Homeowner and contractor Nick Beasley walks Bob through the progress to date in the master and kids bath, including leveling the floors, building partition walls, and installing cementitious board for the wall and floor tiles. Beasley explains how they discovered inadequate framing for the windows when they removed the wallboard on the exteriorwall. They reframed the wall with a header, making it structurally sound, and prepared to install matching windows. Beasley shows how to open up the building wrap and prepare a watertight window installation. He begins by cutting the building wrap down the middle, to the two bottom corners, then across the top. He staples the paper back and trims the excess away. He then uses Pella's waterproof self-adhesive tape along the bottom sill and up six inches on each side. He doubles up the bottom pieces and lets the exterior section extend 1/2 inch so that water will flow to the exterior and away from the house. He explains that it's important to work from the bottom up when waterproofing a window so that any water that gets in will run down and away, not getting caught behind any flap as it runs. Beasley opens up the nailing flange and roughs in the window before checking it for level and plumb. They shim the window at the bottom, middle, and top before checking again for level and plumb, and nailing it into place. They finish the installation with low-expansion insulation foam to fill the voids around the window. Beasley stresses that it's important to use low-expansion foam so that it won't expand too much and push te window out of plumb or cause difficulty for window operation. Cordell Burton is then back with Bob to review the Pella Architect Series windows the Beasleys selected for their 1895 home. These two-over-one wood interior and aluminum-clad exterior windows are Energy Star rated for high efficiency and feature replica-style hardware. They are constructed of double-pane low-e glass and are argon-filled for maximum energy efficiency.
As framing gets underway, Bob watches the workmen roll out the ICA Sill Seal, a new non-crosslink polyethylene foam product, simplifying the installation of the sill.
Bob is on the second floor of the addition where the crew is putting up twenty four foot long sidewalls. Bob and the crew push the sidewall up and Ryley nails the brace into place. The top and bottom plate and studs for the next wall is laid out on the subfloor and then nailed together. Ryley explains that the door and window headers should be nailed in first as a rule of thumb. Bob puts a backer in for a partition that will run perpendicular to the exteriorwall. Next plywood is laid on top of the wall and set several inches above the bottom of the wall. This is done so that the next sheet overlaps with the first floor and strengthens the bond between the floors. Finally Ryley cuts the window hole, and the wall is ready to go up.
at the same time; concrete interior walls can be textured or furred out for drywall; wind-resistant; forms can make exteriorwall look like brick or textured paint. Cons: Regional preferences and familiarities with this system may make it not as
efficiency model that includes a damper. 13. Insulate electric outlets. Put your hand in front of an electric outlet on an exteriorwall on a blustery day. Feel a breeze? Turn off power and install insulating gaskets behind outlet and switch plates. 14
extensive foundation work. I build structural walls all the time and slap stone on everything, she says. That includes an exteriorwall of her own house, which she veneered with a lustrous grey travertine marble and wrapped inside the garage. A Focal Point