Architect in Atlanta here. We always spec continuous insulation for homes and it ALWAYS gets removed during the budgeting process. Certainly happy to find other companies putting an emphasis on building performance!
Finally someone normal in this world. In my experience all the contractors I ever dealt with all they ever say that what I do is an overkill. No one cares about the quality anymore. Most contractors are not educated and looking to cut corners. I love this guy, he does exactly what I do. Think outside of the box and make things better. Good job. Absolutely love it
Exactly. Unfortunately, it seems most contractors just want to meet the bare minimum code requirements and do the job quick and cheap... for their benefit not their customer's. I respect those who care about quality and are willing to research best practices and new (in our country) techniques.
You are the FIRST smart builder I've ever known and I come from a construction family!!! Cost should NEVER be the primary consideration for building/remodeling a home. Yes, mineral wool has some health concerns, but those can be mitigated. It is 100% the BEST insulation to use in a home, period! But to take it one step further and wrap the house is exacting what is needed to keep energy bills low. Unfortunately, many people will never consider doing this because of the extra cost involved never realize the money they will save over the years!!! GREAT JOB you guys!!!!
As much as I disagree with Corbett about mechanical ventilation and air tightness I still watch almost every single one of his videos and his channel is one of the only ones I get alerts on. I appreciate that he talks fast so I don't have to put the video on 2x speed, he is passionate about home performance and has not been bought out by the companies who will remain unmentioned , and agree or not, he is blazing a trail and really wanting to increase knowledge of what makes a house "good"
@@HomePerformance I wrote a long reply to this yesterday and somehow it didn't get posted so I'll rephrase in a more concise manner. I think we have the same starting point, namely that outside air is better than inside air, and that house should have low, affordable energy use. Where we differ, is the reliance on mechanical assistance. Best comparison I can think of is - if I wanted an efficient clothes dryer I could go out and spend $3k on a heat pump clothes dryer. It would pay for itself eventually, if it didn't break before the payback period. Or I could dry my clothes on a line, outside, for free. Another example - in building a house in the hot humid south, one could paint the house all black, or all white. There is no cost difference. Yet, the all white house is cooler and more comfortable in the summer and uses much less energy for cooling, yet not appreciably cooler n winter. So I guess what I'm trying to say is high performance is all well and good if we don't believe the natural and often times free ways to achieve the same result, like opening windows for ventilation
I understand what you’re saying, O- we can agree to disagree. In my view, depending on the weather and air quality outdoors to stay consistently dry, healthy, and fresh is asking too much when we have pollen, wildfires, neighbors, etc.
@@HomePerformance I agree with that. And I think each effective strategy should built around a specific climate. Passivhaus would not make sense in San Diego and opening windows would not make sense in Shanghai
I am in the process of following this setup in Western Pennsylvania. It's significantly more expensive in labor but I'm excited to see the results come winter time.
The Cost ; Yes , Going for a thicker insulated wall will cost more to do , but after the house is built, the money you will save on heating, & air conditioning, will pay for the expense ! With raising heating cost's, the thicker wall , is worth thinking about !!
Kick ass. Those danish people are smart for inventing rock wool. Usa is just getting onboard what canada 🇨🇦 has enjoyed for over 30 years (as in we have rock wool). Very clean and precise installation. Keep it up. Remember to furr out any batttin that are not in plane. Use a string to check how planar your wall is. Kick ass
The question is how does your body get rid of it out of your lungs. Similar properties to asbestos. It’s made by heat and pressure on volcanic rock guess how asbestos is made lol
I just stuffed Rock wool insulation in all my 16 x 40 tiny house walls last night. Still have to do ceiling. I could tell last night after all the walls were covered the sound proofing was amazing. My little shack is going to be air tight once I staple up the wrap and then add my 1/2 plywood interior walls.
2x8 framing is pretty extreme, at some point you should just use 2x10s on 48" centers that is pretty much the maximum spacing you can use with standardized sheathing while still having more or less adaquate compression strength. You might need to add metal reinforcements to get a good shear value (since each peice of sheathing is only nailed into 2 studs) and if this became standard practice we might need to use more engineered materials. Also why do warmer climates have lax insulation codes? Air conditioning takes a lot of energy if you don't have good insulation, and extreme heat can be almost as deadly as extreme cold if your HVAC fails at exactly the wrong time and you don't have good insulation.
Regarding the exhaust and intake of the ERV, Zehnder recommends only 10 feet apart. They told me it was more important to not have instake near something with bad air quality such as car exhaust, grills, etc. Obviously more seems better if you have the ability though.
Your less than a mile from my grandmothers old house on Red Wine Rd. I was there often in the 70s. House is no longer there but a few acres still in the family. I'm designing my house now and weighing furring strips and rockwool or Zip-R 9 or 12. Indecisive at this point. Also planning for a partial encapsulated conditioned crawlspace for the same reason you did. I don't want to chip away rock on my upper slope and a conditioned crawlspace 24" higher than my basement works for me. I'd much rather have my equipment there with plenty large rigid ducts to the main and 2nd floor loft. Maybe I missed it, but any reason you went with Rockwool versus Zip-R or OX-IS other than possible off gasing of the polyiso.
Hey that’s cool- we did rockwool to stay free from foam (have a whole vid about why), and I’d consider the fastener and bucking complexities between the two ZIP-Rs.
Thank you for sharing some details. Exterior insulation and 2x4 framing is the way to go. I wonder about those 1x2's though...pretty dainty, hope they don't split when the siding nails go in!
I learned to keep the intake AND the exhaust for the air to air exchanger. A decent wind will overwhelm the system with toi much outside air. I think next time I will put a plumbing trap on the ventilator to decrease both outside positve pressure AND venturi. I wish I did my house in Massachusetts 20 years ago like yours.
Why I like exterior insulation is it reduced temperature differential across the wall. Bats or foam in the wall will only do part of the work - exterior is a bonus. Moisture follows drive: hot to cold, high to low pressure. If you can cut differential across a wall in half, then drive is reduced - just make sure exterior details are set so failure is to the outside. Some might recall the bad problems of synthetic stucco about twenty years back - it had a horrible tendency to trap moisture and turn awall... into a moisture trap. If you build new or take walls to the studs on a rebuild, don't waffle on if exterior insulation should be installed, but what & how. Take an average house of the 60's and framing setback with a brick cladding only leaves room fot 1" [maybe as little as 3/4"]. Ok... do what you can [maybe xps foam], just remember cladding always needs a drainage gap or drain mat behind it so it is able to dry itself out.
I would be grateful if you could answer this question. When you attach the wood strapping over the Rockwool using the screws, how do you ensure that the screws are driven an equal depth? If the depth of the screws differs then there would assumably be undulations in the wood strapping. Thanks for any thoughts.
