The Uses Of Silicone Caulking. The silicone caulking now used by builders and manufacturers is probably vastly superior to that used by our ancestors. However, it is marvelous to consider that ancient seafarers must have caulked their boats with some substances as they navigated across oceans to new continents long before the advent of writing. Some kind of substance must have been used to keep sea water from seeping though planks into boats.
In modern usage, when the word is used as an adjective silicone means an inert synthetic compound. Having the qualities of flexibility, water and heat resistance, among others it is useful in a wide variety of building and manufacturing situations. However, when used on its own, the word may also refer to one of the elements.
Although water is the most essential substance on earth there are places where it is not needed. In the built environment there are many situations in which the film between wetness and dryness needs to be absolute. For example, modern bathrooms need to be dry and clean but water must be immediately and readily available in quantities. The presence of electrical appliances in places where water is abundant emphasizes the importance of adequate caulking.
The persistence of water is demonstrated in natural water courses where its propensity to follow lines of least resistance carves courses through mountains. In bathrooms, where it must flow, it characteristically seeks ways through and out, often finding ways through the joints between pipes. Unsightly mold and mildew can grow where water seeps. Good builders are careful to ensure that water flows only where it is needed on tap.
In kitchens and other parts of a house caulk is also used to prevent weathering, It can be applied around doors, windows and counter tops to seal and secure domestic situations. Its industrial applications in interior and exterior applications are so innumerable and varied that they defy listing.
Some types of silicone caulking are safe for use in places where food is prepared. Others are suitable for exterior or industrial use only. This distinction demonstrates how important it is to read labels and follow guidelines in the modern built environment. Water is ubiquitous and so must be the chemical barriers between wet and dry.
For more information on caulking and materials visit Barrie Home Inspections Tips website.
The Air Barrier and Your Home by the Orillia Home Inspector
In Ontario the air barrier in a home is installed under the authority of the Ontario Building 9.25.4.3. Installation of Vapour Barriers
(1) Vapour barriers shall be installed to protect the entire surfaces of thermally insulated wall,
ceiling and floor assemblies.
(2) Vapour barriers shall be installed sufficiently close to the warm side of insulation to prevent
condensation at design conditions.
Where a vapour retarder is employed, the opposite wall surface must provide a permeable surface to allow drying to occur. Thus, in hot, humid, cooling climates, where a vapor retarder is employed at the exterior, the interior wall surfaces should be permeable. Novapor retarder paints, kraft-faced insulation, or vinyl wall coverings should be used. Conversely, in northern heating climates, with interior vapour retarders, the exterior wall coverings should be vapour permeable. This simply means that in warmer climates where cooling is the main concern, the vapour barrier would be installed on the outside of the insulation.
House wraps are a permeable surface which, while protecting your home from the elements allows moisture to pass. This allows any moisture that is between your vapour barrier and house wrap can escape and evaporate rather than collecting in your wall system. The primary attribute of house wraps is their ability to operate as air infiltration barriers while not forming an impervious vapour barrier. When placed over the exterior surface of the wall sheathing, the material allows moisture vapour to escape from the frame wall cavity while reducing convective air movement in the insulation, thereby helping to maintain the composite R-value of the wall.
The Dew Point of your house is the area where warm moist air will convert to moisture. The dewpoint is a measure of atmospheric moisture. It is the temperature at which air must be cooled in order to reach saturation (assuming that air pressure and moisture content are constant). As the surface of the earth cools at night, warm moist air near the ground is chilled and water vapour in the air condenses into droplets on the grass and other objects. Dew is particularly heavy on clear nights, when the earth cools rapidly. When a blanket of cloud insulates the earth, the cooling rate is slower. The greater the difference between the temperature and the dew point, the drier the air
When warm moist air infiltrates your vapour barrier, and passes through to your exterior wall, when it meets a cold surface or void, moisture is created as it cooled to its dew point. This can cause wet insulation, frost on exterior walls and in some cases even mould.
Prevention is possible by ensuring all your insulation is covered by a vapour barrier, most codes call for a minimum of 6 mm poly, and all penetrations are overlapped and taped by Tuck tape, the red tape not the silver duct tape of Red Green fame. All electrical boxes, windows, switches, and vent penetrations should be tightly sealed.
