5 Home repairs not to ignoreUse our expert advice to stop trouble in its tracks
The trouble signs are easy to spot, provided you know what to look for. What's more, contractors aren't as busy now, so they're likely to be more flexible on price. Here are the five biggest red flags of home maintenance, with our advice on how to deal with them. Our recent reviews of gutter guards and roofing and siding materials can also help. 1. Runaway rainwater "If there are 10 things that can go wrong with a house, 15 of them have to do with water," says Bill Loden, a Madison, Ala., home inspector. Gutters, downspouts, and leader pipes collect rainwater and channel it away from the house. In very wet regions, leaders should extend at least 5 feet from the house. Check the entire gutter system seasonally for proper pitch and for clogs, corrosion, broken fasteners, and separation between connections and where gutters meet the fascia board. When inspecting gutters, extend straight ladders 3 feet beyond the roof at a 75-degree angle to the ground. The soil around the foundation should slope away from the house at least 1 inch per foot for 6 feet or more. If you have planting beds along the foundation, make sure the grading of the bed, its edging, or the edge of the lawn isn't keeping water from draining away from the house. 2. Roof and siding Roofs are the most vulnerable to water infiltration, given their exposure to the elements and the laws of gravity. On a sunny day, use binoculars to spot cracked, curled, or missing shingles, which are signs that the roof is near its end of life. Also check flashing around chimneys, skylights, and roof valleys, and the rubber boots around vents for cracks. Siding is also susceptible to leaks, especially where it meets windows and doors. A $5 tube of caulk might save you thousands of dollars in structural repairs. If you live in a cold climate, check the siding under the roof eaves for water stains, which could be a sign of ice damming. Adding attic insulation and sealing gaps around pipes, recessed lighting, and ducts into the attic might help prevent future damming and lower your heating and cooling bills. 3. Pest infestations Termites and carpenter ants gravitate to moist soil and rotting wood, another reason to make sure your gutters are in good shape and soil around your foundation is graded properly. Also keep mulch, firewood, and dense shrubbery away from your foundation. Once termites infiltrate a home, they can bore through the structure in a few short years. Formosan termites, which are prevalent throughout the South, have been known to rip through studs and floorboards in a matter of months. To detect termites, probe the sill plate (also called a mudsill) that sits on top of the foundation with a screwdriver to check for rotted wood. To check for carpenter ants, look for piles of sawdust along baseboards. Regular termites also shed wings along windowsills, walls, and other entry points. Rodents gravitate toward disorder and debris, such as leaf piles around the foundation. Plug holes in the siding and the foundation walls with expandable foam. Don't forget to look up for signs of birds, bees, or squirrels in soffits and attic vents. 4. Mold and mildew Even houses in arid climates aren't immune. Hot outdoor temperatures can drive even small amounts of water trapped in the structure to condense on colder interior surfaces, leading to mold. Musty odors, dank air, and family members with chronic runny noses are warning signs. Check under carpets and around windows for visible mold or mildew. Also remove cover plates for cable-TV, phone, and Internet connections, and use a flashlight to peer behind walls and wallpaper for mold. Avoid mold tests sold at home centers and online. Each of the kits we tested in the past had significant flaws that were serious enough to not recommend them. If indoor mold covers less than 10 square feet, treat it yourself by scrubbing mold off hard surfaces with a mixture of detergent and water. Then dry completely. Be sure to don an N-95 disposable respirator, goggles, and heavy-duty gloves. Professional remediation is required for larger outbreaks, if the ventilation system is contaminated, or if an allergy sufferer lives in the home. What's more, absorbent or porous materials, such as ceiling tiles and carpet, may have to be thrown away if they become moldy. 5. Foundation cracks Some cracks are harmless, but others can mean trouble. James Katen, a home inspector from Gaston, Ore., suggests walking around the house with a No. 2 pencil in hand. Hairline cracks are probably the result of concrete curing or minor settling, he says, and can be filled with an epoxy-injection system. "But if the pencil can go into the crack up to the yellow paint on the pencil, that's a pretty wide crack and might be a sign of a major problem," Katen says. A ruler is another handy tool: Cracks wider than 3/16 inch, even vertical ones, can be a problem. Mark smaller cracks with tape and monitor their progress over the coming months. Also be on the lookout for horizontal cracks or bulging or buckling. Along with expanding cracks, those conditions require the attention of a structural engineer. The longer you wait to correct a problem, the more costly it will probably be. More red flags • Cracks at upper corners of windows and doors (uneven foundation settling) • Mushrooms or fungus growing out of siding (moisture in the walls) • Soft boards or loose rails on outdoor decks (decaying deck structure) • Soggy ground and lush vegetation around septic tank or leach fields (overfilled or failing septic tank) • Missing or torn insulation in attic (pest infiltration) • Scratches or algae on siding (overgrown trees or plants) |
8.31.2010
Home Repairs Not to Ignore- Avoid Costly Mistakes
Roofing Underlayment- Local Supplier
As a Green Builder Part of what Scotts Contracting Offers is to bring St Louis Area Green Building Resources-
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Under All
Do you really need underlayment on your sloped roofs?