My wife recently found a study showing the type of screw in this assembly makes a big difference in the efficiency of the rockwool. Apparently stainless screws do a much better job. Have you seen this and was there any thought given to using stainless screws?
excellent project, Radon Pipe is it really necessary when using a ERV system? seems that Rodon needs to build up to potentially be harmful. But if the air in the home is being exchanged, then would the radon ever build up? It would be interesting to do a test to see what would happen if you blocked the radon vent for some amount of time, then take a radon test to see what happens.
I see a lot of the Rockwool Comfort board being installed in colder climates, I assume that this has similar benefits in climates with extreme heat such as Las Vegas??
Certainly. The max temp difference we expect in Atlanta is around 50 deg F (70 in, 20 out)- Las Vegas can get to 50 F max diff in summer (70 in, 120 out).
Joseph Lstiburek's perfect wall building science Please comment, it seems you have a the same layering configuration in walls? what about roof and floor? He talks alot about condensation and how it creates mold / rot and destroys walls
Roof has no continuous insulation layer, because the energy model showed no significant benefit for this house in this climate. Airsealing makes the most impact on moisture control and condensation, but you also can choose materials that let the house dry in all directions, which we’ve done here too.
I'm surprised by your comments about not needing to stagger them. Any evidence to back that up? It seems to me that it would be more efficient to have two thinner layers staggered vertically add horizontally. Thanks!
If it was your only layer of insulation, or if it was also the airtightness layer, then it might make a difference. But you’d have to craft a way to attach the first layer.
Wish I was building my "forever home". I am sold on your continuous insulation layer concept, plus I think I understand the benefits of "Rock Wool". Have you ever considered using it in combination with radiant barrier?
Thanks so much for this video. It’s very informative. I’ve watched it many times. Could you please comment on how or if it’s possible to apply this technique as a retrofit over stucco? My house is from 1964 in SoCal. I believe it’s only stucco on wire lath, no plywood sheathing. We added insulfoam inside all the exterior walls but still not getting the performance we need. Is it possible to attach the rockwool with only studs and stucco to drill into?
I'm gonna insulate exactly the same way. Question about the quarter inch timber screws on the 1x2 planks: aren't they too big? Can I just use normal #10 structural screws?
Will your cladding face be flush with the outer most edge of your manufactured black aluminum drip edge? Or, how will you keep bugs from entering your rain screen cavities while allowing airflow and any moisture to drain out? Also, if you have any good resources to share on detailing rain screens, that would be much appreciate it. Thanks so much!
Great Video! Question: I am doing 1 1/2" Owens Corning foam board with Tyvek Drain wrap over that and my 3/4" PT plywood strips into the studs as my rainscreen along with Cor-A-Vent over top both the foam board and house wrap. Do I continue it up in to the soffit or install my soffit first and then take the foam board up against the sofit?
Is this cheaper than building with ICFs? From my limited knowledge it seems like that would be a better system and the house is virtually indestructible.
What an awesome video - and such a great video personality you have. I’m wondering, when rock wool is pressed directly ip against sheathing, how might that change the behavior of the WRB - and the sheathing’s ability to dry to the outside?
Thanks for watching, Travis. Since the rockwool is more permeable than the ForceField, it has no effect even when pressed tight against, as I understand it. The behaviour of gas molecules isn’t really intuitive though, so it’s always better to ask.
I’ve watched about every video now - thanks very much. Question - curious about why, since you used Thermalbuck, you did not use Thermaltight rather than rock wool.
Glad the video series was interesting to you, Tom. We avoided foam wherever possible, because of the toxic flame retardants built into them in the U.S.
Do you have a video on how you dealt with the windows with the rockwood board making the exterior wall thicker? I wonder if stretch tape can stick to rockwool board? When Matt R. did a demo the outside of his exterior was the solid foam and he used stretch tape to make the window sill/frame water proof. Will stretch tape being pulled over the rockwool board stick to the board? Cheers from East Canada.
I just did some quick math on the savings of doing this. Assuming a worst case 25 degree difference , 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and ac/heating system with a cop of 1. You save about $215 a year by doing this. Of course that's a very conservative amount. If the cop is on the order of 3 and degree difference per year is less tha 25 degrees (which it is) you end up saving about $50 a year. What was the cost for materials and labor so we can figure out the time it takes to make your roi?
big O don’t forget to add the cost of a less comfortable, less healthy, noisier with the reduced resale value, lost value in not being able to determine the TESTED improvements, environmental impact to redo when someone else wants it improved, reduced efficiency when someone else wants it improved.......🧐 In other words, there’s quick math and then there’s complete picture math 😉
@@NeoKnight9 lol. Did you take that straight out of the passivhaus sales guide? Reduced resale value? A code minimum house will sell for a higher percentage of it's build cost than a high performance house. What makes a code minimum house less comfortable or healthy. If you want a quiet house, build our of concrete. Those Batts do not appreciably increase stc rating q
big O lol Sorry I haven’t read that! I build system dynamic models and am enough of a systems thinker to understand the negative feedback loops when attributes aren’t considered in the actual “cost” of things. Probably should have written “reduced value”; anyone who has looked into differential deterioration and lifecycle costs can appreciate the un-anticipated costs most homeowners don’t consider. Particularly dependant on the age of their home relative to the amount of time they will live there. But please go ahead and simple math it up for your decision making processes 😁
@@NeoKnight9 that's surprising as you sound like every one of the passive Haus owners I've heard. "Yeah I spent 2x as much but the house is sooo comfortable!" So pray tell, since you design feedback loops and what not, how do you quantify the added "health" or "comfort" of adding 2 inches of exterior insulation.? Please do go into detail. Thanks lol
@@jl9678 a more air tight and better insulated home with controled, filtered air free of pollutants and allergens is a much healthier environment. Using building materials that are more renewable and environmentally friendly is a big plus to having higher performance homes as well. Energy savings costs in passive homes (at least in the North) outweighs the cost of the added material and time. Annual energy consumption costs of homes we build in Canada can be as low as $200 annually.
I tried finding more of your vids on this build without success. I am looking for a "how to vid" when it comes to adding overhangs all around to an insulated box, ie. all forms of interior structural members being isolated from the exterior conditions or thermal bridging.. Question: Is there quantified data showing the longevity of the mastic which is holding your flex tape to the tin pipe? I know that the southern side of structures take a tremendous beating from the sun..
I put an envelope of 1/2" pink foam on the inside under my drywall. The only thing that I can say is I wish it would have been 2" to upgrade the upgrade. Fastners do become an issue. Any thing special costs $$.
All these videos, how would you do this for concrete walls though? 4-6 inch masonry screws might be expensive... . You want sound denting and performance how about 8 inch CMU wall + continuous insulation on the inside and outside :) . Soon to come ! Finishing my late fathers project. he put up the CMU Wall because he doesn't believe in wood. I think ill beat him in terms of crazy engineering by adding exterior insulation :) thanks for the idea, just need to figure out how to do it concrete siding :)
I saw one guy who build a concrete house, he did the form work for the walls on the ground, put down 8 inches of exterior insulation with like 10-12 inches long plastic spikes going through them, and then poured the concrete on top, so the spikes would be stuck in the concrete
@@Pontus95 The concrete is already set for a long time. Actually My late father had already but brick ties in the blocks as he built . He was going to put brick but this day and age I can't really afford it. Plus I think it's better to put exterior insulation and cement siding than brick work. More functional. Who knows. I'll get a few quotes for each work and see cost difference . Maybe just finishing his dream is better than the exterior insulation . I can always put a layer of insulation on the inside then build my frame Thanks for the idea :)
Does the continuous insulation "blanket" continue onto the roof? Doesn't the rockwool compress under the weight of the roofing or do you breach the blanket to support the weight of the roofing?
