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Videos List > Water and Moisture Management
Mac Pearce - Mold: Inevitable and Unacceptable
Mac Pearce is an environmental health consultant who is a pioneer in studying the relationship between mold and indoor air quality. He has investigated thousands of homes and buildings for mold and moisture problems, and has taught hundreds of classes and seminars on IAQ-related issues.
SUGGESTED READING:  SEGMENT 1 - How mold gets started (misconception vs. reality); allergen vs. toxic, defined; mold and its link to paper walls.
SEGMENT 2 - Real molds to worry about; everything in the world is made up of sugar (some science explanations); how things grow and how mold works; manage ground contact - stupid cubed; stupid design features vs. good design features; staging building products.
SEGMENT 3 - Building simple vs. complex; fantasy & ego vs. designs that work; making homes durable; ventilation systems, complex rooflines, health problems.
SEGMENT 4 - Wood's drying time; humidity, drainage planes for windows; ventilated cladding; the two most important things to think about; choosing to flaunt the laws of nature.
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John Ouellette, M.D. - Public Health Issues and a Healthy House
John Ouellette is a retired internist / allergist specialist who has been interested in the field of indoor air quality (IAQ) as it relates to human health for the past fifteen years. He has a special passion in understanding how building science can be applied in developing interventions to fix an IAQ problem.
SUGGESTED READING: SEGMENT 1 - IAQ is a public health issue; Cost of medical care - we should be proactive;
major contributors to IAQ concerns.
SEGMENT 2 - Looking at a house form a physician's point of view; occupant errors in the home; part of health is comfort and stress; think of the total package; filtration.
SEGMENT 3 - Important issues of a healthy house; Dumb things people do because they don't know; Homeowner manuals needed.
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John Straube - Moisture Management: The Key to Durability
John Straube is a professor of building science in the Civil Engineering Department and School of Architecture at the University of Waterloo, Canada, www.civil.uwaterloo.ca/beg. John has acted as an educator, researcher, consultant, and expert witness on energy efficiency, durability, and IAQ. Current interests include the optimal system design of buildings, sustainable buildings, and moisture problem avoidance.
SUGGESTED READING: SEGMENT 1 - Basic moisture management; discussion of common areas that fail; We must change how we build with new products - and must put them together or they won't work; What we have learned about crawlspace and roof venting, location of vapor barriers, and HVAC and ducts.
SEGMENT 2 - Ventilation of attics is covered in depth; Climate and design considerations; Codes; Building science vs. codes; Moisture management: drainage planes, airflow, heat flow, window selection, mechanical system integration.
SEGMENT 3 - The house is a system so design it as such; International examples: us vs. them - value and quality.
SEGMENT 4 - Things builders need to think about in their design process (climate, enclosure, garages and swimming pools, pressures in homes).
SEGMENT 5 - Building a house that performs - choices make a difference, how to put together a wall that works, the materials selection process; windows are a part of the product selection and we need to know its interaction between it and the wall, roof and HVAC system. |
Pre-Construction There are many construction process details to consider when accounting for proper Water Management in the pre-construction phase. This video covers many of these subjects, Including: inspection checklist, activate temporary electric pole, proper scheduling, vapor drive/diffusion defined and code differences in regions.
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Roof The roof catches and sheds a tremendous amount of water over the course of a year. How a builder details that roof impacts that buildings ability to handle that load with attention paid to:proper shingle install, valley, step flashing, cricket installation, proper sealing of penetrations and proper attic ventilation.
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Mechanicals
A home's mechanical systems play and important part in keeping it dry and free from moisture problems that can cause callbacks for builders and health and comfort problems for homeowners. In this video we will take a look at the following systems and their interrelationships;
HVAC Plumbing Ventilation |
Insulation How insulation is installed and detailed also impacts the management of moisture in a new home. A number of issues must be properly addressed, as in this video and: Kraft faced insulation, insulate behind tub/shower units, proper sealing of penetration, caulking and seal where you see light.
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Exterior Cladding Like the roof, the walls and their exterior finish must be properly detailed to shed a tremendous amount of direct, run-off and wind-blown rainfall. In order to properly handle that water, care must be taken with the following details;
Siding Brick Lightweight Stone |
Flashing and Runoff Controls Finally, dealing with the holes in the various building elements and how we direct water away from them and the main building elements is critical to moving the water out. In this video we take a look at a number of these issues, including: window and door flashing/sealing, review all roof and wall penetrations, proper gutter and downspout sizing and installation, splash blocks and final grade details.
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Proper Installation Guidelines for Fiberglass Insulation  |