Basements are more susceptible to breaks in vapour barriers due to the fact that most services are located there and many installers fail to replace insulation and repair holes in vapour barriers etc. This can be increased if you have laundry facilities located in your basement and an open sump hole which contains water.
Humidity is the main factor of the creation of moisture and if you live in a climate where the humidity is less than 35% this would not be an issue for you. So if you have high humidity using a dehumidifier in your basement can alleviate these moisture problems.
Written by Roger Frost, the Barrie Home Inspector
Furnace Maintenance Tips
Written by Roger Frost, the Barrie Home Inspector
Heating system and maintenance
In general, heating systems are easy to maintain and are usually trouble free. Efficient operation is a function of good regular maintenance. There are several things you can do to keep your heating system in top condition no matter the type of furnace you have. When a heating or cooling system fails, it is typically one of three things creating the issue ( the heat/cold source , the distribution system and/or the thermostat) . If the furnace or A/C doesn’t work , chances are the issue is at the source. The unit may have lost power , fuel may not be reaching the unit or the fuel may not be igniting. If the unit turns on but the cold or warm air isn’t reaching the rooms , the blower or distribution system may be faulty. A faulty thermostat or control , could keep the unit from turning on or cause it to turn on and off repeatedly. Whatever the problem, start with the simplest procedures. In most cases, all it takes is patience and common sense.
Before working on the system , take these preliminary steps:
Make sure the unit is receiving power . Make sure the unit doesn’t have a blown fuse or tripped breaker. Some furnaces have a separate power entrance on a separate panel and some have fuses mounted on or in the unit.
If the unit has a reset button , let the motor cool down and press the button. If it doesn’t work right away , wait a little while and try it again.
Make sure the units power switch is turned on. Remember , the unit may have a separate power switch.
If it is a gas burning unit, make sure the gas is on and the pilot light is lit. If it’s an oil burning unit check and make sure there is an adequate supply of oil.
If working on the system is necessary remember these important safety factors :
Before doing any work on the unit , make sure all power to the unit is turned off. Remember the unit could be on a separate panel. Make sure the breakers are tripped or the fuses are removed for the particular unit. If your not sure which breaker or fuse it is , trip the main breaker or remove the main fuse to shut off the power to the entire house.
If the unit is constantly tripping breakers or blowing fuses then there is an issue with the electrical. If this is the case , call a professional service person.
If your home smells of gas , leave your home immediately, leave the door open and call the gas company to report a leak. Do not turn any lights on or off and do not re-enter your home.
Keep your furnace clean
Dirt is your furnaces greatest enemy. It can waste fuel drastically lowering the units efficiency. Dirt affect three basic components on your furnace ( the filter , the blower and the motor ) so keeping them clean is the most important part of furnace maintenance. A disposable furnace filter should be replaced monthly during periods of continuous use. To check the filter , simply remove it and check to see if it looks clogged. If it looks clogged replace it regardless of how long it has been used. Install the filter with the arrow on the outer edge pointing towards the blower on the inside of the furnace. The filter size should be marked on the outer edges of the filter.
A permanent filter can usually be cleaned with a filter coating chemical which should be available at your local hardware store. Clean this filter according to the manufacturer’s instructions which may be located in the furnace housing.
Cleaning the blower assembly is also important for maintaining your furnace because the openings can often become clogged with dirt. To clean blower, remove panel that covers filter to gain access to blower or panel on front of furnace. This panel may be slip-fit on hooks or held by series of retaining screws. Access to inside of blower is usually gained by sliding out fan unit, which is held on track by screws. With toothbrush, clean each fan blade and spaces between blades. Then, with vacuum cleaner hose, remove all dirt and debris loosened by brushing. Also vacuum belts and pulleys. Wipe motor housing clean to prevent heat build-up in the motor.
Keep your furnace motor lubricated
To keep your furnace motor running cool, make sure it’s clean. Most furnace motors are permanently lubricated and sealed by the manufacturer however some have covered oil ports above the bearings near the motor shaft. If your furnace motor has oil ports , it should be lubricated annually .Apply two or three drops of 10-weight non-detergent motor oil (not all-purpose oil) to each port. Do not over lubricate. If the blower shaft also has oil ports then it should be lubricated as well. If the blower shaft has grease cups instead of oil ports then remove the caps from the grease cups and fill the cups with bearing lubricant which should be available at your local hardware store.