To bad you're not sponsored by Fastenmaster... how many Headlok's did you go through? Those aren't cheap! Does Extoseal come in narrower widths? Seems to me you could have used a 2-3" wide tape on that duct?
Hi Corbett, thanks for sharing. At 2:00 I see a flashing material wrapping around the sill of the home to support the initial weight and maintain a level starter line of the rockwool. It looks like the rigid insulation of the foundation stretches from the ground up to that flashing. I'm trying to find a similar flashing which returns at the bottom, back towards the foundation (If you could imagine an upside down P shape). My question is, can you recommend who sells these types of uncommon flashing for rockwool wall systems? I reached out to rockwool but didn't get a response. Ohhhhhhh.. my bad. I just saw at 6:30 why someone criticized you for saying manufactured in place of fabricated. Big deal, the majority of youtubers would rather watch an unscripted video with some spontaneity and errors than an obviously scripted and edited but boring video. Looks like I might need to buy a metal brake for what I'm looking for.
That looks great! I see a number of aluminum brackets on the walls that look like they are from Maine Deck Brackets. Can you tell us what they will be for or is that your next episode?
Radiant barrier works in our climate on the roof, but not walls so much. They do not have foil facing as an option, though we have some on the roof OSB here.
I know you use a lot from 475. Why did you not go with Gutex? For one example Gutex claims a much better sound absorbing property then Rockwool and higher insulation R value...
Now looking for ways to insulate doors to go with super-insulated walls and multi-glazed windows. How hard would it be to build a hollow core door to take a 50mm rockwool batt in the cavity?
Where do you source the comfortboard 80 from? The only places that I can find it are expensive. Not including shipping the mineral wool I can find is twice the cost of xps foam.
How much do windows (even high efficiency ones) reduce the effectiveness of the exterior insulation? Comments I've heard is that there's diminishing returns (at least in warmer climates) for adding more and more insulation, but never seen any good figures to compare cost/benefit, etc.
There is only one way to know for sure - heat load calculation. It is time consuming, but once done, you can play with the numbers and know exactly if paying more for triple pane windows makes any sense.
That Comfort Board is much more expensive than Comfort Batts, and those long screws to attach the furring strips back to studs are not only expensive, but they perforate the Force Field. I don't trust that butyl tape to stay sealed around screws shifted by a 100 years of shrinking wood framing. Wouldn't it be cheaper and safer to avoid all those issues by building a second unsheathed, vented, WRB 2x4 stud wall cantilevered 4" away from the Force Field sheathing and fill the gap with continuous Comfort Batts and the second stud wall with more Comfort Batts ? R30 Rockwool all exterior insulation, R15 of it continuous, no penetrations of the sheathing, only attached at cantilevered brackets and rafter tails. All the house framing could have been 2x4 empty of insulation. A bonus would be the window glass and frames recessed 8" back from the siding.
KW, you're talking way above my capability and my paygrade. For a 'real' builder, that might be a piece of cake, but your idea makes my head explode about halfway through the explanation.
I don't think it's beyond your capability at all. You did a fine job on the structural stud wall framing. This would be the same without the sheathing. You used the Maine brackets to support a deck ledger -- you could do the same to support a separate sill plate all around a house for that second stud wall. Or you could just extend the floor system 8" beyond the stem wall foundation in every direction like you did your balcony. Either would support a second stud wall to attach siding and the roof load is already done by the inner wall. I think the Brackets are the more expensive solution. You would have innie windows which is why I said recessed by 8". This has been a great build, using specialized materials conventionally. I just wonder if 20 years from now people will be shaking their heads at mechanically fastened board insulation and it's thousands of penetrations the same way we do now about EIFS stucco over foam and osb. It sounded great 20 years ago but caused thousands of homes to rot.
Aw shucks, KW- thanks. And I’m sure we’ll both be watching that all-wood assembly system from Switzerland that Risinger showed off. Solves those issues in an unexpected way.
The Gutex system is best as both a sheathing and insulation layer, which is too advanced for me this time around. I’m already going from zero to amazingness in one build, didn’t want to over reach.
Great videos. Done a bit of research on the rainscreens but most of the buildings and reviews have been over the zip sheathing system. I notice you use the butyl tape under your furring strips. I've never seen anyone do that on high performance builds using the zip system, is that unique from GP? Would you recommend it on zip too? Is there any literature on the benefits of that in terms of air sealing?
Did you fabricate the 3/4" furring strips on-site out of plywood or order them as-is? We're looking for a good economical way to add a basic rain screen behind our cladding and I've seen a couple of different takes on this similar method.
Am thinking so long as you have 3/4 material you should have excellent holding strength for the cladding. Should not make any difference what material you use. Check out this video from Jordan Smith last week. ruclips.net/video/utn4dKUAl8o/видео.html he is talking about attaching lap siding
Yes, ‘real’ builders should use the tools and manpower they have to save $$. It’s worth it to us to just buy 1x2 furring strips off the shelf, because of our specific circumstance.
Reminds me of Ron Swanson in one of those places. Employee: "Can I help you find anything?" Ron: "I know more than you." Employee: **taken aback** "Ooookay." **lets Ron go uninterrupted** 😂
Breathing anything besides air isn’t great for your body. Particles of rockwool, sawdust, burned toast, oil droplets, etc: all bad for you. Wear a mask.
The cost factor definitely keeps most builders from using it, they just can't figure out how to justify it. I would be curious as to the actual ROI on using exterior insulation. I have the Energy savings numbers, but the cost of installing seems to vary across the country.
From the air quality or building science perspective, what is the benefit of rockwool over foam board? Is it just the fire retarding? I wouldn't think air quality would come into play on the external layer.
Fire resistance is a big one, mineral wool is also made from recycled materials so it's "greener". Air quality within the home may be better if the building has a better air seal on the exterior.
Actually, the toxic flame retardant chemicals in foam insulation DO travel through solid materials, which is why we avoided foam inside and out wherever possible.
Is there any reason a person couldn’t use regular batts instead of board to do the exterior? Is there something added to the board version that makes it cost twice as much?.
I plan on redoing my roof this summer and I would like to add some exterior insulation. I have not found any details on how to cover a roof in exterior mineral wool though. Could I essentially do the same thing you have done but in the roof?
Sure, I would have too if the energy model had shown it would be worth it. Happy to consult with you if you’d like advice. Just don’t add ins if there’s a vented attic below.