A New Generation of Underlayment Can Help Roofs Perform
Do you really need underlayment on your sloped roofs?
Some of the same construction professionals take a more relaxed approach to their roofs. They may install an ice and water shield on the first 3 feet of the roof or use 15-pound felt on the entire deck, but that's the extent of their program. Felt is an old standby, they say, allowing the roof to breathe and shed moisture. These builders also say they have not had any problems using this construction method, which raises the question: Is it really necessary for builders to use some type of underlayment between the roof deck and the roofing material?
"Generally, yes," says Maureen M. Mahle of Steven Winter Associates, based in New York City. "The purpose of underlayment is to serve as a secondary drainage plane. Water can and will penetrate the roofing at some point. Underlayment provides a 'flashing' to direct that water away from seams, joints, and vulnerable places in the building assembly."
Underlayment functions much like housewrap: It protects the roof deck from bulk water, but it allows the deck to breathe and release moisture from inside the home.
The preferred method of roofing protection in the old days was asphalt-saturated felt building paper, says the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH), a joint venture between the home building industry and federal agencies. But now the builder's weapon of choice is synthetic underlayment.
"Mimicking the attributes of housewraps, synthetic roof underlayments are now available to serve the same function as a secondary weather barrier with better resistance to tearing, moisture, and ultraviolet rays than traditional roofing felt," PATH writes on its website.
These products are made from a variety of materials, such as polypropylene, polyester, and fiberglass fabric. They are lighter in weight than felt building paper and usually can be exposed to weather for six months.
"Moisture resistance and hardiness make synthetic underlayment a good choice as a secondary weather-resistant barrier under roof cladding," PATH says. "Polypropylene and similar synthetic materials resist moisture, tearing, and degradation from UV rays, making them a durable, relatively long-term covering that can be used for disaster response. Fire-rated synthetic underlayments can provide added protection against fire spreading through the roof in multifamily housing and/or in regions of the country that are prone to wildfires."
Earlier this year, Wilmington, Del.–based DuPont Building Innovations introduced RoofLiner, a lightweight synthetic roofing underlayment that the company says provides excellent protection against leaks as well as enhanced durability and tear resistance. "Durable, high-quality roof underlayment is the foundation of any roofing system," said Alan Hubbell, DuPont's marketing manager for builders and remodelers, in a statement for the product's introduction. "The competitive pricing and enhanced features of DuPont RoofLiner make this product a welcome addition to the DuPont Weatherization Products portfolio," he added.
Joplin, Mo.–based TAMKO Building Products has a new introduction of its own. The company says its Peel-N-Stick Felt is the industry's first and only saturated felt underlayment with a release film backing that can be peeled off and the underlayment applied directly to the roof deck—making it easy to install, says Stephen McNally, TAMKO's vice president of sales and marketing.
Installing underlayment is no different than installing felt. It might even be easier. Some underlayments require fasteners but, on the plus side, underlayment weighs a lot less than felt. Some have self-adhering features so a little peeling and sticking are all that would be required. PATH says synthetic underlayments may cost about 30 percent more than felt, but "labor cost should remain the same or decrease."
But what about builders who say they don't use underlayment yet have not had any callbacks? As one reader wrote in a forum on the website of The Journal of Light Construction (one of Builder's sister publications), "I've removed old roofs that had NO underlay and didn't leak during their term."
