If you are in the business of fine carpentry and millwork, I’d recommend you get one. Aaron Butt, a finish carpenter in Essex, Mass. The Tenso makes a tight squeeze. This connector creates secure clamping pressure for glue-ups. The Clamex comes apart. The included drill jig allows for precise placement of an access hole for adjusting clamping pressure or disassembling the joint with a hex wrench. 24 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photos: courtesy of Lamello
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Miters made easy When I’m installing trim on one of my projects, sometimes I like to preassemble the casing for doors and windows on a worktable and then install the trim as a single unit. In these cases, I often strengthen the joints with the help of biscuits and hold them together with miter clamps until the glue dries. I own and have used both simple and inexpensive spring clamps as well as spendy, hefty metal cam-action miter clamps. Cam-action clamps hold on to the two pieces of material that make up a 90° miter with sharp pins. Turning a cam pushes out one of the jaws, which squeezes the miter closed. I recently purchased another set of cam-action miter clamps called VACPAD, which were designed and manufactured by Dino Kouros, a finish carpenter/inventor in Chicago. VACPAD clamps are made out of plastic, which has a few advantages, especially when I’m working on location rather than in my shop. They are much lighter than my other metal clamps, which is nice if I have a limited work surface and need to stow them in my pouch as I install them. When working with softer wood, they are less likely to mar the surface. And I don’t have to worry about them getting rusty or corroded after being stored for long periods in unconditioned spaces. The pins on the VACPAD clamps are actually the tips of GRK trim screws, which means they can easily be removed or replaced quickly without any specialized tools. The pins are offset to the edge of the jaws, so when working with narrower material, the pins will be positioned closer to the work surface. Flipping the miters over allows you to work with thicker material. These miter clamps are designed to handle material from 1⁄2 in. to 11⁄8 in. thick and up to 31⁄2 in. wide. It feels like these miters don’t apply as much force as my metal clamps, but I have never had any problems because of that. And for nearly half the price of my metal clamps, I’ve been more than happy with their performance. A set of four clamps costs $160. You can find out more and buy them at thevacpad.com. Brian Campbell, a carpenter in Minneapolis Tools&Gear CONTINUED I ’ve been finishing drywall since 2003. During that time, drywall tools haven’t changed much. Recently, I began seeing Level5 Skimming Blades on social media. The videos show a wide drywall knife held with two hands smoothing wide areas. The two-handed grip looks like it would make laying down a consistent thickness of compound easier compared to a conventional drywall knife with its single, center handle. The concept was promising enough that I ordered a kit. I’m glad I did. The 24-in. Skimming Blade is feather-light yet solid, and the unique handle makes it comfortable to hold in a variety of positions. I love its rounded corners that don’t gouge into the mud like the sharp corners on most drywall knives. This tool also has an easy learning curve. I was quickly producing glass-smooth butt Smooth skim coats joints with minimal grooves or ridges. Level5 Tools also has an adapter and heavy-duty extension handle for out-of-reach areas on walls and ceilings that can reduce your reliance on scaffolding and stilts. Level5 Tools makes blades from 7 in. up to 48 in. wide. If you’re having trouble deciding which sizes to buy like I did, my favorite and most-used blades are the 24-in. and 32-in. models. They work amazingly well for feathering butt joints, skimming rough walls and ceilings, and smoothing patches. The kit I bought cost about $225 and came with a 24-in. skimming blade, a 48-in. to 87-in. extendable handle, a handle adapter, and a 12-in. compound roller with cover (recommended for applying thinned-out mud). Different sets with skimming blades in various sizes are also available on the manufacturer’s website, level5tools.com. Josh Risberg, a carpenter in Rosemount, Minn. 26 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photos: courtesy of the manufacturers
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I t seems that everyone has a valid complaint to lodge against the current state of lighting in our homes: This light flickers; that light is too blue; this one is too yellow; that one burned out long before it should have. At the same time, we are bombarded with promises: This bulb will help you stay awake; that light will help you sleep; this one will last forever. It’s no wonder a recent New York Magazine article called their pick for the best LED, “The Best Bad Bulb.” The lighting in our homes is arguably getting worse, despite our ability to deliver better electric light than at any other point in human history. There is a better way to light a home, and the answer lies in an updated tool kit. Somewhere between unbelievably expensive lighting and regrettably terrible lighting is a happy middle for most of us. With our tongues firmly in our cheeks and with due respect to the inspiring authors of The Pretty Good House, let’s call it Pretty Good Lighting. In this article, I’ll dig into the science behind better lighting first, and then provide concrete examples in our homes’ most important spaces. A New Look at Understanding our field of vision offers a novel approach to lighting for comfort, work, safety, and more BY DAVID WARFEL ISSUE 321 // FEBRUARY·MARCH 2024 28 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE EYES Everything we see—the trees outside, the tools in our hands, the smile of a loved one—comes into our eyes in waves of light, but not all light is treated the same way by our body. The retina (the lining of densely packed light receivers in the back of our eye) is divided into different sections, each with its own unique makeup of cells. Two retinal regions are important to understand here. Most of us are familiar with peripheral vision. This is the ability to pick up movement out of the corners of our eyes. The part of our retina responsible for this is packed with highly sensitive rod cells. A change in light to our side, like an approaching car, cues us to swivel our heads, but our peripheral vision does not discern detail. When we turn our heads toward the approaching car, we are reorienting our body to make use of the near- and midfield sections of our retina. These areas are more densely packed with cone cells. The tightest pack of these cells is in an area of the retina called the fovea, and it is in this tiny region that our vision peaks. We use foveal, or focused, vision to read words on the page of a magazine, which is all but impossible using peripheral vision. All too often in our homes, we put light into our eyes in the wrong places. We tend to cluster glare-inducing lights in our peripheral vision, where the rods will be most harmed by them, and leave the areas where focused vision is needed and seeing details is important dimly lit. When we understand how the human eye works, we can build lighting solutions that create a better experience. Lighting This new alternative to lighting starts with an amazing part of human biology: the eye. Once we understand how the eye captures light and translate that into a continuum of practical zones, getting the right light in the right place is easier. We minimize bright lights in the glare zone, bounce light off ceilings and walls in the comfort zone, provide strong bright light in the work zone, and add low light in the safety zone. Reducing material costs, using adjustable monopoint lights, and getting better light out of shaded decorative fixtures can help keep costs and environmental impact down, but I also recommend control systems for most of my projects. Smart systems like those from Lutron Homeworks, Vantage, Savant, or Control4 can simplify the operation of good lighting so that homeowners get the right light at the right time, morning, noon, and night. □ David K. Warfel is a lighting designer, author, and educator. Photo rendering by Michael Weber, courtesy of Light Can Help You. Drawings by David Moore. GLARE ZONE COMFORT ZONE 60° Focused Near field Near field Mid field Mid field Peripheral vision 30° 9° WORK ZONE SAFETY ZONE Peripheral See the light. Safe and comfortable lighting can be shaded, can highlight artwork, or can illuminate the floor, as shown in the left half of this photo. It needn’t cause glare or shadows as it does on the right. FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 29
