Follow the Fine Homebuilding Podcast on your favorite app. Subscribe now and don’t miss an episode:

---

Paul explains his choice of water piping. Kyle suggests a way to find good builders. Bill Beleck discusses charring timbers. Vic shares his costs for grid-tied PV. Nick asks about venting his shop’s metal roof. Joe wants to air-seal his existing house. Jim’s wonders if his foundation drainage system was installed correctly.

Editor Updates:

• Mike: Arizona house update, wiring harness on his minivan
• Brian: Just read the directions

Listener Feedback 1:

Paul from Central California writes: Hi Patrick,

The topic of choosing plumbing for DIY installs came up recently, and I thought I’d share my experience re-plumbing my mom’s home. Her house was full of polybutylene pipe that was splitting open every couple weeks. I had to replace it all, and as a DIYer, I had to do it on nights and weekends. I found the home-run system to be ideal for this. Once I plumbed in the manifold, I could run pipe to one fixture at a time as I was able. I capped off the old plumbing, turned on the valves to the fixture, and was done. It would have been a lot more difficult to do this with a branched system.

I bought a resin plastic manifold from Viega, which served up one refreshing glass of solvent-flavored water after another for the next few years until we sold the house. We couldn’t drink the stuff. Needless to say, I recommend a brass manifold. What’s more, all the fittings on the plastic manifold would loosen up and start dripping once a year. They had to be tightened with the special wrench that came with the manifold. So again, just get a brass manifold.

Note that even a small home-run system involves a lot of pipe, and will take up much more space than you think wherever you mount it. The pipe will also be in a thick bundle as it passes into the floor or ceiling, so plan for a big hole. PEX expands and contracts with temperature, so it has to be cut long. This makes for a much more ungainly and sloppy looking install than an equivalent copper or CPVC installation. This is compounded by the fact that PEX aims to use as few fittings as possible. Expect your home-run PEX system to be unruly.

As for choosing a pipe type, PEX is ubiquitous. You can get anything you need from anywhere. CPVC is harder to find. PEX is super easy to work with—nearly foolproof—and requires less than $100 in tools. It connects to any existing plumbing easily, with adapters or SharkBite fittings.

I used the stainless-steel cinch clamps to secure my fittings. They are the silver rings that have a noticeable crimped ear sticking out from the side of them. They worked very well on my project. They install with one of two simple, cheap hand tools. One of the hand tools is cheaper but requires two hands to operate. The other is a little more expensive and requires only one hand. The one-handed tool is worth the investment, especially when working in awkward or confined places.

There are two grades of PEX pipe: A and B. The A is theoretically superior, but only by a little, and not in a way that made a difference to my installation. It also tends to be sold only at professional plumbing supply houses. Type B is easier to find at retail outlets where a DIYer might go on a night or weekend or for an emergency repair. I’ve heard that you shouldn’t mix the two types on a single system, but that could be urban legend.

There are three methods for securing your fittings: stainless-steel cinch clamps, copper rings, or stretching. As I said, I opted for the cinch clamps because the copper rings need an extra step of measuring the ring after installing it. The cinch clamps installed in a single step, without any measuring. The stretching method came out shortly after I finished my project. It requires a battery-powered tool that costs hundreds of dollars. I believe this method should only be used on PEX A pipe, but I could be wrong.

A final note about fittings: PEX fittings come in plastic or brass. One of PEX’s great strengths over copper is that it doesn’t mind if your water is acidic or corrosive. Copper, by contrast, will develop pinholes. However, while PEX pipe is immune to corrosive water, the brass fittings are not. If your water is problematic, go for the plastic fittings. If your water is really bad, then go for PEX A and stretching to eliminate the metal clamps as well.

Hope that helps,
Paul from Central California

Related Links:

• Which Pipe Fitting Do You Need?
• The Right Way to Join Plastic Pipe
• Build Your Own PEX Manifold
• Fine Homebuilding Project Guide: Plumbing

Listener Feedback 2:

Kyle writes:

I was listening to the podcast and had an option for Susan, who was looking for contractors.

We are having a similar tough time in finding builders, designers, and architects to fully execute our high-performance dream home. I have come across Unity Homes out of New Hampshire.

They offer a service where they will come put up a fully airtight shell with interior framing on your property after you put in the foundation. It is a panelized system that they say they can get the whole shell up in about a week. I am in Kansas and shipping costs/building costs would probably be $60k, so it’s not cheap but it may be worth a look. You can then have a GC complete the interior finishes, which I think is more in the wheelhouse of most contractors. Unity Homes even gives you a mechanical plan that is sized properly for the home as well.

