Sound Proofing Between a Family Room Addition and a Kids Bedroom

Insulation Strategy on an Infill New Home

HVAC Upgrades on a 25 Year Old House

Recessed Andersen 100 Series Windows with Stucco - Best Practice Install Method

Iso Board Insulation On The Roof Deck for High Performance Conditioned Attics

Dehumidification During Construction in preparation for Hardwoods

If you've read my blog much you'll recognize that I'm a huge fan of traditional sanded in place hardwood floors. I've also talked a lot about my waterproofing details on this blog to combat bulk water intrusions into my houses but I've not spent much time talking about the moisture content of the wood in my houses under construction. When we're laying an unfinished hardwood floor it's vitally important to know the moisture content of the floor prior to sanding & finishing. Most hardwood floors find equilibrium between 8-12% moisture content so if we sand/finish woods prior to the woods getting to their equilibrium we may experience problems down the line like cupping or shrinking of boards. The wider the board the more prone it is to experience these problems. Ideally we'd like to run the HVAC system for 1-2 weeks with the woods in the house prior to finishing. But, it's not always possible to have the HVAC system running. In this video post you'll see my strategy for removing moisture from the woods prior to finishing. Also note that the relatively thin 2.25" board size here presents less problems than if we had 4"+ wide boards.
Here's the link to the Dri-Eaz website where you can find more information about their dehumidifiers. I used to rent dehumidifers from the local construction rental yard and let me tell you this unit if FAR superior. I've never had any leak issues, it has a 40' hose so it's easy to run the water outside, and it will run for days at a time without an issue. If you are a builder or remodeling contractor this is a fantastic tool in your moisture management arsenal. To give our clients the best possible floor it is vital to manage the moisture content of our hardwoods prior to finishing. -Matt Risinger

Patrick Ousey of FAB Architecture featured in Metropolitan Home Nov 09

I first remember meeting Patrick Ousey of FAB Architecture at last year's AIA Tour Preview Party. He designed an incredible house in Westlake that hosted the party and the architecture was stunning. I re-met Patrick about two weeks ago when I went on an Andersen Windows factory tour. He's a wonderful guy and was super fun to get to know. Anyhow, I just found out he is featured in this month's issue of Metropolitan Home. It's a interesting project where he repurposed a candy factory into an industrial loft for one of the Dixie Chicks. Check out the Met Home article here. Great work Patrick! I've not built one of his homes yet but after getting to know him on that trip I would HIGHLY recommend interviewing him for your architecture project. -Matt Risinger

Bona Naturale Water Based Polyurathane Floor Finish Review

Don't you just love a true sanded in place hardwood floor? When I lived in Portland, OR my 1920's house had the original 2" oak floors that were just shy of 100 years old and still looked fantastic. In my book Hardwood floors are an old school green building product! Durable, Healthy, Beautiful...what else could you want in a floor?
This is the first time I've used this Bona Naturale hardwood floor finish and I've been very pleased with the result so I thought I'd share my experiences with this finish. The architect on this project Nick Deaver had used it on a previous job and loved how natural the floors looked. He specified it for this remodeling project and my clients have loved it. The matte finish doesn't add much shine and really shows the beauty of the White Oak floors. I forgot to mention in the video that another benefit of his product is the non-slip feel to the matte finish. Walking in your socked feet you never feel like you're going to slide around. Lastly, I want to mention that Bona Naturale is Greenguard Certified for Indoor Air Quality. This is a quote from the Greenguard website about that certification: "Product certification program for low emitting interior building materials, furnishings, and finish systems. All GREENGUARD Certified Products have been tested for their chemical emissions performance."
This is a great floor finish & I highly recommend this product! -Matt Risinger

AirTap Electric Hot Water Heater Efficiency Booster

I posted a review two weeks ago of a new electric hot water heater by Rheem that utilizes a heat pump to double the efficiency of a standard electric hot water heater. Well, I just came across this similar product last week when I was at Morrison Plumbing Supply. This unit called an AirTap uses the same heat pump technology to increase the efficiency of an electric water heater but this is a retrofit model that fits most existing electric hot water heaters. They claim it to be 2.5x the efficiency of a standard electric resistance tank. It makes sense that it would be about that level of efficiency. He's what I really like about this unit. As it's pulling heat out of the air to heat the water in the tank it's blowing cool air back out. If you had a small 1 car garage and this unit was operating in that space it would serve as a AC! It also has an attachment for a duct so you can duct that cool air back into your house to supplement the AC. VERY interesting. I also like that it's a bolt on product to a standard electric tank so if it breaks you're not out of hot water. Or, if you tank below it fails you could move this unit to a new tank. I'll bet this guys are going to sell the heck out of this product in coming years. -Matt Risinger

AIA Tour Austin, TX This Weekend

If you've never been on an AIA Austin homes tour this is THE premier tour of houses in my book. I must say that I'm super bummed that my 3305 Oakmont Blvd house I submitted with James LaRue Architects didn't get selected, but the competition was stiff. I heard there were 40+ houses submitted and 14 made the tour. After seeing the list of architects and houses I could at least feel better that the chosen houses are pretty spectacular. The Austin American Statesman had a good primer article this past Sunday about how there's alot of green building shown off on the tour this year too. My office mates Barley & Pfeiffer Architects were the lead story in the article and their houses are always showpieces of green design and construction. I'm heading to Laity Lodge for family camp so I'll miss the tour :<
Be sure to tell me which house was your favorite! -Matt Risinger