Those of us in the lighting industry have made numerous attempts to boil down the science and art of lighting into something our clients can understand. You may have heard about “layers of light” or “task, ambient, and accent” light. These can be useful concepts and terms, but they too-often leave out something important, or are difficult to perceive and implement. With the human eye as our guide, it may be useful to think of our homes in terms of lighting zones instead. Determining the right light for our glare zone, our comfort zone, our work zone, and our safety zone can be an easier way to categorize and plan for lighting. WORK ZONE Outside, we have enough work-zone light on a sunny day to perform brain surgery, but inside this area is often the darkest in the room instead of the brightest. We need good, strong light where our eyes and hands meet, typically in the near field of vision around our waistline. Lowering light sources below our eyes helps minimize glare. Undercabinet lighting in kitchens and desk lamps in offices are good examples, but there are other ways to deliver this kind of light too. Some wall sconces and pendants, as well as carefully placed and shielded adjustable downlights, can deliver good, strong light where needed. It is where our hands work that we need this light: on counters, desks, the pages of books, a workbench, or the knitting project in our lap. Outdoors, our near field of vision is filled by light bouncing off mountains, buildings, trees, and anything else we see. While we are conscious of the beauty of the landscape, it is reflecting something we miss most of the time: unrestricted soft, cool light from the sky. Indoors, we simply need to fill this area with soft, reflected light just as we see outside. This zone is where we place windows, which give us just that kind of light during the day. Where there are no windows, we should be bouncing light off the ceiling and the walls, highlighting artwork, finishes, and stone fireplaces. When we get the soft light we need in our eyes to feel comfortable, the house starts to look better, too. COMFORT ZONE GLARE ZONE COMFORT ZONE WORK ZONE SAFETY ZONE A NEW LOOK AT LIGHTING LEARN THE FOUR 30 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
SAFETY ZONE After sunset, we need to use as little light as possible while protecting our ability to move around a space safely. The science behind this is compelling. Academic studies link too much light at night with increased depression and anxiety, and worse. At night, we should eliminate light in our glare zone, and reduce it in our comfort zone. That means almost no overhead light and only what is necessary for our work zone. Though a bright streetlight could efficiently illuminate our landscape, knee-height path lights are far more comfortable and plenty safe. Inside, too often we use the equivalent of a streetlight (like recessed downlights) when we should be using in-wall step lights, toekick lighting, and light under bar tops and fireplace hearths. Most humans feel better on a sunny day than a cloudy day. But when the sun is directly overhead, we are more comfortable wearing a hat, because our peripheral vision is the most susceptible to glare. Light shining directly overhead is in the glare zone, and it is the same inside our house. Sadly, this is where we most often pack the ceiling with downlights or fixtures with exposed light bulbs. These are the worst offenders of glare. They push very strong, unshielded and unshaded light directly into our eyes at the worst angle. Keep light out of this zone as much as possible and avoid disc/wafer lights altogether, except in strictly utility spaces, like closets. Instead, use adjustable recessed lights at the perimeter of the room where the light can be bounced off the wall (see “Refocus your downlights,” p. 33). You can also use decorative fixtures with soft light-filtering shades instead of bare bulbs. And, you can hide narrow strips of LEDs in architectural details. GLARE ZONE GLARE ZONE COMFORT ZONE WORK ZONE SAFETY ZONE LIGHTING ZONES FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 31
Light in the comfort zone is important everywhere, but living rooms without it are particularly unwelcoming and uncomfortable. The idea behind better lighting in the comfort zone is simple: Bounce light off the ceiling and walls. In a living room, this can mean indirect light from coves or illuminated crown molding. Sometimes we install a single backband-style trim piece, about 12 in. to 18 in. below the ceiling, with a shallow channel routed to conceal a thin LED strip pointed upward. The result is like soft light from the sky; a great addition for comfort. Indirect lighting on the ceiling alone does not make a space perfect; light bouncing off the walls in our near field of vision is also needed. This second layer of light can come from something as simple as floor lamps with large, soft fabric shades, or it can be built into homes with adjustable downlights or monopoint lights aimed at art or wall features like fireplaces and stone details. Where there are bookcases, light inside of them bounces off the books and fills the comfort zone with soft light, and the room looks more inviting, too. Nowhere else is light for our hands, or light in the work zone, more important than where we regularly use large, sharp knives right next to our fingers. This light ideally comes from below our eyes to minimize glare and maximize light in as few watts as possible. That’s why we love undercabinet lighting, which can be glare- and almost shadow-free. Mount LED strips about 3 in. back from the front of the upper cabinets, pointed straight down, for the most efficient and strongest light on the counter. That approach is not possible everywhere, so you may need to lean on adjustable downlights to fill in the gaps. Near upper cabinets, put these KITCHENS // LIGHTING THE WORK ZONE LIVING ROOMS // LIGHTING THE COMFORT ZONE directly over the counter and tilted just a bit to wash the face of the cabinets. This puts great light in the work zone and bounces light into the room in the comfort zone, a double benefit. Kitchen islands are also in the work zone. The majority of decorative fixtures today look pretty but deliver most of their light to the ceiling, where it is wasted, or directly into our eyes, where it is uncomfortable. There are nicely shaded pendants and chandeliers that deliver their best light downward, but often we will use recessed adjustable downlights between the pendants to push light into the work zone. This allows the homeowner or designer to choose beautiful fixtures that look best when dimmed but still deliver useful light for rolling out sugar cookies. NOT SO GOOD LIGHTING PRETTY GOOD LIGHTING NOT SO GOOD LIGHTING PRETTY GOOD LIGHTING 32 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
