Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?

[Mad Mike]

Great info, thanks for sharing.

If anyone is interested there is actually some good info from the gov, Natural Resources. Seems well thought out.

Keeping the Heat In

Natural Resources Canada's Office of Energy Efficiency offers this guide to educate on basic principles of building science and to provide guidance in home retrofit projects such as insulation

www.nrcan.gc.ca

There is some good stuff there, but it's highly geared toward winter heating costs.

Code requires 2" EPS under slab. This is be great in areas where summer AC is minimal, but in So Ontario AC costs can be greater than heating costs (mine are). Leaving the basement slab uninsulated helps cool the house in the summer -- saving electricity. Some additional heat loss happens in the winter, but it will be less $$$ costly than the savings gained in AC.

 

[Scuba Steve]

This is my second house like that. Previous owner did everything the stupidest way possible not the easiest. None of the trim was fastened on properly, no windows or doors are installed correctly. He did his own brick and did everything to the nearest brick not the size of the window. All the aluminum needs to come off and be redone sometime. My favorite is the the shop 30 x 40 moves up and down 2 inches depending on the time of year sometime the doors are near the ground other times they are up 2 inches. The floor stays still and the building goes up and down.

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[Hardwrkr13]

When gutting our last home we found they ran power to one of the island plugs by using a butchered up extension cord. For some reason it was surrounded by crumpled up newspapers.
I'm taking a slight break from the interior of the new home and taking a couple days to get the garage sorted. After the drywallers left the garage a mess I spent 7hrs Christmas eve hosing it out and scrubbing the slab. Spring may see an epoxy coat (price was $1200 from a company which doesn't sound bad for a 44'x28' slab). Maybe covid has slowed the Husky factory as cabinets/box's all seem to be backordered at HD. I scored a pair of the 48x72" cabinets that were in stock for one day before backordered again but still waiting on a 52" tool chest.

 

[Mad Mike]

Im

This is my second house like that. Previous owner did everything the stupidest way possible not the easiest. None of the trim was fastened on properly, no windows or doors are installed correctly. He did his own brick and did everything to the nearest brick not the size of the window. All the aluminum needs to come off and be redone sometime. My favorite is the the shop 30 x 40 moves up and down 2 inches depending on the time of year sometime the doors are near the ground other times they are up 2 inches. The floor stays still and the building goes up and down.

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I'm guessing the shop is on a floating slab. I had a little house about that size, same problem. That movement is easy to fix with foamboard, you need to dig 3' all the way around the slab. Using 4x8 sheets, cut into 1 and 3' spans, place the 1' against the slab and the 3' from the bottom of the slab out at a drainage type slope (1:5). After 20 years the building has not budged.

I'm doing a 26x30 slab in the spring, I'll use this method to keep the frost from getting under it.

 

[nobbie48]

I would be shocked if his house isn't just brick veneer solid brick hasn't really been done since the 1800s. Lots of stud framed house's had no insulation or my favorite when I was in that business all the wall cavities filled with gravel or cement. That makes everything you do a joy when you cut a hole through the plaster and lathe and 500lbs of gravel pours onto the floor.

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After the great Toronto Fire (1904) regulations said if you want wood frame construction you had to be a huge distance from the next house. Not to many acre lots even back then. That only changed after the energy crisis / oil embargo of the 1970s. My house is face brick and cinder block supposedly with a one inch air space. In reality the "Space" is full of slopped mortar. You can see the header courses.

 

[nobbie48]

When gutting our last home we found they ran power to one of the island plugs by using a butchered up extension cord. For some reason it was surrounded by crumpled up newspapers.
I'm taking a slight break from the interior of the new home and taking a couple days to get the garage sorted. After the drywallers left the garage a mess I spent 7hrs Christmas eve hosing it out and scrubbing the slab. Spring may see an epoxy coat (price was $1200 from a company which doesn't sound bad for a 44'x28' slab). Maybe covid has slowed the Husky factory as cabinets/box's all seem to be backordered at HD. I scored a pair of the 48x72" cabinets that were in stock for one day before backordered again but still waiting on a 52" tool chest.

A friend was the executor of his aunt's estate and was cleaning up her house for sale. They threw out a couple of garbage bags of newspapers stuffed into the joist ends as insulation. The next trip he got curious about the age of the papers and opened one up. It was full of cash. Itshay. I asked how much and he clammed up.