They offer a wide variety of plans, from off-the-shelf to semicustom to fully custom. They also have modern to more traditional styles.

Just a thought you could forward onto Susan.
—Kyle

Related Links:

• How to Find & Retain a Team To Build High-Quality, High-Performance Homes
• How to Afford an Architect
• Working With a Home-Building Contractor

Listener Feedback 3:

Bill Beleck, president of Nakamoto Forestry North America, writes: Hi Patrick, Happy New Year! I hope you are all well. Thank you, guys, for your interest in our world and for having me on (episode 611).

Thermally modifying wood by the long-duration, deep-penetrating Finnish process reduces structural capacity by about 9%, not the Japanese plank-surface charring heat-treatment process. The International ThermoWood Association (thermowood.fi) is the trade association for the Finnish process. Cambia (I think the largest North American processor) and Ecovantage (small factory, great product and prices) are the main U.S. manufacturers.

I have heard of people charring timbers, but I don’t think it really does much in terms of protection. The Japanese charring technique is surface only, so it won’t help too much with preventing timber rot from prolonged moisture without drying. Our mill chief sent me a picture of very old posts burned at the bases in Japan at a temple he saw while on vacation, but that is a one-off. Even the Finnish deep-penetrating process is only good to 1 1/2- to 2-in. depth maximum. It generally makes more sense to simply paint the timbers with asphalt or staple/stick a layer of asphalt where the wood is in contact with a masonry footer or the outside surfaces in contact with the shell. On the greenhouse timber project, for contact with a footer it might be easier to simply drop a roof shingle cut to size between the two as barrier when posts/sleepers are put down, and on outside shell contact use #30 felt ripped into strips (or butyl flashing tape).

Basically, burning timber surfaces will get your listener a hydrophobic soot layer and will look cool, so go for it. I recommend to burn the surface to at least a 1/8-in.-thick soot layer. But an easier solution is a piece of asphalt to act as vapor barrier.

We often get inquiries for raised-bed applications, but, honestly, I’m not sure how to field them. We can’t burn 2x or 4x timbers using our manufacturing process, and I’ve never heard of it being done on raised-bed timbers. But why the heck not? Cedar is rot resistant but also an over-utilized species, and it is very expensive; Douglas fir or Southern pine won’t last as long when used for direct soil contact. You don’t want to use pressure-treated wood with chemicals for garden beds. The best solution might be wood treated by the Finnish thermal-modification process. I’d try local lumberyards that carry Cambia, Ecovantage, or other brands of Thermowood. Or maybe burn the inside surfaces with a torch before the beds are filled with soil? That would probably help.

Hope this input has value. Thanks!

Related Links:

• Charred Wood Siding for Maintenance-Free Beauty
• Wood Siding: Burnt, Brushed, and Burnished
• Cladding Details That Last

Listener Feedback 4:

Vic in New Mexico writes: On Podcast 614, there was a discussion about electric utility costs with residential solar systems. As Brian mentioned, the fee systems vary state by state. Some states have rate systems that are very supportive of solar, and other states don’t.

Here in New Mexico, where we have a 20-panel system, I pay $8.14 monthly to be connected to the system. If I produce more electricity in the month than I use, that’s my bill for the month. If I use more than I produce, I pay for the difference at the standard rates (in addition to the $8.14 monthly charge). In any month that I produce more than I use, the excess electricity goes into a “bank,” and I can use that credit in any month that I don’t produce as much electricity as I use. In this state, from an economic standpoint, the goal should be to produce enough electricity on an annual basis to match my use, so that my monthly bill will always be $8.14 (well, until the next rate change). There is no economic benefit to producing more than I use, since I will never be paid for that electricity.

I enjoy the podcast, keep up the good work.
—Vic

Related Links:

• Net-Metering is How Most Solar-Powered Homes “Store” Electricity
• The Steady Surge in Residential Solar
• Solar Energy Storage Options

Question 1: Do I need to vent the standing-seam metal roof on my shop?

Nick writes: Greetings Fine Homebuilding podcast.

I’ve been listening for a while and learning a lot. My current question is about re-roofing my shop with standing-seam/snap-lock metal roofing. I am thinking about using Cedar Breather® Ventilated Underlayment underneath the roofing. My question is, should I be worried about trying to have some way for air to get under the metal at the bottom edge of the roof and have a vented ridge cap to create a stack effect under the metal roofing? If I don’t have those details, is there still an advantage to having the ventilation gap under the metal roofing?

Part of the shop is a carport with the underside of the roof sheeting open to the air. The other part has a ventilated attic with blown-in insulation.

Thank you for all your efforts to help people learn about building science.