There is a disturbing trend sweeping production homes and seeping into far too many custom builds: the disc light. Misleading marketing confuses some into thinking these are similar to recessed downlights when they are not. These thin, wafer-like fixtures are inexpensive and easy to install to a simple junction box, but they fill the glare zone with unshielded bright light. Even worse, they produce very little usable light, instead delivering “blobs” of light near the ceiling that leave the rest of the room feeling dark and dingy. Limit the use of disc or any common downlights to closets, garages, and utility rooms. Better alternatives are recessed adjustable downlights and monopoint spotlights. Common downlights only illuminate the floor, at best. Mostly they create glare in our eyes. Adjustable lights enable us to point the light at walls, art, cabinets, and fireplaces to fill our comfort zone with soft, indirect light. The WAC Lighting Volta downlight shown here is a high-performing recessed adjustable downlight that comes in 2-in. and 3-in. sizes and can cover most residential needs. Monopoints are a great alternative to recessed adjustable downlights and arguably the best light for sloped ceilings. Essentially a single track light, these mount easily to a junction box, minimizing ceiling intrusions and simplifying installation. Their increased adjustability, often up to 90° off-axis, allows them to correct for ceiling slope and even aim at the walls and features in our comfort zone. Monopoints with shielding options are even better. The WAC Lighting Paloma monopoint shown here features a rotating lens ring that changes the beam size, easily flooding a stone fireplace or spotlighting a piece of art. Monopoints are a great alternative to recessed adjustable downlights and arguably the best light for sloped ceilings. Essentially a single track light, these mount easily to a junction box, minimizing ceiling intrusions and simplifying installation. Their increased adjustability, often up to 90° off-axis, allows them to correct for ceiling slope and even aim at the walls and features in our comfort zone. Monopoints with shielding options Light at night, or LAN, is categorized by the European Union as “possibly carcinogenic.” In other words, too much of the wrong LAN can be bad for your health. For starters, LAN disrupts the body’s ability to release melatonin, a sleep hormone, and makes it harder for us to fall and stay asleep. Reducing LAN means reducing bright overhead light sources, which is exactly the opposite of what most of us have in our homes. Downlights pointed straight into our glare zone should be eliminated or minimized in bedrooms. Instead, use adjustable downlights around the perimeter of the room to highlight art, bookshelves, the headboard, or wall features, or even simply to chase shadows away from the corners. We usually do not stand right up against a wall, so that puts the recessed adjustable fixtures outside of the glare zone. BEDROOMS // LIGHTING THE GLARE ZONE Refocus your downlights Avoid disk/wafer lights and cheap LED trims like this in favor of adjustable downlights or monopoints such as the ones shown above. WAC Lighting Volta downlight WAC Lighting Paloma 4023 monopoint NOT SO GOOD LIGHTING PRETTY GOOD LIGHTING FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 33
Natural light—the benchmark by which all electric light falls short—is dynamic, constantly changing over the course of a day from sunrise to sunset. Light in our homes is most often binary (on/off) and, even when dimmed, a single unchangeable color temperature. The debate over the “right” color temperature to use is often misguided; 3000K, 2700K, and 4000K are the right color temperature at some point in every day and the wrong color temperature all the rest of the day. In other words, the best color temperature inside is the same as whatever the sun is doing outside. Dynamic white light, often called “tunable” white light, is usually delivered from a pair of LED chips, one warm (amber) and one cool (blue). Used in different amounts, these chips can combine to create the soft glow of candlelight, the brighter white of late morning, and even the crisp, cool white of mid-afternoon. When connected to an intelligent control Time and temperature Bathrooms need good soft light in the comfort zone, minimal light in the glare zone, and strong light in the work zone for taking out contact lenses and other common grooming tasks. Late at night, though, a properly illuminated safety zone can minimize sleep disruption and maximize safety and comfort. It can be a distance to travel from the bed to the water closet in the middle of the night. Path lighting on a motion sensor can safely and softly guide us in the right direction, and a built-in step light in the toilet room itself can keep us from turning on other lights. Plug-in night-lights are a quick fix, but receptacles are never in the right place and most nightlights shine too much in my face for real comfort. Light in the safety zone can also come from vanity toekicks or below floating vanities, which reduces light in our eyes even more. Linear LED strips can fit in the smallest of spaces, making it easier than ever to deliver light where we need it, when we need it. BATHROOMS // LIGHTING THE SAFETY ZONES system, like Control4’s Vibrant Lighting, these tunable sources make it possible to get just the right light when you need it. Consumer-friendly smart bulbs, like the GE Cync bulbs, are an easy and inexpensive way to experiment with the technology or roll it out in your own home today. Now, when clients ask you to recommend a color temperature, you can recommend them all. NOT SO GOOD LIGHTING PRETTY GOOD LIGHTING 34 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
We use a staggering amount of copper for our homes’ lighting, despite LEDs using one-tenth of the power of our old incandescent models. Every LED is already low-voltage, but many have a disposable driver inside that steps down the 120v house power to the lowerneeded voltage. When LEDs fail, it is most often these cheap drivers that burn up, not the light source itself. Combined with the use of excess copper, lighting has become wasteful. Low-voltage systems, including the brandnew Class 5 default-managed power systems just now emerging, use thin wires and remote drivers to power LED light sources throughout a house. Remote drivers, like those shown here in the ReNetA system from LumenCache, are better-built and easily swappable—more easily than swapping out a breaker while leaving the ceiling intact. ReNetA can power many different kinds of light sources, including tunable-white-light sources that mimic natural-light cycles. Even switches can now be lowvoltage and entire lighting systems can be wired with Cat5 or Cat6 wiring. Most low-voltage systems are Class 2, meaning they can be installed by lower-skilled team members during labor shortages. And, according to an example provided by LumenCache, the savings can be convincing: The costs of wiring could be reduced by 75% and copper usage by similar numbers. It’s a better solution for the planet, and for already-strained project budgets. Lowering voltage and costs We focused on one zone of light in each of the examples above, but almost every space needs protection in the glare zone and the right light in the comfort, work, and safety zones. For example, a home office often needs different kinds of light for different uses. Light in the work zone can be provided by overhead lighting, but this is likely to put bright spots in the glare zone where it can cause eyestrain, headaches, and fatigue. If the home office will be used primarily during the day and for video-conferencing, a pair of standard table lamps with soft fabric shades will be more comfortable and make us look better on camera. Traditional desk lamps, like the swing-arm lamps with dark shades, keep light out of the eyes and are great at night. Light in the comfort zone can be provided by wall sconces, or by indirect light bounced off the ceiling from coves, from behind crown HOME OFFICES // LIGHTING ALL THE ZONES molding, or from the tops of cabinets and shelves. Paired with light bounced off art and emanating from built-ins, this soft light will help the space feel more comfortable and relaxing. The glare zone above our heads needs to be kept dim or free of light sources, so decorative fixtures overhead should be dimmable, shaded, or, ideally, both. Here’s a good rule of thumb: If you can see a light bulb, it’s a bad thing. Choose overhead fixtures that shade, diffuse, and spread the light over a larger surface area for reduced glare and push downlights to the perimeter where they will contribute to the comfort zone. A layer of light in the safety zone may be a good idea. Light in cabinet toekicks, or from built-in step lights on the wall, can be a nice addition to a home office. This may be the least critical layer of light, but you might be surprised how quickly lighting in the safety zone becomes your favorite lighting in the house. leaving the ceiling intact. ReNetA can power many different kinds of light sources, including tunable-white-light sources that mimic voltage and entire lighting systems NOT SO GOOD LIGHTING PRETTY GOOD LIGHTING LumenCache ReNetA powermanagement system FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 35