@@HomePerformance I have a 1.5 storey house with no eaves and only a gable vent. I planned on creating eaves to vent above the insulation, and to only insulate up to the insulated ceiling inside. Essentially leaving 5-6ft from the peak uninsulated
Excellent video but unfortunately you can not get rigid mineral wool insulation at any of the building stores such as Home Depot or Lowes and when you try to order it from them you get a series of horror stories from them trying to dissuade you from ordering it and even if you make an order it is so costly it gives you a heart attack. They commonly carry mineral wool batts but no rigid insulation.
Yes, that’s what an energy model does for every bit of the enclosure. Think about what a wall with NO continuous insulation at all actually has as insulation value.
@@FrancisKoczur oh, that's good to know (framing factor) although it seems rather high even with two top plates and a bottom plate. Still it gets in the ball park. Don't forget there is also an approx r 0.68 for the still air on the interior wall
If you’re not using 2” of outsulation, then Cor-A-Vent might do fine, but it would be difficult to make perfectly straight since it’s softer. Metal might be hella expensive.
Redundancy based on informed risk- if everything has a redundant backup, there’s lots of wasted cost and materials. It’s an artful science, not a prescriptive rule set.
@@HomePerformance Im in Zone 1 type climate and need to find a 3-5 perm peel and stick. 475 has 7 perm. I am trying to dry to the inside as best as possible and J. Istiburek has said, if you cant get installation perfect, dont apply a .1 perm material. We will have to dry both ways with 5 to 10 perm.
@@HomePerformance I did hear 3 inch but that was the crawl space wall. nothing like being right on the cusp of temperate zones 3 / 4 R 8 should do a great job of thermal break.
looks like it should be around r 12. He said 3 inches continuous. Being in Hotlanta I have been there with days where the humukity was a killer. 105 + and humidity that was in the 90s just north in Cumming Ga. A great reason to run exterior insulation and a dedicated de humidifier. Interestingly I live about 120 miles north and we do not see this type of warm fronts coming thru from the Gulf of Mexico.
Total nominal R-value = exterior R-8 plus cavity R-15 = R-23. Minus the framing factor, of course, if you wanted to be very accurate, though almost no one in normal conversation does.
Don’t sweat tiny stuff- if it’s less than 1/4”, it’s probably not worth fixing, but that’s based on common sense, not research. Most gaps can be avoided by cutting well.
Architect in Atlanta here. We always spec continuous insulation for homes and it ALWAYS gets removed during the budgeting process. Certainly happy to find other companies putting an emphasis on building performance!
Cool Andrew keep trying
Finally someone normal in this world. In my experience all the contractors I ever dealt with all they ever say that what I do is an overkill. No one cares about the quality anymore. Most contractors are not educated and looking to cut corners. I love this guy, he does exactly what I do. Think outside of the box and make things better. Good job. Absolutely love it
Hey, thanks Jack! So glad you found us, always awesome to meet like minds.
jackthepilot ditto
Exactly. Unfortunately, it seems most contractors just want to meet the bare minimum code requirements and do the job quick and cheap... for their benefit not their customer's.
I respect those who care about quality and are willing to research best practices and new (in our country) techniques.
In contractor’s defense, they’ve been trained by most of us to build that way. Americans love it fast and cheap- look at McDonald’s.
@@HomePerformance Fair enough. 😂
You are the FIRST smart builder I've ever known and I come from a construction family!!! Cost should NEVER be the primary consideration for building/remodeling a home. Yes, mineral wool has some health concerns, but those can be mitigated. It is 100% the BEST insulation to use in a home, period! But to take it one step further and wrap the house is exacting what is needed to keep energy bills low. Unfortunately, many people will never consider doing this because of the extra cost involved never realize the money they will save over the years!!! GREAT JOB you guys!!!!
Thanks for following, AMD!
As much as I disagree with Corbett about mechanical ventilation and air tightness I still watch almost every single one of his videos and his channel is one of the only ones I get alerts on.
I appreciate that he talks fast so I don't have to put the video on 2x speed, he is passionate about home performance and has not been bought out by the companies who will remain unmentioned , and agree or not, he is blazing a trail and really wanting to increase knowledge of what makes a house "good"
Damn, thanks O. Audience like you is the ideal- don’t mind a bit that we don’t agree about everything, it keeps things spicy.
@@HomePerformance I wrote a long reply to this yesterday and somehow it didn't get posted so I'll rephrase in a more concise manner.
I think we have the same starting point, namely that outside air is better than inside air, and that house should have low, affordable energy use.
Where we differ, is the reliance on mechanical assistance.
Best comparison I can think of is - if I wanted an efficient clothes dryer I could go out and spend $3k on a heat pump clothes dryer. It would pay for itself eventually, if it didn't break before the payback period. Or I could dry my clothes on a line, outside, for free.
Another example - in building a house in the hot humid south, one could paint the house all black, or all white. There is no cost difference. Yet, the all white house is cooler and more comfortable in the summer and uses much less energy for cooling, yet not appreciably cooler n winter.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is high performance is all well and good if we don't believe the natural and often times free ways to achieve the same result, like opening windows for ventilation
I understand what you’re saying, O- we can agree to disagree. In my view, depending on the weather and air quality outdoors to stay consistently dry, healthy, and fresh is asking too much when we have pollen, wildfires, neighbors, etc.
@@HomePerformance I agree with that. And I think each effective strategy should built around a specific climate. Passivhaus would not make sense in San Diego and opening windows would not make sense in Shanghai
👍🏽👍🏽
I am in the process of following this setup in Western Pennsylvania. It's significantly more expensive in labor but I'm excited to see the results come winter time.
Great to hear, and keep up the great work my friend!
The Cost ; Yes , Going for a thicker insulated wall will cost more to do , but after the house is built, the money you will save on heating, & air conditioning, will pay for the expense ! With raising heating cost's, the thicker wall , is worth thinking about !!
If you like efficiencies check out Norwegian fireplaces. The one in the USA and for me on the west coast are built for look and little to no function.
Kick ass. Those danish people are smart for inventing rock wool. Usa is just getting onboard what canada 🇨🇦 has enjoyed for over 30 years (as in we have rock wool). Very clean and precise installation. Keep it up. Remember to furr out any batttin that are not in plane. Use a string to check how planar your wall is. Kick ass
will continue to kick ass as instructed sir
The question is how does your body get rid of it out of your lungs. Similar properties to asbestos. It’s made by heat and pressure on volcanic rock guess how asbestos is made lol
There are no issues. It rocks.
I just stuffed Rock wool insulation in all my 16 x 40 tiny house walls last night. Still have to do ceiling. I could tell last night after all the walls were covered the sound proofing was amazing. My little shack is going to be air tight once I staple up the wrap and then add my 1/2 plywood interior walls.
Nice! Keep it up
2x8 framing is pretty extreme, at some point you should just use 2x10s on 48" centers that is pretty much the maximum spacing you can use with standardized sheathing while still having more or less adaquate compression strength. You might need to add metal reinforcements to get a good shear value (since each peice of sheathing is only nailed into 2 studs) and if this became standard practice we might need to use more engineered materials.
