Thursday 21 March 2013

Spring Water Damage Concerns

It's springtime! This means the snow will be melting and April showers will be on the way. This is also the most common time of year for basements to flood. Basements are typically the area of your home that is most at risk for water damage because they are located below grade and surrounded by soil. Wet basements can cause problems that can lead to toxic mold contamination, building rot, foundation collapse and termite damage.

There are some very simple ways to prevent water from entering your basement.
  • Install and maintain your gutters and downspouts so that they divert all rainwater and snow melt away from the foundation of the building. We recommend at least 10 feet so that the water cannot flow back towards the building. 
  • Downspouts should discharge water above grade. Below grade downspouts should be capped and repaired. 
  • The finished grade of the property should be sloped away from the building. Low spots that may lead to water pooling should be evened out to prevent the possibility of standing water close to the foundation. 
  • Shallow ditches called swales should be used in conditions where one or more sides of the building face an upward slope. Swales will help divert this water to another side of the structure where the grade is sloped away.
These illustrations will help explain these simple water prevention techniques. Inspect the exterior of your property and be sure to keep your basement dry this spring.  Please contact us for more information and advice.










Tuesday 19 March 2013

Spray Foam Insulation

This is a common topic that constantly comes up with clients during home inspections. I figured I’d post a blog all about spray foam insulation and why you as a home owner need to know about it.

Beautiful!
Spray foam insulation is different to your traditional fibreglass insulation in that it is a two-part mixture that is sprayed out the tip of a gun. This expanding foam is great for insulating attics, wall cavities, concrete slabs and just about anything that needs insulating around your home. 

Spray foam also had the highest R-value of all insulations available. R-value is known as thermal resistance and is a way to understand how good insulation performs. The higher the R-value of an insulation product lets you know how effective the product may be over another similar product. Closed cell spray foam insulation typically has an R-value of R-5 to –R-6 per inch. Typical fibreglass insulation has an R-value of R-2 to R-4 per inch.

In comes in two types:

Open Cell Insulation:

This type of spray foam insulation is exactly as it sounds. The cells it is composed of are not completely closed. It still is a good air barrier, but it not considered a vapour barrier. It is more sponge like and is not recommended for exterior use.

Closed Cell Insulation:

This type of spray foam insulation is composed of completely closed cells. The foam is more dense than open cell and is a both an air barrier as well as a vapour barrier. This product can be used anywhere in the home and is becoming a popular choice for new residential construction.

The benefits of using spray foam insulation:
  • Savings on your homes energy costs & utility bills. 
  • Better thermal resistance. Higher R-value per inch. 
  • Protects buildings against moisture, which reduces the chance of mold and mildew. 
  • Reduces noise & provides a very comfortable home that is easy to maintain a constant temperature. 
Spray foam insulation is great product and is highly recommended for making your home more energy efficient. It does however come at a higher price than traditional fibreglass insulation and may not be suitable for everyone. If you are considering using spray foam insulation on your home please contact a few local insulation contractors and make sure you find out what products work best for you and your budget.
If you have any questions about your home or potential inspection please feel free to contact us anytime. House CSI

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Thermal Imaging & Building Diagnostics

Thermal Imaging for Home Inspections & Building Diagnostics

Infrared cameras translate the heat signatures of objects into colors on a gradient scale, with higher temperatures appearing as lighter colors, and lower temperatures and wet areas appearing as darker colors. Also known as thermal imaging and thermography, IR technology captures the light that exists just outside the visible spectrum. Thermal images show surface-heat variations, which is why an IR camera is such a diverse tool for commercial and home inspectors that can be used for a variety of applications. Abnormally hot electrical components and connections can be viewed during an electrical inspection. Areas of moisture that may lead to leaks and structural damage can be located based on apparent temperature differences. Heat loss and air leakage in a building envelope, and even areas of insufficient insulation, can be pinpointed quickly and accurately during an energy audit.

House CSI is proud to offer Infrared technology to all of our home inspections and consider this a vital tool for providing you with the best inspection possible. For more information on thermal imaging please contact us.

The images below will give you a good idea of how these cameras work.

Normal camera.
With IR camera.

                                               

Friday 8 March 2013

OSB vs. Plywood

Here's another great post about two common house building materials. Hope you enjoy the info!

Plywood.

OSB.
Oriented strand board (OSB) and plywood are wood structural panels made by compressing and gluing pieces of wood together. While OSB and plywood appear similar and are generally interchangeable, the different ways that each material is manufactured contribute to each having its own unique strengths and weaknesses.

What are they, and how are they made?