Panelized construction describes walls, floors, and roofs built in a factory and then transported to the project site where they are lifted with a crane and set on a foundation. A crew typically provided by the panel company joins the panels together to create a fully watertight and airtight building enclosure. Different panel manufacturers provide different components and assemblies, but most high-performance panelizers include the structural framing, sheathing, and water, vapor, and air control layers. Often, insulation is included and installed at the factory; some manufacturers install rainscreen battens, flashing, and windows as part of the panelization package. All of the panel packages I’m familiar with include the exterior and load-bearing components. Sometimes interior walls are included, sometimes not. Interior and exterior finishes are generally done by others. Local and national panelization companies are now routinely producing high-quality, energy-efficient building enclosures that anyone can buy and have assembled on their site to speed a construction project. A few years ago, our company, Birdsmouth DesignBuild, was involved in an 11-home development where we used panelized construction (See “Building a Zero-Energy Home for Less,” FHB #306). More recently we used panels from a different panel manufacturer to build a 2224-sq.-ft, single-story custom home in Portland, Ore. These experiences, along with travel to panel manufacturers in the United States and Europe, have given me insight into this brave new world of “offsite” construction. Why panels? The biggest benefit of panelization is the reduced time it takes to go from only a foundation to a watertight building, which can The Pros and Cons With the promise of high-quality construction, faster builds, and supertight enclosures, homes built with panels appeal to home buyers and builders alike, but do they make financial sense? BY JOSH SALINGER IT STARTS WITH A STUD WALL SHEATHING COMES NEXT 36 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photos this page and facing page: Patrick McCombe
of Panelization Built in a well-lit, climate-controlled factory, wall, roof, and floor panels are assembled on waist-high tables. Panel construction is based on detailed shop drawings. High-performance panels differ slightly by manufacturer, but generally have 2x4 or 2x6 sheathed structural walls with provisions for air, water, and vapor control. Like the Ecocor walls shown in the photos, the walls on our most recent project used I-joists as Larsen trusses to create an insulation cavity. (For more on Larsen trusses, see pp. 56-63.) FACTORY ASSEMBLED happen in days or weeks verses months for traditional stick-framing. The ideal scenario allows for quicker occupancy and reduced costs related to overhead, such as insurance, project management, and interest and fees paid on construction loans. This shorter time frame is also ideal for projects in rural locations where labor is scarce or where winter or wet weather can create challenging building conditions. Building with panels can also allow a contractor to complete more projects with a smaller team. Since the panels are built in a controlled environment by well-trained workers using back- and labor-saving tools, panel producers say there is less potential for errors or compromise. For a builder or homeowner located in an area with a limited number of contractors focusing on high-performance construction, going with panels can ensure a high-quality enclosure that meets their goals for durability, safety, and energy efficiency. Proponents FILLING THE CAVITIES Once the water-resistive barrier (WRB) and furring are attached to the I-joists, the exterior cavities are filled with cellulose insulation. Every cavity is drilled with a hole saw and then a worker with a high-pressure insulation blower dense-packs the space between I-joists. MAKE ROOM FOR INSULATION FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 37
of panelization will point to economies of scale that can be reached by ordering large quantities of material and purchasing when lumber and sheathing prices are lower. My experience is with a pair of custom builds, but many panelization companies offer standard plans in a wide variety of house sizes. With the design work complete and the added efficiency of a home that can be built many times, they can be less expensive than a fully custom home; but beware that changes—even small ones—cut significantly into the savings. Potential problems Just because panels are made in a factory doesn’t guarantee they’re made well. We’ve seen errors in construction, panels made with low-quality framing lumber, and generally sloppy work. Thankfully our most recent build had high-quality lumber and the panels were built to within 1⁄8 in. of the shop drawings. The difference in quality can be night and day, so always ask for references from the panelization company you’re considering. Panelization saves time, but only with the enclosure part of the build. In our experience, the rest of the build takes just as long as conventional construction. For our 12-month build, two months were dedicated to the enclosure, and we were able to slash a month off that part of the schedule and save one month in the overall build. However, in the weeks leading up to the panel delivery, we spent dozens of hours on scheduling and design, reviewing shop drawings with the panel manufacturers, architect, and clients. The result was less time spent building the enclosure, but perhaps an equal time spent on the phone and computer beforehand. Coordination is also critical. If a site and foundation aren’t ready and the panel manufacturer has to reschedule a delivery, a delay of a few days can turn into weeks or months waiting for trucking companies or installation crews to reschedule. The site must also have the necessary access for staging panels and the site and access roads must accommodate heavy trucks. Unforeseen things can go wrong too. After coordinating our delivery with the transportation company, at the last second they were unable to get a lowboy trailer for one of the shipments, and a taller trailer was too tall for the driveway. Luckily, there was an empty lot located about half a mile down the road where we could park two tractor trailers to move the panels from the higher trailer to the lower one for final delivery. Even then, there were times it looked like the truck and crane would get stuck going up the steep gravel driveway. Cost savings can be elusive Panelized projects should theoretically cost less because they’re built faster, which means fewer carrying costs. But one thing we have not found with panels is a cost savings on the overall build. We’ve found the economies of scale offered by factory production are eaten Building with panels requires space for off-loading and machinery to lift the panels from the delivery truck and place them on the foundation. CRANE SERVICE REQUIRED Panels weigh hundreds of pounds each and are 8 ft. to 16 ft. long, so crane service is required to lift and place them. We hired a 5-ton crane for three days to lift and place the wall and roof panels on this build. SPECIAL LOGISTICS SIZEABLE DELIVERY Panels are delivered by semi-trucks with flatbed trailers. The combined length of the truck and trailer can reach 76 ft. long, which means you may need to find a nearby spot to offload the panels onto smaller trucks. 38 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photos facing page top right and bottom right: Patrick McCombe
With much of the work done at the panel factory, an air- and watertight building shell can be completed in days instead of weeks or months. The foundation and any in-ground water management, plumbing, and electrical must be complete before the panels can be placed. BRACE PANELS STRAIGHT Wall panels must be made plumb and then securely braced before roof or floor systems can be installed. Any holes in the WRB, which can occur during panel installation and during later parts of construction, must be repaired with methods approved by the panel manufacturer. PULL PANELS TIGHT To maintain the correct building dimensions and create continuous air and water control, the panels must fit tightly together. Assembly crews use turnbuckles and large C-clamps to close gaps between panels as they’re installed. SEAL SEAMS Flexible sealant and building gaskets prevent air and water leaks between and around panels. Panel seams are then taped or sealed to complete the WRB. PLACE THE PANELS Panels are lifted from the stack and placed one at a time following snapped layout lines. The crane holds each panel upright until it can be fastened to adjacent panels and braced. A QUICK PATH TO A BUILDING SHELL FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 39