Also why do warmer climates have lax insulation codes? Air conditioning takes a lot of energy if you don't have good insulation, and extreme heat can be almost as deadly as extreme cold if your HVAC fails at exactly the wrong time and you don't have good insulation.
You could do a post frame house. Post every 8 ft. Build a 2x4 interior stud wall. Super insulation done on the cheap
Home Depot in whole SF Bay Area only has Rockwool Comfort Board at their pro store in Colma. Lowes has it
Regarding the exhaust and intake of the ERV, Zehnder recommends only 10 feet apart. They told me it was more important to not have instake near something with bad air quality such as car exhaust, grills, etc. Obviously more seems better if you have the ability though.
Yes, the intake should be at least 10 ft from any contaminant source
Your less than a mile from my grandmothers old house on Red Wine Rd. I was there often in the 70s. House is no longer there but a few acres still in the family.
I'm designing my house now and weighing furring strips and rockwool or Zip-R 9 or 12. Indecisive at this point.
Also planning for a partial encapsulated conditioned crawlspace for the same reason you did. I don't want to chip away rock on my upper slope and a conditioned crawlspace 24" higher than my basement works for me. I'd much rather have my equipment there with plenty large rigid ducts to the main and 2nd floor loft.
Maybe I missed it, but any reason you went with Rockwool versus Zip-R or OX-IS other than possible off gasing of the polyiso.
Hey that’s cool- we did rockwool to stay free from foam (have a whole vid about why), and I’d consider the fastener and bucking complexities between the two ZIP-Rs.
Thank you for sharing some details. Exterior insulation and 2x4 framing is the way to go. I wonder about those 1x2's though...pretty dainty, hope they don't split when the siding nails go in!
Dainty, haha! Thanks for following, Gene.
I learned to keep the intake AND the exhaust for the air to air exchanger. A decent wind will overwhelm the system with toi much outside air. I think next time I will put a plumbing trap on the ventilator to decrease both outside positve pressure AND venturi. I wish I did my house in Massachusetts 20 years ago like yours.
Sorry... I was trying to say keep the exhaust AND intake out of the side of house with prevailing wind. You dont even have a damper.
Nice, Roger, and thank you for the compliment!
Why I like exterior insulation is it reduced temperature differential across the wall. Bats or foam in the wall will only do part of the work - exterior is a bonus. Moisture follows drive: hot to cold, high to low pressure. If you can cut differential across a wall in half, then drive is reduced - just make sure exterior details are set so failure is to the outside. Some might recall the bad problems of synthetic stucco about twenty years back - it had a horrible tendency to trap moisture and turn awall... into a moisture trap.
If you build new or take walls to the studs on a rebuild, don't waffle on if exterior insulation should be installed, but what & how. Take an average house of the 60's and framing setback with a brick cladding only leaves room fot 1" [maybe as little as 3/4"]. Ok... do what you can [maybe xps foam], just remember cladding always needs a drainage gap or drain mat behind it so it is able to dry itself out.
I would be grateful if you could answer this question. When you attach the wood strapping over the Rockwool using the screws, how do you ensure that the screws are driven an equal depth? If the depth of the screws differs then there would assumably be undulations in the wood strapping. Thanks for any thoughts.
The Rockwool 80 is very dense, not much worry- but you just don’t overdrive the screws to begin with I guess
My wife recently found a study showing the type of screw in this assembly makes a big difference in the efficiency of the rockwool. Apparently stainless screws do a much better job. Have you seen this and was there any thought given to using stainless screws?
excellent project,
Radon Pipe is it really necessary when using a ERV system? seems that Rodon needs to build up to potentially be harmful. But if the air in the home is being exchanged, then would the radon ever build up? It would be interesting to do a test to see what would happen if you blocked the radon vent for some amount of time, then take a radon test to see what happens.
We certainly can just turn the radon fan off, and monitor the levels.
This stuff is really good for soundproofing as well.
Is it ever
@@HomePerformance oh yeah
I see a lot of the Rockwool Comfort board being installed in colder climates, I assume that this has similar benefits in climates with extreme heat such as Las Vegas??
Certainly. The max temp difference we expect in Atlanta is around 50 deg F (70 in, 20 out)- Las Vegas can get to 50 F max diff in summer (70 in, 120 out).
Joseph Lstiburek's perfect wall building science
Please comment, it seems you have a the same layering configuration in walls? what about roof and floor?
He talks alot about condensation and how it creates mold / rot and destroys walls
Roof has no continuous insulation layer, because the energy model showed no significant benefit for this house in this climate. Airsealing makes the most impact on moisture control and condensation, but you also can choose materials that let the house dry in all directions, which we’ve done here too.
Very interesting video. I was thinking about something like this for an ICF build - perhaps inside and out to get the R-Value way up.
Go for it Boe
I'm surprised by your comments about not needing to stagger them. Any evidence to back that up? It seems to me that it would be more efficient to have two thinner layers staggered vertically add horizontally. Thanks!
If it was your only layer of insulation, or if it was also the airtightness layer, then it might make a difference. But you’d have to craft a way to attach the first layer.
Wish I was building my "forever home". I am sold on your continuous insulation layer concept, plus I think I understand the benefits of "Rock Wool". Have you ever considered using it in combination with radiant barrier?
You’ll see that coming up on our house- we have Thermostat roof sheathing with built-in radiant barrier.
Thanks so much for this video. It’s very informative. I’ve watched it many times. Could you please comment on how or if it’s possible to apply this technique as a retrofit over stucco? My house is from 1964 in SoCal. I believe it’s only stucco on wire lath, no plywood sheathing. We added insulfoam inside all the exterior walls but still not getting the performance we need. Is it possible to attach the rockwool with only studs and stucco to drill into?
Yes, you’d actually attach to the studs no matter what. Totally doable, just tricky. Thanks for watching multiple times, glad to help!
I'm gonna insulate exactly the same way. Question about the quarter inch timber screws on the 1x2 planks: aren't they too big? Can I just use normal #10 structural screws?
Do you have a video showing how you do the window detail with the extra insulation.
You know I got you buddy.
How to Install Windows into Continuous Exterior Insulation
ruclips.net/video/3rQe61Ew1aM/видео.html
Great video! How do you deal with the corners when you lap?
Will your cladding face be flush with the outer most edge of your manufactured black aluminum drip edge? Or, how will you keep bugs from entering your rain screen cavities while allowing airflow and any moisture to drain out? Also, if you have any good resources to share on detailing rain screens, that would be much appreciate it. Thanks so much!
How to Bug-Proof the Ventilation Gap: Cor-A-Vent SV5
ruclips.net/video/L3TXRGwLaDY/видео.html
Great Video! Question: I am doing 1 1/2" Owens Corning foam board with Tyvek Drain wrap over that and my 3/4" PT plywood strips into the studs as my rainscreen along with Cor-A-Vent over top both the foam board and house wrap. Do I continue it up in to the soffit or install my soffit first and then take the foam board up against the sofit?