 

[Scuba Steve]

Im

I'm guessing the shop is on a floating slab. I had a little house about that size, same problem. That movement is easy to fix with foamboard, you need to dig 3' all the way around the slab. Using 4x8 sheets, cut into 1 and 3' spans, place the 1' against the slab and the 3' from the bottom of the slab out at a drainage type slope (1:5). After 20 years the building has not budged.

I'm doing a 26x30 slab in the spring, I'll use this method to keep the frost from getting under it.

View attachment 46685

Slab stays still building moves, building is on 10x10 square poles pole barn style. I am guessing the poles are below the water table at times and being floated up.

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[Mad Mike]

Slab stays still building moves, building is on 10x10 square poles pole barn style. I am guessing the poles are below the water table at times and being floated up.

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More than likely frost is getting under the pole footings, expanding forces of freezing wet ground push the poles up, gravity pulls it down as the frost melts.

The method of insulating foundations also works on pole barns.

 

[GateKeeper]

Houses in the hood are 20yrs old already. All have / had popcorn.
Two neighbours had theirs done.
Guy comes, scrapes, finishes cleans up and paints the ceiling for $2 /sq ft.
I'm still debating doing it myself, so it'll never get done.

Would like to get this guys contact info....

he don’t need to paint, that part I can do, if I can save him time and me some money...

.

 

[Gary]

Would like to get this guys contact info....

he don’t need to paint, that part I can do, if I can save him time and me some money...

.

I'll get his info asap.(I'll pm you) My next dr neighbours have it.
The guy came from toronto.
Let him paint it. It's in the price.

 

[nobbie48]

I did a year long radon test at my house as I am planning on living here for a long time and didnt want to kill the family. It is slightly nerve-wracking waiting for results that are either normal or a huge bill with future price implications when you sell. Thankfully levels are ok. I assume asbestos testing is similar.

A friend (Cancer survivor) in Quebec was contacted by the province for a free radon test. She found out that her readings were over 400 Bq/M2. Some places in PQ were in the thousands. The maximum Canadian recommendation was under 200 and the WHO says under 100. It cost her about $2500 to put in a venting system and she's well under the 100 mark now.

I bought an electronic radon detector and my long term readings are under 100. The readings fluctuate during the day. I just checked again and after 2-1/2 years the batteries are dead. Reset time so the readings will be screwy for a while as the average out.

Radon is the second cause of lung cancer after smoking but we don't hear much about it. I couldn't find out if, for example, if my basement is safe is my neighbours. How localized is the condition?

Is it like a spring that floods one person's basement but the next door neighbour is bone dry or is it like hills and valleys?

 

[nobbie48]

Im

I'm guessing the shop is on a floating slab. I had a little house about that size, same problem. That movement is easy to fix with foamboard, you need to dig 3' all the way around the slab. Using 4x8 sheets, cut into 1 and 3' spans, place the 1' against the slab and the 3' from the bottom of the slab out at a drainage type slope (1:5). After 20 years the building has not budged.

I'm doing a 26x30 slab in the spring, I'll use this method to keep the frost from getting under it.

View attachment 46685

I've seen heating cables around the edge where the out slope isn't practical. If anyone wants to go that route embed a tube to house the cable. The cable can be pulled out and replaced if it fails.

 

[GreyGhost]

A friend (Cancer survivor) in Quebec was contacted by the province for a free radon test. She found out that her readings were over 400 Bq/M2. Some places in PQ were in the thousands. The maximum Canadian recommendation was under 200 and the WHO says under 100. It cost her about $2500 to put in a venting system and she's well under the 100 mark now.

I bought an electronic radon detector and my long term readings are under 100. The readings fluctuate during the day. I just checked again and after 2-1/2 years the batteries are dead. Reset time so the readings will be screwy for a while as the average out.

Radon is the second cause of lung cancer after smoking but we don't hear much about it. I couldn't find out if, for example, if my basement is safe is my neighbours. How localized is the condition?

Is it like a spring that floods one person's basement but the next door neighbour is bone dry or is it like hills and valleys?

I pushed our RE agent hard regarding radon in the area before we bought. He looked at me like I had two heads. That agency has sold thousands of houses in the area and had no idea about any radon readings (positive or negative). Fack. Not exactly something you can check before conditions are cleared. Just buy and hope for the best.

As I understand it, it is substantially similar to ground water so an area may generally have issues (or not) but within the area, individual houses may not experience the same issues as their neighbours. All of my neighbours apparently have sump pits, many of them hear their pumps cycle often, I don't have a pit (or ground water issues). From street level, the grading/slopes etc all look similar.