Panelized construction requires the same attention to detail as conventional residential construction. You may have to brief local inspectors who are likely to be unfamiliar with the panelized-build process. up by the costs of getting the panels to the site, which goes up with distance from the plant. Crane service for moving and placing the panels is expensive, too, and bringing in the crane and heavy delivery trucks may involve moving overhead wires, cutting trees, or widening or strengthening driveways. There also can be unanticipated carpentry expenses. Even when interior walls are included, the builder is often responsible for blocking for trusses, stairs, and attached structures like decks and porches. Additionally, some work such as completing the air barrier needs to be done by the general contractor after the panel crew leaves, such as installing membranes prior to installing dense-pack insulation. There may be engineering costs to satisfy local code officials that aren’t needed for a stick-framed build. Since the panels are produced off-site, getting inspections for things such as shear walls, nailing patterns, straps, or insulation can be tricky. Most panel manufacturers are aware of these requirements and have ways to verify with local inspectors that these tasks are being done to code. That said, not all jurisdictions accept photos of nailing patterns or insulation amounts from the panel factory. On our most recent project, inspections for “manufactured housing” are arranged through the state. This process complicated things to such a degree that we didn’t think we’d be able to build the home. Luckily for us, the panel manufacturer, Collective Carpentry of Ivermere, B.C., was able to register with the state and satisfy some high hurdles in order to meet the requirements. A sure path to high performance A good panel manufacturer can help you build to performance standards like net-zero or Passive House. However, if you’re trusting the panel manufacturer to meet your airtightness goals, make sure your contract specifies the airtightness numbers and when the blower door test(s) will occur. Keep in mind that panel manufacturers may supply panels in several climate zones; to standardize their construction, the insulation amounts satisfy the most challenging climate zone where they do business. If the house is in a warmer climate zone, the panels may have more insulation and therefore be more expensive than necessary. Our most recent panelized project was dried in within two-and-a-half days, with another day installing connecting hardware CAP THE SHELL Roof panels are often framed with I-joists sheathed with 1⁄2-in.-or-thicker plywood or OSB and include a waterproofing membrane as temporary roofing. On our projects, the joist cavities were shipped uninsulated for assembly and wiring rough-in; we had to insulate and complete the air barrier on the ceiling. Panels can accommodate any roof pitch or geometry—this flat roof has a PVC membrane over presloped EPS foam. PLAN FOR PENETRATIONS The locations and construction details for duct, plumbing, and electrical penetrations through the enclosure should be included in the design and the details should be consistent with the panel factory’s methods. Don’t forget penetrations for the ERV, range hood, and range hood’s makeup-air inlet. ADD ANCHOR BOLTS It would be nearly impossible to match cast-inplace anchor bolts in the foundation to drilled holes in the factory-built wall panels, so concrete anchors or screws connect the panels to the foundation. The design should include the anchor type, size, and locations. STRENGTHEN CONNECTIONS Metal straps join panels and offer resistance to wind and seismic forces. Details vary with each project, so check the construction documents for specific connection details and confirm installation crews are following the plan. DETAILS MAKE A STURDY STRUCTURE 40 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photo this page top right: Patrick McCombe.
Using panels is a quick way to get a building shell up and dried in. However, the rest of the build is business as usual with the regular lineup of subs and work days required to finish the home’s interior and exterior. and completing the air and water control layers. It’s a tight building: Our first blower-door test with the windows and doors installed came in at 0.028 cfm per sq. ft., which is lower than the Phius (prescriptive) target of 0.04. If you’re considering a panelized build, my advice is to design the building with panels in mind. Ideally, you should choose the panelization company and their wall and roof assemblies during the early design decisions to maximize the efficiencies of using panels. Be sure to find a company that is wellorganized and communicative as this plays a large part in crafting a successful project. □ Josh Salinger is CEO and founder of Birdsmouth Design-Build, located in Portland, Ore. Photos by Asa Christiana, except where noted. A HOUSE LIKE ANY OTHER Once complete, panelized homes are indistinguishable from stick-built custom homes. Although many high-performance panelized houses have a modern aesthetic, panelized homes can be built in any architectural style. PLUMBING IS TYPICAL, TOO On our panelized projects, supply and waste plumbing were installed by one of our regular plumbers. Plumbing and occupancy inspections were done by our regular building inspector. WIRING IS TYPICAL The stud walls on the inside of wall panels and the I-joist cavities common to high-performance roof and floor panels make line and low-voltage wiring rough-in nearly the same as in a typical stick-framed build, with the same flexibility of outlet and fixture placement. Electrical inspections on our two projects were done by local inspectors. ROOM FOR DUCTS Our panelized builds keep ducts and all HVAC equipment inside the home’s conditioned space for efficiency. Our regular HVAC contractor installed the HVAC and ERV systems, which were sized and designed by Energy Vanguard, an engineering firm focused on indoor-air quality and home performance. FINISH THE ENCLOSURE Before siding, the GC must finish detailing the enclosure. On the pictured project, we finished the watermanagement details around the flangeless windows and doors and the roof-to-wall transition, and leveled the 1⁄2-in. out-of-plane battens. This took two carpenters 80+ hours. THE REST OF THE BUILD IS THE SAME FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 41
From missing flashing details to incomplete roof venting, understanding how things go wrong is the first step to getting them right BY BRIAN PONTOLILO ET AL. There’s a very simple reason why all builders should understand building science—or, in other words, know how buildings work: because buildings, or at least parts of buildings, regularly fail. If you’ve worked as a remodeler, or even if you tackle projects in your own home, you know this story well. You start stripping roof shingles first thing in the morning intending to install flashing and underlayment after lunch. But instead of taking a lunch break, you spend an hour running to the lumberyard for a few sheets of plywood to repair the rotted sheathing below the improperly flashed plumbing vent. Heck, even if you’ve never worked on a home, if you’ve lived in one, you may know the experience of a damp basement, a hood fan that never quite seems to clear the kitchen air, or finish that’s peeling clean off the siding way too soon. Every one of these examples relates to building science mistakes that could have been avoided. For this reason, I reached out to some regular FHB contributors from around the country and asked them not only what mistakes they’ve made or often see, but how things could have been done better. Their replies could easily have been turned into a manuscript for a book, but there were a bunch of common themes, and that’s what you’ll find here—along with a few concerns of my own, and likely a follow-up article with more mistakes in a coming issue. □ Brian Pontolilo is a senior editor. 8 Common Building Science Mistakes to Avoid 42 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photo: Andy Engel