Is this cheaper than building with ICFs? From my limited knowledge it seems like that would be a better system and the house is virtually indestructible.
What an awesome video - and such a great video personality you have.
I’m wondering, when rock wool is pressed directly ip against sheathing, how might that change the behavior of the WRB - and the sheathing’s ability to dry to the outside?
Thanks for watching, Travis. Since the rockwool is more permeable than the ForceField, it has no effect even when pressed tight against, as I understand it. The behaviour of gas molecules isn’t really intuitive though, so it’s always better to ask.
I’ve watched about every video now - thanks very much. Question - curious about why, since you used Thermalbuck, you did not use Thermaltight rather than rock wool.
Glad the video series was interesting to you, Tom. We avoided foam wherever possible, because of the toxic flame retardants built into them in the U.S.
Do you have a video on how you dealt with the windows with the rockwood board making the exterior wall thicker? I wonder if stretch tape can stick to rockwool board? When Matt R. did a demo the outside of his exterior was the solid foam and he used stretch tape to make the window sill/frame water proof. Will stretch tape being pulled over the rockwool board stick to the board? Cheers from East Canada.
I just did some quick math on the savings of doing this.
Assuming a worst case 25 degree difference , 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and ac/heating system with a cop of 1.
You save about $215 a year by doing this. Of course that's a very conservative amount. If the cop is on the order of 3 and degree difference per year is less tha 25 degrees (which it is) you end up saving about $50 a year.
What was the cost for materials and labor so we can figure out the time it takes to make your roi?
big O don’t forget to add the cost of a less comfortable, less healthy, noisier with the reduced resale value, lost value in not being able to determine the TESTED improvements, environmental impact to redo when someone else wants it improved, reduced efficiency when someone else wants it improved.......🧐 In other words, there’s quick math and then there’s complete picture math 😉
@@NeoKnight9 lol. Did you take that straight out of the passivhaus sales guide?
Reduced resale value? A code minimum house will sell for a higher percentage of it's build cost than a high performance house.
What makes a code minimum house less comfortable or healthy.
If you want a quiet house, build our of concrete. Those Batts do not appreciably increase stc rating q
big O lol Sorry I haven’t read that! I build system dynamic models and am enough of a systems thinker to understand the negative feedback loops when attributes aren’t considered in the actual “cost” of things. Probably should have written “reduced value”; anyone who has looked into differential deterioration and lifecycle costs can appreciate the un-anticipated costs most homeowners don’t consider. Particularly dependant on the age of their home relative to the amount of time they will live there. But please go ahead and simple math it up for your decision making processes 😁
@@NeoKnight9 that's surprising as you sound like every one of the passive Haus owners I've heard. "Yeah I spent 2x as much but the house is sooo comfortable!"
So pray tell, since you design feedback loops and what not, how do you quantify the added "health" or "comfort" of adding 2 inches of exterior insulation.? Please do go into detail. Thanks lol
@@jl9678 a more air tight and better insulated home with controled, filtered air free of pollutants and allergens is a much healthier environment. Using building materials that are more renewable and environmentally friendly is a big plus to having higher performance homes as well. Energy savings costs in passive homes (at least in the North) outweighs the cost of the added material and time. Annual energy consumption costs of homes we build in Canada can be as low as $200 annually.
Just found your channel, excellent content! Thank you for making videos.
Hey, thanks a lot for your appreciation, Dennis!
I tried finding more of your vids on this build without success. I am looking for a "how to vid" when it comes to adding overhangs all around to an insulated box, ie. all forms of interior structural members being isolated from the exterior conditions or thermal bridging.. Question: Is there quantified data showing the longevity of the mastic which is holding your flex tape to the tin pipe? I know that the southern side of structures take a tremendous beating from the sun..
I put an envelope of 1/2" pink foam on the inside under my drywall. The only thing that I can say is I wish it would have been 2" to upgrade the upgrade. Fastners do become an issue. Any thing special costs $$.
Right on, Scott
All these videos, how would you do this for concrete walls though? 4-6 inch masonry screws might be expensive... . You want sound denting and performance how about 8 inch CMU wall + continuous insulation on the inside and outside :) . Soon to come ! Finishing my late fathers project. he put up the CMU Wall because he doesn't believe in wood. I think ill beat him in terms of crazy engineering by adding exterior insulation :) thanks for the idea, just need to figure out how to do it concrete siding :)
I saw one guy who build a concrete house, he did the form work for the walls on the ground, put down 8 inches of exterior insulation with like 10-12 inches long plastic spikes going through them, and then poured the concrete on top, so the spikes would be stuck in the concrete
@@Pontus95
The concrete is already set for a long time. Actually My late father had already but brick ties in the blocks as he built . He was going to put brick but this day and age I can't really afford it. Plus I think it's better to put exterior insulation and cement siding than brick work. More functional.
Who knows. I'll get a few quotes for each work and see cost difference . Maybe just finishing his dream is better than the exterior insulation . I can always put a layer of insulation on the inside then build my frame
Thanks for the idea :)
Does the continuous insulation "blanket" continue onto the roof? Doesn't the rockwool compress under the weight of the roofing or do you breach the blanket to support the weight of the roofing?
To bad you're not sponsored by Fastenmaster... how many Headlok's did you go through? Those aren't cheap!
Does Extoseal come in narrower widths? Seems to me you could have used a 2-3" wide tape on that duct?
It’s worth not having to worry. 6” wide gives you plenty of coverage, don’t cut corners on tightening penetrations.
Seems like setting the depth on those batten screws might be tricky to keep the siding from looking wavy.
Perfect is the enemy of good. Do your best.
Hi Corbett, thanks for sharing. At 2:00 I see a flashing material wrapping around the sill of the home to support the initial weight and maintain a level starter line of the rockwool. It looks like the rigid insulation of the foundation stretches from the ground up to that flashing. I'm trying to find a similar flashing which returns at the bottom, back towards the foundation (If you could imagine an upside down P shape). My question is, can you recommend who sells these types of uncommon flashing for rockwool wall systems? I reached out to rockwool but didn't get a response.
Ohhhhhhh.. my bad. I just saw at 6:30 why someone criticized you for saying manufactured in place of fabricated. Big deal, the majority of youtubers would rather watch an unscripted video with some spontaneity and errors than an obviously scripted and edited but boring video. Looks like I might need to buy a metal brake for what I'm looking for.
...Or just find a local sheet metal shop, which is a bit easier. Either way, thanks for watching and commenting, Justin!
That looks great! I see a number of aluminum brackets on the walls that look like they are from Maine Deck Brackets. Can you tell us what they will be for or is that your next episode?
Callum Hill previous video.
@@curtcmiller Thanks I'll go back and watch it!
ruclips.net/video/_DRFf7ZoJ9I/видео.html
Who is your contractor for the Rockwool Boards?