Inspect on your furnace belt
While lubricating your furnace motor, it is a good time to check the belts. If the belts are worn or frayed , replace them with new one’s that are the same type and size. If the belt squeaks while the motor is running , spray it with fan belt dressing which should be available at your local hardware store. These steps should hopefully help keep your furnace healthy and your family warm for years to come.
To keep the unit in good shape , have it professionally serviced annually. The end of the heating season is usually the best time to do this because of off-season discounts and the company won’t likely be as busy. It a good idea to have your air conditioning unit serviced at the same time.
Roger Frost
Barrie Home Inspections
Which Is The Best Way To Eradicate Termites? The question of which is the best termite treatment? is a tricky one to resolve, because the reply relies partly on your point of view on the widespread use of chemicals. The debate on the usage of chemical pesticides has been going on since the Second World War and even before.
In the Forties and Fifties, many countries that had been involved in the fighting had grave bomb and shell damage, so the local governments took advantage of the clean-up to obliterate all the old inner city slums.
As they did so they observed plagues, simply plagues of bed bugs, cockroaches, rats and other pests, so they spread chemical killers such as DDT everywhere in large quantities. A similar process, for different reasons, was carried out in the United States.
This had the desired effect of destroying the pests, but there was already unease, that insects may become immune to these insecticides. The use of DDT was later banned. The qualms of those who worried about insects becoming resistant, were at least partly warranted and so the debate goes on on. In this article, we will look exclusively at: which is the best termite treatment.
There are three basic methods of termite control: fumigation, baiting and soil barriers
Fumigation involves the gassing of termites. A tent is built around the building in question and gas toxic to termites is pumped into your house from top to bottom and between the exterior walls and the tent.
This gas is then forced into every nook and cranny by fans and it is left there for about twenty-four hours. Then the tent is removed and the gas is extracted from the house by the same fans.
The treatment takes three days. You will move out on day one and back in on day three. The gas only kills termites, they say, so all your mice, spiders and cockroaches will be left unscathed. You will get a warranty that the house is free of all termites. However, some people are not enthusiastic about the idea of fumigating.
Baiting involves laying bait stations around the house and monitoring them for termite activity. This can be carried out by yourself or you can have a pest control firm do it for you. Once the wooden bait shows signs of termites, then the bait is poisoned.
The principle is that the poison is taken back to the colony where it is passed on the the others either by bodily contact or feeding. This process takes longer to eradicate a nest than the three days of fumigation.
Creating a soil barrier means exactly that, you poison the soil around and underneath your home, so that as soon as a subterranean species of termite burrows into your garden it is stopped dead. Quite literally and subterranean termites are the worst of the three kinds. However, a lot of people hesitate at the idea of poisoning hundreds of tons of earth just to kill termites.
So, the debate on the matter of: which is the best termite treatment? goes on. A lot of it centres on your gut feelings about chemicals, but at the end of the day, ‘you pays your money and you takes your choice’.
Hardwood Flooring Maintenance and Care
Hardwood is one of the best choices when it comes to flooring options. Hardwood floors are preferred over carpet flooring because it does not retain allergy causing pollen. Also, carpets need a lot more cleaning and maintenance than hardwood floors. Carpets also tend to smell over time, while hardwood doesn`t.
Aside from carpets, hardwood floors also beat other synthetic materials in the sense that hardwood floors are more durable and elegant. Hardwood floors will add style, grace and value to your home that other types of synthetic flooring can`t do. If you want a romantic and warm tone to your home, hardwood floors will also have an advantage over other extracted flooring material like stone. Beyond these however, one of the best benefits of having wood flooring is the ease of cleaning these beautiful hardwood floors.
Cleaning hardwood floors entail occasional sweeping with a regular broom to get rid of dust that may have settled on the floor. Be sure however that when cleaning hardwood floors, you use only a soft broom that will not scratch the polyurethane varnish off the floor. You can also even just use a slightly damp mop immediately followed by a dry one to make sure that dust will be thoroughly picked up in cleaning hardwood floors. One thing you cannot do in cleaning hardwood floors is to scrub with a hard brush on the floor surface.By doing this, you will create marks on the even and shiny finish of your hardwood.