Continuous exterior insulation on walls has several benefits. It’s often a good way to add R-value to existing walls when re-siding an old house. More than just adding insulation, it specifically minimizes thermal bridging, which is why it is also a smart way to insulate the walls of a new house too. For this purpose alone, however, even a small amount of insulation would be helpful, and there are other options, like double-stud walls. The beauty of continuous exterior insulation is that with the right R-value for your climate, it will also add durability to your walls. Let’s imagine that your gutters are draining all the roof water far away from the house, your flashing is impeccable, and your drainable water-resistive barrier (WRB) is doing its job. Great! But if your sheathing is cold in the winter, there’s still the risk of condensation, wet framing, and all the problems that come with it. That is, unless you have enough exterior insulation that your sheathing isn’t cold at all. WHAT’S THE RIGHT R-VALUE FOR MY CLIMATE ZONE? If you build in climate zones marine 4 through 8, here’s what the International Residential Code (IRC) says you need for continuous exterior insulation in order to provide condensation control at the sheathing. NOT CONTROLLING CONDENSATION WITH EXTERIOR INSULATION There are two places in the 2021 IRC where you can find R-values for exterior continuous insulation on walls. In chapter 11 (Energy Efficiency), you’ll find a table that gives minimum R-values for walls in each climate zone (N1102.1.2). It includes options for meeting the requirements with some or all continuous exterior insulation. In chapter 7 (Wall Coverings), there’s a table for class III interior vapor retarders (excerpted above). Here, you’ll find the minimum R-value of continuous exterior insulation needed on 2x4 and 2x6 walls if you use a class III interior vapor retarder. What’s the difference between the two? The latter describes a ratio of exterior to interior insulation that is sufficient to keep the sheathing above the dew point temperature in the winter. So, you don’t need as robust vapor control on the warm-in-winter side of the assembly as you would in a house without exterior insulation. In fact, with some of the insulation products that you might use on the exterior—specifically low-perm rigid foams—you will want the wall to be able to dry to the interior. Note that what the IRC prescribes in chapter 7 is a ratio. In climate zone 5, it requires at least R-5 exterior insulation on a 2x4 wall, and R-7.5 on a 2x6 wall for condensation control. If you built and fully insulated a 2x8 wall, you’d need to increase the R-value of the exterior insulation accordingly. —Brian Pontolilo, senior editor Climate zone Minimum exterior insulation for 2x4 walls Minimum exterior insulation for 2x6 walls Marine 4 R-2.5 R-3.75 5 R-5 R-7.5 6 R-7.5 R-11.25 7 R-10 R-15 8 R-12.5 R-20 THE B.S. GET IT RIGHT 1 Excerpt from table R702.7(3) in the 2021 IRC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 43
Water is the enemy of buildings. It rots the structure, promotes mold growth, and damages interior and exterior finishes. Flashing— typically some type of material that redirects water around a joint or juncture in a structure—is used to prevent water from entering the building through vulnerable locations. But when common flashing details are omitted or installed incorrectly, water leaks in through those places and reduces the life spans of a building’s components, costing money and causing repair headaches. The most common places where flashing is omitted or incorrectly installed are around windows, at the edge of roofto-wall junctures, and wherever water needs to be directed away from the building. It’s also common to see materials that have been improperly lapped, like the water-resistive barrier (WRB) found on all home exteriors. THE B.S. In a building science article like this, it can't be said enough: Water kills buildings. Rainwater management may seem to be common sense, yet I’ve seen many problems that counter the idea. The primary force that acts on rain is gravity. (A secondary force is wind.) When rainwater hits a surface, friction slows it down. One way to limit the effect of friction is with a slope. The steeper the slope, the less friction there is, and the velocity of the water’s movement is increased. Conversely, the lower the slope, the harder it is for water to move across a surface. Even if you direct water to shed off a building, it can collect around the perimeter of the house and potentially infiltrate the soil and enter the foundation system. Eventually, there can be water intrusion into the building itself. THE B.S. If we think about how a drop of water moves, we can picture the path it takes to travel into or through our buildings. To prevent damage, we need to direct the water toward drainage or a place where it can dry. Imagine, for example, the roof overhang pushing rainwater away from the walls below, or the head flashing above a window pushing the water away from the window and trim, or properly installed housewrap that laps over the layer below and not behind it. So, anywhere there is a change in material or plane (like a bump, jog, or extension) in a building’s exterior, consider how you can move the water around that detail to promote draining or drying in the most efficient way. For example, you need to tape the top and sides of a flanged window but should leave the bottom open to allow drainage and drying. It may seem counterintuitive, but if you tape the bottom and water gets in, it won’t be able to get out. —Emily Mottram, Mottram Architecture, Thomaston, Maine GET IT RIGHT SKIPPING NECESSARY FLASHING DETAILS MISMANAGING RAINWATER Got gutters? Roof overhangs, gutters, and grading are the primary defenses against rainwater. WRB over counterflashing Roofing underlayment lapped onto wall Counterflashing is nailed to the sidewall, lapping over the step flashing. Step flashing is nailed to the roof deck but not the sidewall. sidewall, lapping 2 4 44 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
Radon is a radioactive gas found to varying degrees in soil throughout the United States. When radon infiltrates a house in high concentrations it presents a potential health risk for the occupants. The EPA publishes a map of radon zones that you can use to determine the risk of exposure in your area, but it’s not possible to be sure if a house will have high levels of radon until it is built. Because radon has no color or odor, and because homes with unhealthy levels of radon have been found in all risk zones recognized by the EPA, all homes should be tested. While the EPA advises that homes with radon levels of 4 picoCuries per liter of air (pCi/L) be retrofit with a radon mitigation system, the CDC says that we should always shoot for the lowest possible levels of radon in our homes. That makes installing at least a passive radon mitigation system in new homes a smart idea. THE B.S. To play it safe, build with roof pitches of 5:12 as a baseline. If you build flatter, consider using a roofing material that will involve less friction, such as metal. Note that the amount of rainwater shedding off a roof is cumulative. During a rainstorm, there may be a little water at the ridge, but there will be a lot of water at the eave. Similarly, valleys contain more water at the bottom than they do at the top. For these reasons, ensure that gutters are sized to collect the full roof load and that the roofing doesn’t impede too deep into the gutter trough, or the rain may shoot past the gutter. Use downspouts to direct the water to an underground piping system that conveys the water to another location. Ideally, there is stormwater infrastructure to tie the piping into. There may also be an infiltration pit, dispersion, or other means of handling the rainwater. At the area around the building, ensure the grade slopes away. I try to follow the IRC requirement of at least 6 in. of fall in the first 10 ft. of horizontal distance from the house. This can allow water around the house to drain away at the surface, and it can collect the water coming toward the house and keep the foundation dry. —Bryan Uhler, Pioneer Builders, Port Orchard, Wash. GET IT RIGHT Because radon is typically pulled into a house via the stack effect, air-sealing is one way to limit infiltration. Air-sealing the entire building envelope helps, but a particular focus on the foundation is critical to keep radon out and allow a radon mitigation system to work. Most