The decision to use underlayment, Mahle says, is somewhat dependent on roofing type. "It's much more typical in shingles, slates, etc.," she explains. Still, she advises not to risk building a house without one. "We would recommend it under all types of roofing on sloped roofs," she says. It's a good idea under standing seam metal … but less critical. To my mind, the only exception would be membrane roofing [typically flat roofs]." Mahle adds, "I wouldn't go without one in any climate where you have above [average] potential for strong winds with rain."
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If you are interested in Green Building on an Investment Property Check out the Benton Gut Rehab Blog Series-Benton Gut Rehab Green Blog Series
Part 8: 1st Floor Weatherization
Part 9: See the Difference a Little White Paint Makes
Part 10: Interior Framing-Plumbing-Laundry Room
Part 11: Kitchen Framing Tip #36-Benton Rehab Project
Part 12: Water Main Repair- Benton Rehab
Part 13: Benton Rehab Project Drywall Installation and Tip: Number 1172
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Help Wanted: Government Incentives for PV and CSP
by Sharryn Dotson, Online Editor, Power Engineering
Published: August 30, 2010
Even though solar is currently in the middle of a slow down when it comes to the manufacturing and the purchasing of panels and arrays, it still has the chance to become a big player in powering the world. Solar photovoltaic and concentrated solar power (CSP) developments are already making great strides in powering parts of Europe and Asia. But the U.S. is lagging noticeably behind and will need a little push from the government to get things started, namely in financial incentives and a firm piece of climate legislation signed into law.
The International Energy Association released two roadmaps that say solar could power 25 percent of the world's electricity by 2050. IEA estimates that world solar output in 2010 will be 37 TWh and PV will account for 5 percent of available power globally by 2030. CSP will contribute 5 percent of the electricity used by 2020 in the U.S., central Asia, India and Latin America. Also, CSP and PV combined can provide 2.3 percent of the world's total power by 2020 and 8.8 percent by 2030. It could grow to 9,000 TWh by 2050.
The road maps also said that PV and CSP are not competitors, but partners in cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 6 billion tons globally by 2050. What's more, North America will be the largest producing and consuming region for CSP electricity.
Industry groups like the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) are practically begging the U.S. government to make incentives and rebates available again to help spur the growth of PV and CSP. It's a plea that should not fall on deaf ears. As the country moves to shift from fossil fuels to cleaner renewables, it appears to be difficult also to shift the government's mindset that renewables will have to be a major part in curbing carbon emissions, along with installing emission control technology at coal- and natural gas-fired power plants and building nuclear plants for the first time in decades.
Monique Hanis, spokesperson for SEIA, said about $74 billion has been invested in oil- and natural gas-fired power between 2004 and 2008, but barely a fraction of that has funded solar in the same time period.
"Investing in fossil fuels is an investment done by the governments," Hanis said. "If the public wants to shift to renewables, there is a need for a shift in investment."
One reason for the hesitation is that solar is still seen as the "newcomer" to the electricity generation party, much as wind was a few years ago. Since solar projects were originally relegated to residential rooftops, it is taking some time for it to be seen as a major generator of electricity.
The government will need to gain more experience with solar installations as it did with wind power. Once solar becomes more familiar, the backlog of siting permit requests should begin to ease.
The U.S. government will also need to put back the $2 billion it redirected from the loan guarantee initiative to the Cash for Clunkers program. The government will also need to recapture the Solar Investment Tax Credit, which extends a 30 percent investment tax credit (ITC) for eight years for solar energy projects. Treasury grant program eligibility will need to be extended for two more years and include real estate investment trusts (REITs) as eligible entities.
Of course, these solutions have their own challenges as well, such as where to get the federal funds to begin investing again and issues with REITs not being able to receive an ITC without creating a special purpose taxable entity.
Even if these renewable energy subsidies are successful, they will need to gradually decline to give people incentives to buy. The IEA said not having a decline is what caused the slowdown in purchasing and investments this time around as the market was inundated with solar panels and products and no place to put them.
Another big issue is transmission. Getting the power from sun-rich areas in the West to load centers is an ongoing battle still playing out through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the states. It plays back into the need for legislation and an even bigger need for government agencies and states to figure out how to get remotely-located renewable energy resources to areas that need the electricity.