 

[mimico_polak]

I pushed our RE agent hard regarding radon in the area before we bought. He looked at me like I had two heads. That agency has sold thousands of houses in the area and had no idea about any radon readings (positive or negative). Fack. Not exactly something you can check before conditions are cleared. Just buy and hope for the best.

As I understand it, it is substantially similar to ground water so an area may generally have issues (or not) but within the area, individual houses may not experience the same issues as their neighbours. All of my neighbours apparently have sump pits, many of them hear their pumps cycle often, I don't have a pit (or ground water issues). From street level, the grading/slopes etc all look similar.

Apparently we live in a previous swamp above the credit river. I’m not looking forward to flooding (fingers crossed). PO has done some internal waterproofing but nothing external. I don’t want to rip up 300ft of concrete slab to place waterproofing until necessary.

Never considered radon. Maybe I should get a tester as well. Recommendations?

 

[GreyGhost]

Apparently we live in a previous swamp above the credit river. I’m not looking forward to flooding (fingers crossed). PO has done some internal waterproofing but nothing external. I don’t want to rip up 300ft of concrete slab to place waterproofing until necessary.

Never considered radon. Maybe I should get a tester as well. Recommendations?

Pinchin. You fill in a form online and they ship you the test kit. A year later you mail it to the US for analysis and they email you the results. There is also a shorter test available (1 month IIRC), but as levels fluctuate over time it is less desirable and you could miss something. As I plan on being here for ~20 years +/-, I did the one year test to get an accurate sampling. Kit tells you how to do it (IIRC, place the plastic ufo away from walls and floor, away from places with lots of air movement, etc).

I had the pleasure of meeting with Don Pinchin a few times while he was alive. Great guy.

Order Radon Test Kits | Pinchin Ltd.

Long-term Radon tests are recommended for accurately estimating the average radon concentration in a building. Please use the form below to send us your request.

www.pinchin.com

Quote from pinchins site:
Health Canada conducted radon testing across the country in approximately 14,000 homes. Their final report determined that approximately 7% of all homes across the country have radon levels above our national guideline of 200 Becquerels per cubic metre (Bq/m³). Health Canada’s report concluded that “there are no areas of the country that are ‘radon free’. The report also concluded that “the only way to know if a home has an elevated level of radon is to test, regardless of the location”.

 

[Scuba Steve]

More than likely frost is getting under the pole footings, expanding forces of freezing wet ground push the poles up, gravity pulls it down as the frost melts.

The method of insulating foundations also works on pole barns.

I doubt it to move all year round one week it is higher one week lower water table is down a foot or so from grade.

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[Scuba Steve]

Apparently we live in a previous swamp above the credit river. I’m not looking forward to flooding (fingers crossed). PO has done some internal waterproofing but nothing external. I don’t want to rip up 300ft of concrete slab to place waterproofing until necessary.

Never considered radon. Maybe I should get a tester as well. Recommendations?

I just bought a electronic tester seems accurate our house is low my parents was high before mitigation and my tester have the same reading as the radon company.

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[crankcall]

This is my second house like that. Previous owner did everything the stupidest way possible not the easiest. None of the trim was fastened on properly, no windows or doors are installed correctly. He did his own brick and did everything to the nearest brick not the size of the window. All the aluminum needs to come off and be redone sometime. My favorite is the the shop 30 x 40 moves up and down 2 inches depending on the time of year sometime the doors are near the ground other times they are up 2 inches. The floor stays still and the building goes up and down.

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Based on your previous posts I'm sort of surprised you bought a place like that

 

[nobbie48]

Apparently we live in a previous swamp above the credit river. I’m not looking forward to flooding (fingers crossed). PO has done some internal waterproofing but nothing external. I don’t want to rip up 300ft of concrete slab to place waterproofing until necessary.

Never considered radon. Maybe I should get a tester as well. Recommendations?

IIRC you can get the cheap mail in ones ($15) at Home Depot but I ordered the electronic radon gas detector one and they brought it in, I'm guessing about $300.00 for it, cheaper on line.

I would hope that the concrete would keep the water away from the foundation wall and you can focus your funds to where the wall is more easily accessed. Caulking the wall / concrete seam would help.

I want to do another 20 feet of waterproofing but it's under the deck. Know any midget labourers?

 

[Scuba Steve]

Based on your previous posts I'm sort of surprised you bought a place like that

Oh I knew but location and price. Happy wife. In time it will be fixed and redone.

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