homes have a concrete slab, and slabs should have a vapor retarder beneath them. You can detail the subslab vapor retarder as an air barrier by taping all seams, taping penetrations, and sealing the perimeter. You can also seal all cracks and penetrations through the concrete from above with caulk. If a basement slab has a sump, make sure it has an airtight lid. With proper airsealing, you can then effectively vent radon from the soil below with a simple system of PVC pipe. Many slabs will already have a crushed stone layer beneath them. Installing a PVC tee in the gravel with a riser that penetrates the slab and a pipe that extends through the conditioned area of the house and exhausts above the roof is effective and affordable. There are some important details to be aware of, so talk to your local building official or an engineer before getting started. And even if your local codes don’t require it, consider wiring an outlet near the vent pipe in a closet or an attic. This way, if a house tests for particularly high radon levels, a fan can be added to boost exhaust. Similar systems can be retrofit into existing houses, though you may have to get creative when running the pipe. —B.P. GET IT RIGHT 4-in. riser pipe that terminates at least 12 in. above the roof Electrical box Fan in unconditioned attic space, if necessary Polyethylene vapor retarder and air barrier 4-in. perforated pipe buried in crushed stone 3 NOT INSTALLING A RADON MITIGATION SYSTEM Photo: Patrick McCombe. Drawings: facing page, Dan Thornton; this page, Steve Baczek, Architect. FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 45
INCOMPLETE ROOF VENTING It’s common for roofers in my area to add a continuous ridge vent to an attic rather than relying on existing gable vents when reroofing. As attic air heats up, it expands, and ridge vents offer a place for the hot air to escape. Installing a ridge vent typically just involves cutting away a few inches of the sheathing at either side of the ridge. Then the roof underlayment and the roofing material are installed all the way up to the ridge-vent opening. Instead of installing the ridge-cap directly over the roofing material, the roofer installs a continuous roll of monofilament matrix material (imagine a Brillo pad) that allows air to flow out of the attic while supporting the ridge shingle and not letting bugs and pests in. Rolled-out ridge venting is common in our areas, but there are other options. In any case, their purpose is the same. Installing a continuous ridge vent is an excellent durability upgrade on new roofs or on existing roofs that were undervented and don’t meet the current building code. Unfortunately, exhaust only happens when you bring in air to replace what will be exhausted, and this means the roofer needs a carpenter to get involved to complete the circuit. Most of the houses in our area have at least small overhangs, where a carpenter can cut an intake vent into the soffit, but there are top-of-roof intake vents that slip under shingles, as well. The code specifies that a ratio of 1 sq. ft. of venting for every 300 sq. ft. of enclosed attic space is required to make these roofs work. The total venting is typically split between the upper portion of the roof (the ridge, commonly) and the lower (the soffits, typically). But our clients have always preferred things to look consistent, so we simply integrate continuous soffit intake with the design of the eave. This allows our vented roofs to remain cool(er) and dry(er), which maximizes their durability and reduces the accelerated loss of indoor conditioned air through leakage to the attic. —Travis Brungardt, Catalyst Construction, Prairie Village, Kan. GET IT RIGHT While ventilated attics make for some of the most durable roofs in our built environment, adding a ridge vent alone doesn’t make a properly ventilated roof. Including a path for air to escape at the top of the roof assembly is an ideal way to get hot or moisture-laden air out of the structure. Venting it at the highest point in the assembly allows for the maximum potential pressure differential from a lower intake point, which takes full advantage of the stack effect to cool and dry the back of the sheathing. This time-tested method has proven incredibly effective and is unsurpassed in its simplicity, as long as the builder remembers to feed that ridge-vent air from a lower point of the roof system. Ideally this means cutting in continuous vents at the soffit for intake air. THE B.S. Continuous soffit vent Vent channel created with sitebuilt or store-bought baffles Ridge vent Insulated attic floor Airtight ceiling 5 46 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Drawing: John Hartman. Photo: Courtesy of Airtight Insulation.
EXPECTING TOO MUCH FROM SPRAY FOAM An ideal spray-foam installation begins with ideal site conditions. The ambient temperature of both the air and the substrate should be above 40°F. The cavities should be clean and free from dust and debris that might limit the adhesion of the foam, and while some moisture can accelerate curing, there should not be frost or water on the substrates. Finally, you must heat the two tanks containing the A and B parts to their proper temperature ranges (120°F to 140°F). Because the two parts mix at the sprayer tip, those temperatures must be maintained through the line set as well. If the chemistry temperature, mixing ratio, or substrate conditions are off, you may encounter voids, cracking, incomplete curing, or a delamination of the foam from the substrate. These conditions all rob you of performance. The danger of spray-foam failures is often in the potential for water vapor to condense in cavities created where the foam has pulled away from the sheathing. Though relatively rare, this can cause catastrophic wood rot and even structural failure in hot-roof assemblies where vapor condenses on the back of the roof sheathing and is then held there by the foam. Since roof membranes are vapor-closed, the only drying opportunity is toward the interior, and once water vapor accumulates in the foam it is slow to dry. A proper mix and application can alleviate this risk, but still, the foam can only insulate and air-seal where it’s been installed. The most critical element of an air barrier is continuity. Filling individual wall cavities and rafter bays with foam might air-seal those cells, but does not provide continuity because the framing interrupts. We cannot expect continuous performance from discontinuous application. So, when using spray foam, it’s still a good idea to make the sheathing, a membrane, or even the drywall your primary air barrier, and to do everything possible to ensure continuity at transitions like the mudsill and top plates. —T.B. GET IT RIGHT Spray-applied polyurethane foam (SPF) can provide tremendous thermal resistance in both open-cell and closed-cell applications. The R-values vary between manufacturers and foam types, but typically you can get R-6 per in. from closed-cell spray foam and R-3.5 per in. from opencell spray foam. While open-cell foam has an R-value comparable to other types of insulation, closed-cell foam has one of the highest R-values available, which can be helpful and even necessary in some situations. Both open- and closed-cell foam are produced by mixing two chemical components at the tip of a sprayer as the materials are applied to the surfaces to be insulated. When the two parts meet at the correct pressure and temperature, the chemical reaction results in an expanding foam that adheres to and integrates with building assemblies. When done properly, this foam application can provide tremendous air-sealing benefits too. The trouble begins when you don’t have a proper mix or acceptable application conditions, or when you mistakenly assume the foam will provide a continuous air barrier despite a discontinuous application. THE B.S. Consider pros and cons. Spray polyurethane foam (SPF) is made on-site, so you have one chance to get it right; but even when you do, it has some limits that are important to understand. For example, SPF air-seals, but doesn't provide a continuous air barrier. 6 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 47