The U.S. has the potential to achieve everything that needs to be done for PV and CSP to light up the world, but only if and when the government climbs on board. When that happens, the sky's the limit for solar.
--
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Why Conservatives Politics Are Bad on Energy
It's all about the costs.
Published: August 31, 2010
Conservatives, let's talk about energy. And why so many conservatives are so wrong -- so liberal, even -- on wind and solar energy.
Let's start with a recent editorial from the home of "free markets and free people," the Wall Street Journal. Photovoltaic solar energy, quoth the mavens, is a "speculative and immature technology that costs far more than ordinary power."
So few words, so many misconceptions. It pains me to say that because, like many business leaders, I grew up on the Wall Street Journal and still depend on it.
But I cannot figure out why people who call themselves "conservatives" would say solar or wind power is "speculative." Conservatives know that word is usually reserved to criticize free-market activity that is not approved by well, you know who.
Today, around the world, more than a million people work in the wind and solar business. Many more receive their power from solar. Solar is not a cause, it is a business with real benefits for its customers.
Just ask anyone who installed their solar systems five years ago. Today, many of their systems are paid off and they are getting free energy. Better still, ask the owners of one of the oldest and most respected companies in America who recently announced plans to build one of the largest solar facilities in the country. That would be Dow Jones, owners of the Wall Street Journal.
Now we come to "immature." Again, the meaning is fuzzy. But in Germany, a country 1/3 our size in area and population, they have more solar than the United States. This year, Germans will build enough solar to equal the output of three nuclear power plants. What they call immaturity our clients call profit-making leadership.
But let's get to the real boogie man: The one that "costs far more than ordinary power."
I've been working in energy infrastructure for 25 years and I have no idea what the WSJ means by the words "ordinary power." But, after spending some time with Milton Friedman whom I met on many occasions while studying for an MBA at the University of Chicago, I did learn about costs.
And here is what every freshman at the University of Chicago knows: There is a difference between cost and price.
Solar relies on price supports from the government. Fair enough -- though its price is falling even faster than fossil fuels are rising.
But if Friedman were going to compare the costs of competing forms of energy, he also would have wanted to know the cost of "ordinary energy." Figured on the same basis. This is something the self-proclaimed conservative opponents of solar refuse to do.
But huge companies including Wall Mart, IBM, Target and Los Gatos Tomatoes figured it out. And last year so did the National Academy of Sciences. It produced a report on the Hidden Costs of Energy that documented how coal was making people sick to the tune of $63 billion a year.
And that oil and natural gas had so many tax breaks and subsidies that were so interwoven for so long, it was hard to say exactly how many tens of billions these energy producers received courtesy of the U.S. Taxpayer.
Just a few weeks ago, the International Energy Agency said worldwide, fossil fuels receive $550 billion in subsidies a year -- 12 times what alternatives such as wind and solar get.
Neither report factored in Global Warming or the cost of sending our best and bravest into harm's way to protect our energy supply lines.
Whatever that costs, you know it starts with a T. All this without hockey stick graphs, purloined emails or junk science.
When you compare the real costs of solar with the fully loaded real costs of coal and oil and natural gas and nuclear power, apples to apples, solar is cheaper.
That's not conservative. Or liberal. That comes from an ideology older and more reliable than both of those put together: Arithmetic.
The information and views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of RenewableEnergyWorld.com or the companies that advertise on its Web site and other publications.
--
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scotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.com
New CIGS Solar Cell Efficiency Record
Published: August 24, 2010
Germany -- Researchers from the Germany Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) have broken a new efficiency record for thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide solar cells.
The area of the world record cell is 0.5 square centimeters. The semiconducting CIGS layer and the contact layers have a total thickness of only four thousandths of a millimeter, making them 50 times thinner than standard silicon cells.
The researchers produced a 20.3 percent efficient cell, only a fraction less than the best multi-crystalline cells on the market. However, producing a cell in a lab is much different than mass production. CIGS cells typically reach about 10-11 percent when manufactured in large numbers.
The area of the world record cell is 0.5 square centimeters. The semiconducting CIGS layer and the contact layers have a total thickness of only four thousandths of a millimeter, making them 50 times thinner than standard silicon cells.