OSB is manufactured from heat-cured adhesives and rectangular- shaped wood strands that are arranged in cross-oriented layers. Produced in large, continuous mats, OSB is a solid-panel product of consistent quality with few voids or gaps. The finished product is an engineered wood panel that shares many of the strength and performance characteristics of plywood.

Plywood is made from thin sheets of veneer (layers of wood that are peeled from a spinning log) that are cross-laminated and glued together with a hot press. Throughout the thickness of the panel, the grain of each layer is positioned perpendicular to the adjacent layer. The finished product is made from an odd number of layers so that a balance is maintained around its central access. Since it is made from whole layers of logs rather than small strands, plywood has a more consistent and less rough appearance than OSB.

A few facts about OSB and plywood:
  • While OSB developed fairly recently, it became more popular than plywood in North America by 2000. Today, nearly twice as much OSB as plywood is produced in North America. 
  • Outside of North America, OSB is not commonly used in construction. In 2005, the combined production of OSB in Europe and Latin America was just 3.5 billion square feet – less than seven times as much as was produced in North America that year. 
  • While both products are made from different materials, and some builders strongly prefer one or the other, OSB and plywood are both manufactured according to the same performance standards. 
  • OSB can be made from narrower, faster growing trees than plywood. 
In favor of OSB:
  • OSB can be manufactured into panels that are larger than plywood. 
  • OSB is more uniform, so there are fewer soft spots, such as those that can occur in plywood. 
  • OSB is less expensive than plywood. To build a typical 2,400-square foot home, OSB may cost $700 less than plywood. 
  • OSB is considered by many to be a “green” building material because it can be made from smaller-diameter trees, such as poplars, that are often farmed. Plywood production, by contrast, requires larger-diameter trees from old-growth forests. 
  • Plywood has a tendency to delaminate, especially in hot climates such as Florida. 
In favor of plywood: 
  • While plywood and OSB both off-gas formaldehyde, OSB off-gasses more of the carcinogenic gas. Plywood, OSB, and other engineered wood products that contain glue can be stored outdoors for several weeks before construction so that much of the dangerous gasses are vented safely into the outdoors. 
  • OSB weighs more than plywood. One 23/32-inch 4x8-foot plywood piece weighs approximately 67 pounds, while a piece of OSB of the same dimensions weighs approximately 78 pounds. The increased weight of OSB means that it is harder to install and it will put more stress on the house.
  • Compared to plywood, OSB swells more when it comes into contact with water, especially at panel edges. Swell is generally greater in OSB than in plywood due to the release of compaction stress in OSB created during the pressing of wood chips into panels. Swollen plywood will return to its nominal thickness as the wood dries, while OSB will remain permanently swollen, to some degree. Swelling is a nuisance because it can uplift whatever materials lie above, such as tile or carpet. 
  • Plywood floors are stiffer than OSB floors by a factor of approximately 10%. As a result, OSB floors are more likely to squeak due to floor movement, cause hard floor surfaces to crack (such as tile), and result in soft, spongy floors. 
  • Nails and screws are more likely to remain in place more firmly in plywood than in OSB. 
  • OSB retains water longer than plywood does, which makes decay more likely in OSB than in plywood. Of course, tree species plays a large role in this determination. OSB made from aspen or poplar is relatively susceptible to decay. In one of the biggest consumer class-action lawsuits ever, Louisiana-Pacific (LP), a building materials manufacturer, was forced to pay $375 million to 75,000 homeowners who complained of decaying OSB in their homes. 
Note: Much of the information above that favors plywood over OSB is summarized from a study by Georgia-Pacific, a building materials manufacturer. While Georgia-Pacific manufactures both materials and thus has no obvious bias, the study does not state whether it compared multiple brands of OSB and plywood or merely their own.

Please contact your Toronto area home inspectors for more info or questions.

Friday 1 March 2013

Who is your Home Inspector?

Just a little reminder on how important it is to do your homework when choosing your next home inspector. Do your own research and choose wisely as there is a lot of choice out there!

‘Quality Home Inspections by Inspectors who have actually built homes!’

This is our slogan/motto and something that we are very proud of!

You would be surprised to know that most home inspection companies have inspectors working for them that have never actually built homes. To us that sounds absolutely crazy and something that you want to know before putting your trust within that person/company.

If we can suggest anything to potential clients, it would be to find out what your home inspector did before they became a ‘home inspector’. Hire someone you are comfortable with and get yourself the quality home inspection you deserve on what will likely be the most expensive purchase of your life.

Please visit House CSI for more info. Feel free to contact us anytime.