Another thing is that you should not excessively wet the area when cleaning hardwood floors to avoid the water from seeping into the wood and making it swell. Swelling, which results from incorrect methods of cleaning hardwood floors, will cause the wooden planks to become uneven and in some cases, chip off. Be very careful not to spill or mop up quickly any spills that may occur on your hardwood.
Generally, modern wood stains and polyurethane varnish finishes the wood and gives it a protective coat that will shield it from untoward accidents like spills and the like. You also don`t have to worry about too much wear and tear on the hardwood floor because the usual protection from the varnish usually lasts for years before a reapplication is needed.
Even cleaning hardwood floors is made a breeze by these modern wood finish and varnish aids because the surface of the floor becomes very even and smooth, which makes it hard for dust to settle. Any dirt or dust is easily lifted off the surface without much effort.
In collecting the aid of cleaning tools for your hardwood floors, make sure that you don`t use any substance that can ruin your floor`s protective varnish. For instance, some cleansers may contain alcohol or other harsh liquids that can ruin your floor`s finish.
Also, be sure not to use equipment not meant for cleaning hardwood floors. Some surfaces or edges from certain equipment may unduly scratch and create grooves on your floor so be sure to think twice or better yet, consult a hardwood floor expert for advice. Whatever the case, cleaning hardwood floors can be a total breeze with a little effort and common sense. No more scrubbing or back breaking work. Just give it a few sweeps and your floor will retain its warm luster and look like new.
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Barrie Home Inspections
Understanding Your Septic Tank. The septic tank is buried, watertight container typically made of concrete, fiberglass, or polyethylene. It holds the waste water long enough to allow solids to settle out, forming sludge, and oil and grease to float to the surface as scum. It also allows partial decompositions of the solid materials. Compartments and a T-shaped outlet in the septic tank prevent the sludge and scum from leaving the tank and traveling into the leach field area.The most common leach field consists of a series of trenches containing perforated pipe surrounded by septic rock, or gravel, and covered with mesh and dirt. The effluent entering the leach field is partially absorbed into the soil and partially evaporated. the leach field should not be driven on or covered by a driveway or patio.
If your home’s plumbing system does include an on-site septic system, it is incredibly important to be aware of the signs of possible damage, along with the maintenance needed to prevent it. A damaged or clogged septic system can be costly to repair. It can also impose possible health risks for homeowners, tenants and neighbors. A failing septic system could be responsible for releasing wastewater and harmful bacteria and viruses, including E. coli.
There are many different types of septic systems ranging from what are called conventional in-ground systems to sand mounds and from spray irrigation systems to stream discharge systems. There are also seepage pits, cesspools, and homemade systems. This booklet is not intended to cover every situation, but is intended to give the homeowner an understanding of the concept of how a septic system works and a better understanding of a septic inspection.
The in-ground type of septic system uses a series of perforated pipes located below the ground surface. These pipes are placed in a bed of crushed stone or aggregate. The sewage flows over the crushed stone or aggregate into the underlying soil. The condition of this soil determines how well your septic system will operate and how large the absorption area needs to be. If the absorption area is too small and the soil is too tight as with clay soils, the liquid cannot soak into the soil fast enough causing the waste to either back up into the home or emerge at the ground surface. An early sign of waste emerging at the surface is “lush growth.” The saying “that the grass is always greener over the septic tank” isn’t true when it comes to a properly operating septic system.
How often should a septic tank be cleaned or pumped? The frequency for pumping a septic system depends on a number of factors; the average frequency is between two and four years. You can, in some cases, abuse a septic system and neglect to pump it for 10 or 20 years without any apparent problem. This would be like driving your automobile for 50,000 miles without changing the oil. You might get away with it, but you would certainly cause undue wear and tear on the engine. The same is true with a septic system. You may get away with not pumping the system for many years, but you will pay for it in the end by having to replace the absorption area.
When the soil conditions are right, an area of active microorganisms is formed where the waste enters the soil. As the waste slowly percolates through the soil the microorganisms continue to grow and feed on the harmful bacteria and viruses in the septic waste. The underlying soil continues to absorb and filter the waste. Four feet of soil is all that is needed to treat the septic waste in good soil conditions.
The Barrie Home Inspector always recommends that you have your septic tank pumped by a licensed installer who can give you a written assessment of the complete septic system.