CIGS cells have received a lot of attention in recent years because of their high efficiency. But scaling the technology outside of the lab has been difficult because of the complexity of manufacturing. Many companies have been bogged down in building new manufacturing lines and have burned through copious amounts of capital with little to show.
Within the next years, the efficiency of the relatively low-priced CIGS thin-film solar modules will rise from about 11 percent to about 15 percent, say ZSW researchers. The question is: Will companies be able to finally capitalize on that efficiency gain? Or will they continue to be bogged down by high capital requirements and low product volumes?
Some companies, like the start-up Applied Quantum Technologies, have learned from the problems that have hurt CIGS producers and are taking a more modular, incremental approach to building manufacturing lines.
One of the older companies in the CIGS space, MiaSole, announced this week that it will be supplying the developer juwi Solar with 7.5 MW of modules for projects in Germany. Miasole said earlier this year that it would ship over 20-MW of product. However, it is still unclear if it will sell that much in the remainder of 2010.
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Largest Solar PV Project in New Mexico Finished
Published: August 25, 2010
New Mexico -- The largest solar PV array in New Mexico was unveiled this week. The 1.1 MW project was installed on a parking structure at the Bell Group headquarters in Albuquerque.
The project uses over 5000 locally-made solar modules by SCHOTT Solar PV, Inc., which recently set up its US headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was developed by Affordable Solar and the VE Group, with facility management help from the Bell Group.
The installation covers 5 acres of parking area and will generate over 1,600,000 kWh of clean electricity annually -- enough to meet 80 percent of The Bell Group's electricity needs. This locally generated clean energy will avoid approximately 1,125 tons of CO2 emissions annually, while the solar structures provide shaded parking for employee and visitor vehicles under the hot New Mexico sun.
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U.S. Energy Use Declines, Renewables Increase
Published: August 26, 2010
California -- A new government study shows that Americans are using less energy overall and making more use of renewable energy resources.
The United States used significantly less coal and petroleum in 2009 than in 2008, and significantly more wind power. There also was a decline in natural gas use and increases in solar, hydro and geothermal power according to the most recent energy flow charts released by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
"Energy use tends to follow the level of economic activity, and that level declined last year. At the same time, higher efficiency appliances and vehicles reduced energy use even further," said A.J. Simon, an LLNL energy systems analyst who develops the energy flow charts using data provided by the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. "As a result, people and businesses are using less energy in general."
The estimated U.S. energy use in 2009 equaled 94.6 quadrillion BTUs ("quads"), down from 99.2 quadrillion BTUs in 2008. (A BTU or British Thermal Unit is a unit of measurement for energy, and is equivalent to about 1.055 kilojoules). The average American household uses about 95 million BTU per year.
Energy use in the residential, commercial, industrial and transportation arenas all declined by .22, .09, 2.16 and .88 quads, respectively.
Wind power increased dramatically in 2009 to.70 quads of primary energy compared to .51 in 2008. Most of that energy is tied directly to electricity generation and thus helps decrease the use of coal for electricity production.
"The increase in renewables is a really good story, especially in the wind arena," Simon said. "It's a result of very good incentives and technological advancements. In 2009, the technology got better and the incentives remained relatively stable. The investments put in place for wind in previous years came online in 2009. Even better, there are more projects in the pipeline for 2010 and beyond."
The significant decrease in coal used to produce electricity can be attributed to three factors: overall lower electricity demand, a fuel shift to natural gas, and an offset created by more wind power production, according to Simon.
Nuclear energy use remained relatively flat in 2009. No new plants were added or taken offline in this interval, and the existing fleet operated slightly less than in 2008.
Of the 94.6 quads consumed, only 39.97 ended up as energy services. Energy services, such as lighting and machinery output, are harder to estimate than fuel consumption, Simon said.
The ratio of energy services to the total amount of energy used is a measure of the country's energy efficiency.
Carbon emissions data are expected to be released later this year, but Simon suspects they will tell a similar story.
"The reduction in the use of natural gas, coal and petroleum is commensurate with a reduction in carbon emissions," he said. "Simply said, people are doing less stuff. Therefore, they're burning less fuel."
--
Scott's Contracting
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http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.com
scotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.com
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