We did it ourselves. You can order it from lumberyards including HD and L’s
@@HomePerformance I am unable to find this material anywhere. Do you have some lumberyard contacts you can refer to me?
This is a great build series
Thank you buddy!
Does ComfortBoard have a foil faced option? If so, why did you decide not to use it? I'd think Atlanta would be hot enough.
Radiant barrier works in our climate on the roof, but not walls so much. They do not have foil facing as an option, though we have some on the roof OSB here.
Where do you buy 2” Rockwool Comfort Board?
I know you use a lot from 475. Why did you not go with Gutex? For one example Gutex claims a much better sound absorbing property then Rockwool and higher insulation R value...
Great question, and the answer is simple: they hadn't tested it against our badass termites. Still not sure if there's data about this.
good. be good to see some info on economics and energy savings.
Now looking for ways to insulate doors to go with super-insulated walls and multi-glazed windows. How hard would it be to build a hollow core door to take a 50mm rockwool batt in the cavity?
Could just double door. But there are some wild hinges if you want to try and makes some custom fiberglass door with thick insulation core
Where do you source the comfortboard 80 from? The only places that I can find it are expensive. Not including shipping the mineral wool I can find is twice the cost of xps foam.
Well, it is a better product, in many people’s view. But I hear you- you should be able to order via Home Depot, who guarantees lowest price.
How much do windows (even high efficiency ones) reduce the effectiveness of the exterior insulation? Comments I've heard is that there's diminishing returns (at least in warmer climates) for adding more and more insulation, but never seen any good figures to compare cost/benefit, etc.
There is only one way to know for sure - heat load calculation. It is time consuming, but once done, you can play with the numbers and know exactly if paying more for triple pane windows makes any sense.
See the link in the description for the vid about our energy model and heat load calc.
That Comfort Board is much more expensive than Comfort Batts, and those long screws to attach the furring strips back to studs are not only expensive, but they perforate the Force Field. I don't trust that butyl tape to stay sealed around screws shifted by a 100 years of shrinking wood framing. Wouldn't it be cheaper and safer to avoid all those issues by building a second unsheathed, vented, WRB 2x4 stud wall cantilevered 4" away from the Force Field sheathing and fill the gap with continuous Comfort Batts and the second stud wall with more Comfort Batts ? R30 Rockwool all exterior insulation, R15 of it continuous, no penetrations of the sheathing, only attached at cantilevered brackets and rafter tails. All the house framing could have been 2x4 empty of insulation. A bonus would be the window glass and frames recessed 8" back from the siding.
KW, you're talking way above my capability and my paygrade. For a 'real' builder, that might be a piece of cake, but your idea makes my head explode about halfway through the explanation.
I don't think it's beyond your capability at all. You did a fine job on the structural stud wall framing. This would be the same without the sheathing. You used the Maine brackets to support a deck ledger -- you could do the same to support a separate sill plate all around a house for that second stud wall. Or you could just extend the floor system 8" beyond the stem wall foundation in every direction like you did your balcony. Either would support a second stud wall to attach siding and the roof load is already done by the inner wall. I think the Brackets are the more expensive solution. You would have innie windows which is why I said recessed by 8".
This has been a great build, using specialized materials conventionally. I just wonder if 20 years from now people will be shaking their heads at mechanically fastened board insulation and it's thousands of penetrations the same way we do now about EIFS stucco over foam and osb. It sounded great 20 years ago but caused thousands of homes to rot.
Aw shucks, KW- thanks. And I’m sure we’ll both be watching that all-wood assembly system from Switzerland that Risinger showed off. Solves those issues in an unexpected way.
thanks for the video
how will you cover that insulation?
or what material you will put a top of it ?
as a final layer
ruclips.net/video/YrLMaHOCzUs/видео.html
The depth at which you install the screws seems to be a little loose goosey. Do you not have wavy walls?
Nope, they look fine
20 feet, wow, code calls for 6’ between a active intake, nice to see you going beyond
check you home insurance - in addition to insulating this product provide excellent fire protection - as it is used as fire safing
Did you consider wood fibre insulation vs mineral wool? If so, what points made you go for the latter?
The Gutex system is best as both a sheathing and insulation layer, which is too advanced for me this time around. I’m already going from zero to amazingness in one build, didn’t want to over reach.
@@HomePerformance Thanks for the reply. I was wondering since most of your wall assembly is from 475. Great videos!
Great videos. Done a bit of research on the rainscreens but most of the buildings and reviews have been over the zip sheathing system. I notice you use the butyl tape under your furring strips. I've never seen anyone do that on high performance builds using the zip system, is that unique from GP? Would you recommend it on zip too? Is there any literature on the benefits of that in terms of air sealing?
It does both air and water sealing, and I don’t know why it wouldn’t be necessary on ZIP, but I sure don’t know everything.
What insulation do you put in your roof ? Rockwool or Poly iso or else ?
Rockwool in the roof cavity, nothing on top for this house
Did you fabricate the 3/4" furring strips on-site out of plywood or order them as-is? We're looking for a good economical way to add a basic rain screen behind our cladding and I've seen a couple of different takes on this similar method.
Am thinking so long as you have 3/4 material you should have excellent holding strength for the cladding. Should not make any difference what material you use. Check out this video from Jordan Smith last week. ruclips.net/video/utn4dKUAl8o/видео.html he is talking about attaching lap siding
Yes, ‘real’ builders should use the tools and manpower they have to save $$. It’s worth it to us to just buy 1x2 furring strips off the shelf, because of our specific circumstance.
That furring detail iit’s not connected to anything floating on top of the cavity rock ?
Yes, they are screwed to the studs. Hence all the talk about the long screws.
Do you have a breathable mesh under that flashing?
What did it cost you per sf for the rockwool and lumber to do it this way?
"I've started to really home improvement centers..." I feel your pain. 😕
Why does no employee know where anything is?
Reminds me of Ron Swanson in one of those places.
Employee: "Can I help you find anything?"
Ron: "I know more than you."
Employee: **taken aback** "Ooookay." **lets Ron go uninterrupted**
😂
When using comfortboard for below grade insulation, are there any guidelines as to backfill compaction?
No, I seriously doubt you could compact sideways hard enough to hurt it.
Is inhaling rockwool safe ? Many saying its can cause Lung cancer later in the life.
Breathing anything besides air isn’t great for your body. Particles of rockwool, sawdust, burned toast, oil droplets, etc: all bad for you. Wear a mask.
The cost factor definitely keeps most builders from using it, they just can't figure out how to justify it. I would be curious as to the actual ROI on using exterior insulation. I have the Energy savings numbers, but the cost of installing seems to vary across the country.
What do you have for energy savings numbers. What r value did you use for whole wall and the whole wall with 2 inches of rockwool
Our Performance-Tuned Home Build Pt2: Enclosure Design
ruclips.net/video/aSuPieuKWZI/видео.html
Is there not a dedicated vapor barrier? Or does the grey looking georgia pacific sheathing have some water barrier painted on it?