CB-USA Purchasing Group Annual Meeting at Kohler Headquarters

Last Monday and Tuesday I was in Kohler Wisconsin for my CB-USA purchasing group's National Leadership Conference. Kohler along with Dupont and ILevel sponsored our meeting and the Kohler facilities there are incredible! The Kohler company is a 100+ year old family business and the town grew around the factory. It's like visiting a hollywood set because all the houses are quaint and manicured. Our Kohler owned hotel was fabalous too. All the latest Kohler faucets, toilets, body spray showers, etc. We took the factory tour on Monday morning and it was amazing to see how all the fixtures I use in my houses are built. The best part of the tour was the iron foundry. I've probably installed 750 Kohler cast iron tubs in my 15 years of building and I had no idea how they are made. Each tub has a massive mold that molten iron is poured into, the enamel process is equally amazing as they heat up these iron tubs red hot then dust them with enamel that looks like flour. The enamel process is robotic and I wish I could have videoed the process (no cameras allowed). They are smart in giving factory tours as I'm much more likely to recommend Kohler products after seeing their amazing factory.
Here's the official memo on the trip: "Members from each of CB/USA’s 13 city operations participated in the 3 day forum that included manufacturer focus groups, “best demonstrated practices” sharing and an extensive strategic planning session which will help to set the priorities for the 230 member network over the next 12 months. Discussion topics during the planning segment included CB/USA’s year-over-year performance, major enhancements to the company’s web-based purchasing software, marketing and a member certification program. Additionally, the group discussed strategies for strengthening its relationship with select vendors and manufacturers, the development of national and local bid specifications and the implementation of industry-leading purchasing tools as a means of increasing efficiency and lowering hard costs for member builders."
You can check out our local CB-USA Austin website and the national CB-USA website for more information about our group. Look for our group to be a more visible force in marketing our buying power in 2010. -Matt Risinger

Concrete mixed onsite with no waste

I recently found out about this company that mixes concrete at your job site. Check out my video of them in action on one of my remodeling jobs. Check out their website for more info.
-Matt Risinger

PPG Pure Performance Zero VOC Paint Review

I forgot to mention in the video that this paint is Green Seal Certified. Green Seal is an organization that certifies that a product is designed and manufactured in an environmentally responsible manner.
This is a great product and I'm recommending this to all my clients. Check out the PPG Website for more product information. -Matt Risinger

Andersen Windows Factory Tour

I'm writing this post from the Minneapolis St Paul Airport after having spent three days in Bayport Minnesota at the Andersen manufacturing facility. I just started using their 100 Series Windows in a few homes and also recently installed some Andersen 400 series doors so I was excited to see how they were made. I had hoped to take some video on the factory floor but the Andersen people were very serious about no filming inside their doors. Overall their facility is very impressive. The old saying "You get what you pay for" definitely applies to Andersen windows & doors and my visit confirmed their value. They started building windows there in Bayport in the early 1900's and they definitely build one of the best windows available in the US. I was most impressed by how they clad their 400 series windows on the outside with a continuous vinyl barrier with no seams. They call it Permashield and it's been around since the 60's but it's still one of the best systems on the market today. If you're looking for a traditional wood window that 400 series can't be beat.
That being said I've really liked see how their new 100 series windows are made. That 100 Series is a great combination of performance & value pricing. It's constructed from a composite material called Fibrex that's 40% wood and 60% vinyl. I'd liken it to a cross between a fiberglass boat and Trex composite decking. Very impressive material and even cooler to see how it's made. The 40% wood in the fibrex is all wood fiber waste from their window products mixed with virgin vinyl. It's extruded in a big machine that looks like a pasta maker and its super strong. Andersen has been using Fibrex in their door sills for 15 years and it's totally impervious to the elements. I'll do a video review of the 100 series windows soon.
One statistic that stuck with me from the tour was that they only landfilled 1.5% of the raw materials that came into the factory. They did a really good job of recycling raw materials into other products used later in the manufacturing process. For instance, wood off cuts from windows is either going into making fibrex or burned in their boiler system for power. I'm not super keen on vinyl but they did seem to recycle every bit of the vinyl offcuts to be remelted and used in nailing flanges or other vinyl parts.
Lastly I want to comment that my opinion of Andersen door went way up with this tour. It's premium priced but has some great performance features. The doors are made with LVL (think plywood) cores wrapped with vinyl exteriors and their weatherstip process was killer.
Their produts are well made, they have a great warranty, and I've found my local Mirror Gallery Austin to be a great Andersen dealer. Here's their contact info if you're looking for Andersen windows/doors in Austin, TX 281 893-6922
-Matt Risinger

Rot Proofing The Bottom Of A New Home

If you've followed my blog you probably have noticed that I'm a fanatic about my waterproofing details. The reason I'm so picky about how my houses are detailed is that I'm very familiar with the long-term damage that can be caused by even small water leaks. Building fail (i.e. Rot, Mold, IAQ Issues, etc) mainly because of water issues. As a High Performance Builder my goal is to build durable houses free from those issues for the next 50-100+ years. With that in mind let me show you how I detail the slab to bottom of framing connection. This is one area of the house that takes serious abuse from splash up from roofs & sprinkers watering the side of the house 3x per week. Here's my preferred method... -Matt Risinger