Related Links:

• A Crash Course in Roof Venting
• Snap-Lock Standing-Seam Metal Roof Installation
• Best Deck for a Steel Roof

Question 2: What’s the best way to air-seal an existing home?

Joe in Dublin, Ohio, writes: Hi Patrick and team,

I have an air-sealing and thermal-insulation dilemma. I live in Dublin, Ohio, and my home was built in 1984. My home is 2×4 platform-framed with a brick and stucco exterior and an asphalt-shingled roof.

In the winter, my second floor gets cold along the south and north walls. And my first-floor ceiling gets cold in the same locations. I recently replaced a first-floor ceiling can light near the south wall and was able to take a photo looking south between the second 2×10 floor joist. There appears to be insulation stuffed between the floor joist at the area where the second and first floors are offset (see photo). I also made a SketchUp model of the building section looking west, showing the existing framing at the north wall and south wall.

How can I air-seal and better insulate these areas without removing my finished drywall ceiling and crown molding?

Related Links:

• Borascopes
• Removing Old Insulation
• Video Series: How to Air-Seal an Attic

Question 3: Do you or don’t you need gravel when using dimple boards?

Jim from Cleveland writes:  FHB Podcasters,

I just renewed my all access for another year and am sending my thanks for the continued effort to keep craft and education alive. This is a quick question related to dimple-board installation on foundations. I had to do some excavation against the foundation of the house my wife and I built to expose a spare conduit. I was slightly alarmed when I did not see any gravel against the outside of the dimple board. I dug further and still no gravel, and then kept digging and only found gravel about 2 ft. above the footer. I wasn’t onsite all day during the backfill, so I called my excavator and asked why they didn’t continue the lifts of gravel as they backfilled given our solid Ohio clay. He said that you don’t need it with dimple board?!?

I love the concept of a dimple board and how it relieves the hydraulic pressure of any water that gets to the foundation. But why would you not have gravel on the outside, all the way to grade, to get that water moving to the footer drain before it has a chance to get behind the board and test your foundation waterproofing system? Once again, having a clear understanding of what you are paying for is key to managing a project well.

Keep up the best guessery, and I look forward to another year of great content.
-Jim

Related Links:

• Dampproofing and Waterproofing for Foundation Walls
• Water Management Below Grade
• A Foundation Like a Cooler
• Saving a Stone Foundation

Podcast 617: Members-only Aftershow — Housing Resilience

Discussion about how changing weather can impact houses, what can be done to help housing and housing infrastructure stand up to storms, and how insurance companies influence how we build.

This episode of The Fine Homebuilding Podcast is brought to you by Humboldt

As natural wood species go, redwood is in a class of its own. A sustainable alternative to tropical hardwoods, redwood is grown and harvested to the highest environmental standards in the world. Named for the dark red heartwood at the center of the tree, redwood imparts natural beauty, warmth, and durability to interior and exterior building applications including decking, fencing, paneling, siding, exposed beams and timbers, pergolas, and other shade structures.  

To learn more about redwood from Humboldt Sawmill, please visit GetRedwood.com.  

 

Check out one of our latest Project Guides: Energy Retrofit!

Check out our FHB Houses:

Visit the Taunton Store  •  Magazine Index  •  Online Archive   •  Our First Issues   •  All Access

If you have any questions you would like us to dig into for a future show, shoot an email our way: [email protected].
If we use your question we’ll send you a FHB Podcast sticker!

FHB Podcast T-shirts!

Represent your favorite podcast! Available in several styles and colors. Made from 100% cotton. Find the Podcast t-shirt and more cool products in the Fine Homebuilding Store.

---

 

We hope you will take advantage of a great offer for our podcast listeners: A special 20% off the discounted rate to subscribe to the Fine Homebuilding print magazine. That link goes to finehomebuilding.com/podoffer.

The show is driven by our listeners, so please subscribe and rate us on iTunes or Google Play, and if you have any questions you would like us to dig into for a future show, shoot an email our way: [email protected]. Also, be sure to follow Fine Homebuilding on Instagram, and “like” us on Facebook. Note that you can watch the show above, or on YouTube at the Fine Homebuilding YouTube Channel.

The Fine Homebuilding Podcast embodies Fine Homebuilding magazine’s commitment to the preservation of craftsmanship and the advancement of home performance in residential construction. The show is an informal but vigorous conversation about the techniques and principles that allow listeners to master their design and building challenges.

Other related links

• • All FHB podcast show notes: FineHomebuilding.com/podcast.
  • #KeepCraftAlive T-shirts and hats support scholarships for building trades students. So order some gear at KeepCraftAlive.org.
  • The direct link to the online store is here.