No vapor barriers in walls where there’s seasons- you want to let the building dry in both directions.
Did you ever consider going straight down with your vents and go below ground and then go beyond the footer and make a riser away from the house.
I like those pre drilled battens
From the air quality or building science perspective, what is the benefit of rockwool over foam board? Is it just the fire retarding? I wouldn't think air quality would come into play on the external layer.
Fire resistance is a big one, mineral wool is also made from recycled materials so it's "greener". Air quality within the home may be better if the building has a better air seal on the exterior.
Actually, the toxic flame retardant chemicals in foam insulation DO travel through solid materials, which is why we avoided foam inside and out wherever possible.
@@HomePerformance ok, thank you. I am preparing to do the same thing and weighing the benefits and cost, so I really appreciate the feedback.
Did you do the same furring strip style for the roof?
Is there any reason a person couldn’t use regular batts instead of board to do the exterior? Is there something added to the board version that makes it cost twice as much?.
Yes, the rigidity. Using batts would be very messy.
What brand of screws are those?... not GRK.. Are they 1/4 or 5/16?
How did the straightening of the furring strips go prior to siding install? Those tall walls look like they might have taken a while
It was fine, no straightening needed
You are lucky. I am doing this on an older home where walls aren’t perfectly straight/plumb. It can be aggravating
Yes, that does sound annoying
What’s the cost breakdown vs icf
We’ll presented. CI is the best and least understood method.
Thanks Curt
I plan on redoing my roof this summer and I would like to add some exterior insulation. I have not found any details on how to cover a roof in exterior mineral wool though. Could I essentially do the same thing you have done but in the roof?
Sure, I would have too if the energy model had shown it would be worth it. Happy to consult with you if you’d like advice. Just don’t add ins if there’s a vented attic below.
@@HomePerformance I have a 1.5 storey house with no eaves and only a gable vent. I planned on creating eaves to vent above the insulation, and to only insulate up to the insulated ceiling inside. Essentially leaving 5-6ft from the peak uninsulated
The devil’s always in the details. Sounds like it’s do-able, but be OCD about the small stuff.
Did you put in a floating sub floor for sound proofing as well?
We did not
Excellent video but unfortunately you can not get rigid mineral wool insulation at any of the building stores such as Home Depot or Lowes and when you try to order it from them you get a series of horror stories from them trying to dissuade you from ordering it and even if you make an order it is so costly it gives you a heart attack. They commonly carry mineral wool batts but no rigid insulation.
Haha jeez
(1/(0.75/15+0.25/(1.2*3.5)))+0.51+8=
R-17.6 Total Wall R value (not including windows and penetrations)
What's the 0.51, and is framing really .25 of a wall?
7/16 OSB layer is approximately R 0.51
25% is commonly used to estimate 16 inch framing
www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/framing-factors
Yes, that’s what an energy model does for every bit of the enclosure. Think about what a wall with NO continuous insulation at all actually has as insulation value.
@@FrancisKoczur oh, that's good to know (framing factor) although it seems rather high even with two top plates and a bottom plate. Still it gets in the ball park.
Don't forget there is also an approx r 0.68 for the still air on the interior wall
Is there another way to secure it without using wood i am interested in fire proofing aspect
If you’re not using 2” of outsulation, then Cor-A-Vent might do fine, but it would be difficult to make perfectly straight since it’s softer. Metal might be hella expensive.
Where did you find those structural screws with pan heads? Spax and GRK are too pricy to use for this
Amazon yo.
So why not treated 1 by for hanging the siding
Why treated though? It'll never get wet enough to matter.
I guess, just what if, an a redundancy, it seams that's what high performance housing seams to be
Redundancy based on informed risk- if everything has a redundant backup, there’s lots of wasted cost and materials. It’s an artful science, not a prescriptive rule set.
In Atlanta, what perm rating did you use for a weather barrier?
Always, everywhere except Alaska and Florida, I advise using permeable materials. The ForceField has a perm rating of 3-5 in it’s installed state.
@@HomePerformance what do you advise for Florida? Isn't Atlanta climate pretty similar to Florida?
I’d recommend an energy model- every house is different, and every homeowner too!
@@HomePerformance Im in Zone 1 type climate and need to find a 3-5 perm peel and stick. 475 has 7 perm. I am trying to dry to the inside as best as possible and J. Istiburek has said, if you cant get installation perfect, dont apply a .1 perm material. We will have to dry both ways with 5 to 10 perm.
Sure, Adhero works if you need peel and stick.
i dont think during hurricane season here that will hold up as well as traditional methods.
Everybody’s got their unfounded opinions I guess
Where did you buy those rain screen battens? Did you just rip a 1x?
They’re 1x2, you can buy them
Going up pretty much as I suspected. I know you have around r 12 exterior. how much insulation are you running inside the service wall?
R-15 cavity, R-8 exterior.
@@HomePerformance would have sworn you said 3 inch
@@HomePerformance I did hear 3 inch but that was the crawl space wall. nothing like being right on the cusp of temperate zones 3 / 4 R 8 should do a great job of thermal break.
If it's "penultimate" what's ultimate?
You gotta wait and see, wordsmith
Very nice.
Is that the exact same insulation as under your slab? Or slightly different?
Different. Subslab is ComfortBoard 110, with a 1000 lb per sq ft resistance.
@@HomePerformance I see! Thanks
Big Box sucks, they say that there contactor supply but there far from that
What’s the total R value of the exterior walls when done?
looks like it should be around r 12. He said 3 inches continuous. Being in Hotlanta I have been there with days where the humukity was a killer. 105 + and humidity that was in the 90s just north in Cumming Ga. A great reason to run exterior insulation and a dedicated de humidifier. Interestingly I live about 120 miles north and we do not see this type of warm fronts coming thru from the Gulf of Mexico.
@eyeonfish Think you are wrong. he said.. 3 inch which would be R 12 Comfortboard is available in different thickness
www.homehardware.ca/en/3-x-24-x-48-r12-comfortboard-80-insulated-sheathing-insulation/p/2718315
Total nominal R-value = exterior R-8 plus cavity R-15 = R-23. Minus the framing factor, of course, if you wanted to be very accurate, though almost no one in normal conversation does.
how about air gaps?
Don’t sweat tiny stuff- if it’s less than 1/4”, it’s probably not worth fixing, but that’s based on common sense, not research. Most gaps can be avoided by cutting well.
Houses should be as air tight as possible. Gaps should be sealed with tape, expanding foam, silicone, etc.
Screws are a cold bridge
For new buildings try T-Stud for better r-value and strength
He is smart because if you believe that the power bill is not going UP you are asleep
1st: great video. nitpick: I think you used the word 'penultimate' wrong. It means second to last.
Yes, I’ve been instructed many times, thank you Mike. Every time turns out to be the penultimate time. ;)
@@HomePerformance hahaha i should have assumed you got many comments on that already.
It’s ok, I’m proud that we attract very detail oriented people who seek perfection