The building envelope of a home is designed to be a separator, keeping the outside out and the inside in. We want the heating and/or cooling we pay for to remain inside for as long as possible and not have losses when it moves from the place where it is produced to the area where it’s supplying comfort. When we place ductwork outside the building envelope, either in an unconditioned crawlspace, attic, or other exterior space, there is the possibility of creating inefficiencies with these systems. This can happen in a few different ways. If there is an air leak in the supply-air ductwork (located outside the building envelope), the air that is leaking originated from inside the home. The lost air will be replaced by air leaking into the building somewhere. Not only did you lose the air that was just conditioned, but unconditioned air has leaked back in, further increasing the heating or cooling load in the house. If air leaks into the return duct, the home becomes pressurized, and conditioned air will be forced out of the home. Plus, the origins of the air that leaks into a return duct may be of poor quality that can affect occupant health or a building’s durability. Ducts outside the thermal envelope also need to be wellinsulated. Not only will heat loss or gain contribute to cost and comfort issues, but condensation can form on either the inside or outside of the duct. This can create issues with a build’s durability and indoor-air quality. THE B.S. 7 RUNNING DUCTWORK IN UNCONDITIONED SPACES When ducts are located outside the building envelope, codes specify insulation and airtightness levels. These codes are found in chapter 11 section N1103 (R403). The codes are very specific and provide acceptable levels of both insulation and the airtightness of the ducts. Duct-tightness testing is required when ducts are outside the building envelope. Bringing the ducts into the conditioned space greatly simplifies these requirements. In crawlspace applications, simply changing the crawlspace from a vented to a conditioned space may be the best option. In attics, you can choose to condition the space by insulating and air-sealing the roof deck instead of the attic floor. Other options are to use plenum trusses (these have a notch in the bottom chord of the truss where ducts and other mechanical systems can be installed), or you can create soffits inside the home where ductwork can be hidden. Duct-tightness testing has been around for several code cycles, but new to the 2021 energy code is the requirement that all ducts, whether inside or outside, be tested. The requirements are less stringent when the ductwork is inside the building envelope—a test result of 8 cfm per 100 sq. ft. of conditioned floor area is needed. Testing when ductwork is outside the thermal envelope requires a test of less than either 3 cfm or 4 cfm per 100 sq. ft. of conditioned floor area depending on whether the air handler is installed before testing is conducted. —Randy Williams, builder and energy auditor, Grand Rapids, Minn. GET IT RIGHT When the thermal boundary (the insulation) is in the roof, ductwork can be run in the attic space. 48 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Drawings: this page, Christopher Mills; facing page, Don Mannes
A common trope that is still fairly prevalent in the residential building industry is “houses need to breathe.” The premise is that if a house has too robust of an air barrier (i.e., the house is too tight), you’ll trap moisture in the assemblies, creating the potential for condensation, mildew, mold, and rot. The historical basis for this was the introduction of insulation and vapor retarders in the mid-20th century. All of a sudden, assemblies that previously could very easily dry out stayed wet longer since much less heat flowed through them. There were some problems. We’ve since learned, however, that most moisture flow travels via air currents, not vapor diffusion through the materials themselves. So, if you cut off the airflow through an assembly, you stop almost all the moisture movement. The evolution of the building code demonstrates this understanding; the requirements for vapor retarders have become less stringent while the requirements for airtightness and air barriers have grown stricter. With a good air-barrier system, balanced mechanical ventilation becomes necessary to maintain healthy indoor-air quality. Balanced mechanical ventilation has many advantages over letting houses “breathe.” With balanced ventilation, you can control where the air enters and how much comes in and out. You can filter the air. You can recover energy during the process. And you can control where the air is delivered to and extracted from. THE B.S. STILL BELIEVING THAT “HOUSES NEED TO BREATHE” Now, this isn’t to say that all airtight assemblies are guaranteed to be moisture-problem-proof. A poorly located vapor retarder can still create a condensation risk, which in turn can lead to the risk of mildew, mold, and rot. Intelligent design still needs to be a part of the process and for new-construction projects, the air barrier needs to be an integral part of the overall design. My ideal air barrier (AB) is located mid-assembly, against the sheathing, underneath continuous insulation. This mid-assembly location has a number of benefits. It protects the AB from the occupants over the life of the house (compared to an interior AB) and from thermal and weather stresses (compared to an exterior AB). It allows for much easier AB continuity when the house geometry gets more complex (compared to an interior AB). It is located at a point in the assembly that should stay warm enough year-round to ensure that condensation won’t occur. And it is easy to execute and visually verify. I do not like nor recommend relying on spray foam or caulked joints as part of an air barrier since they are much more difficult to properly execute and visually verify. A well-designed, continuous air barrier will make a house more energy efficient, thermally comfortable, and durable. The mechanical ventilation system (preferably with energy recovery) will maintain excellent indoor-air quality for the homeowners. —Jordan Goldman, Zero Energy Design, Boston, Mass. GET IT RIGHT Stale air back to HRV/ERV Fresh air Fresh-air intake Exhaust An HRV or ERV can be used to provide balanced ventilation in tight houses and keep indoor-air quality high. 8 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 49
I ’m resistant to use my good hand planes on a job site because a nick in the plane’s iron from a nail or staple can take a halfhour or more to fix. But a nicked or dull blade is no big deal with a power planer, as the disposable blades can be swapped in minutes. They also take a lot less effort to use compared to a hand plane—and the cordless models are especially useful in cramped spaces. For this article, I had the chance to test cordless power planers from Bosch, Makita, DeWalt, Metabo HPT, Ryobi, and Milwaukee. All have 31⁄4-in.-wide disposable carbide blades, bevel grooves on the bottom to simplify easing edges, and small kickstands that flip down to elevate the cutter head so you can set the tool down with the blade still spinning. I also tried out two smaller cordless models from Bosch and Milwaukee (see p. 55). Their small size makes them ideally suited to finish carpentry, where a smaller planer is an advantage. All the model numbers and prices reflect the tool-only version, though some manufacturers offer kits with batteries and chargers. There’s a broad range of tasks you can take on with these power planers. They’re great for fitting inset cabinet doors, which calls for a light touch. You can also use them for massive stock removal and to straighten bowed framing or flatten wide hardwood slabs. Between these extremes, there are more-common finish-carpentry jobs like trimming full-size doors, shaving down extension jambs, and planing to a scribed line so built-ins and cabinets fit tight to a wavy wall. I kept this wideranging job description in mind when evaluating the performance of the planers on this list. All the planers use double-edged carbide blades that hold up well when planing all kinds of wood. When edges get dull, you simply reverse each blade to expose a fresh edge. Blade changes are easier on some models than others; the Bosch planers stand out because their cutter heads are counterbalanced Cordless Planers With quick and effortless stock removal and easy-to-replace disposable blades, these power planers make it easy to leave your hand plane safely at home BY TIM SNYDER Tool Test 50 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM