The Blog

Finding and sealing a crack on the exterior of a house will help to reduce air infiltration and exfiltration on the inside. Because of the large size of plywood and OSB sheets, there are relatively fewer seams in the sheathing on newer homes. And the use of products like house wrap on new construction has further reduced air infiltration (see Fig.1). Consequently most new homes are more airtight...

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The exterior of a home can be thought of as an "envelope" or "shell." Sealing the envelope or shell against air infiltration (air entering the house from the outside) and air exfiltration (air escaping from inside the house to the outside environment) helps reduce energy costs for central heating and air ventilation. Hence draft is also reduced. To test for leaks which are responsible for high...

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This article will provide information on the plastering techniques, these techniques being: Coving Drylining Skimming Coving is a technique that involves inserting a decorative mould along the top edges between the walls and ceilings of a room. It is fitted using cove adhesive spread along the full length of the cove top and bottom.  The cove or cornice is made from a gypsum plaster core...

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There are certain cases in which either the concrete floor is not level or you want to cover some wires and cable and the best solution is to pour a thick layer of cement screed. Screeding is a technique used in the construction industry in which a concrete floor is laid on the ground to give a strong, durable, level surface. If there is an uneven floor or a new building where a floor is needed, then...

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Having a new bathroom fitted in might seem like an exciting prospect but it's not as straightforward as you may think. It is rather hard work but having dedication and perseverance will help you to achieve the dream of having a bathroom that truly represents your style and personality as well as provide comfort to other members of your family and friends who will use it. Almost the first thing that...

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Design-build is a way of delivering a project, this methd being used in the construction industry. The method involves delivering a project in which the design and construction services have been contracted or agreed to be done by an individual called the design–builder or design–build contractor i.e. the design-build team works under a single contract with the project owner to provide design and...

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There are many reasons why property owners would like to renovate their basements, these reasons being: as an extra living space, wine cellar, game room/arcade, children's' play area, home theater etc. However, there are factors that may stop property owners from fully appreciating their basement renovation mentioned below as well as possible solutions. 1) Poor Moisture Control Despite...

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Behind every visually stunning garden lies a well thought out plan. The first step in making a garden landscape plan is by obtaining a picture of your garden using web mapping applications like Google maps, Bling maps etc. If you have an official map of your property lines in relation to your neighbours and the street, that will be a big help in this project as it is more precise. Once you have...

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Garden walls gives us the home owners the opportunity to be creative while establishing territorial boundaries with our neighbours in our backyard. Even though we set up physical barriers to keep unknown persons out of our property, we can avoid this action having to appear defensive or unfriendly by altering the appearance of the barrier to be one that is visually pleasing. Here are a few suggestions...

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 This article is written to inform people who are new to the field of brick working as well as for anyone who are having their property constructed and/ or repaired using the techniques outlined in this article. Before we get into the main content of brick working, we must first define two key words which apply to bricks, these being: Stretcher = brick in lengthwise Header = brick in widthwise Fig.1...

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