PRELIMINARY BLOWER DOOR TEST

Bill Nickerson is our PHIUS + rater.  We performed a preliminary blower door test before we installed the exterior insulation to make sure we were on target. 

 For our preliminary test we achieved about 0.7ACH at 50 pascals.  We have a small space and Bill had to break out the 'D' ring to get the right air flow.  For the final test we need to achieve 0.6 - we are almost there! 

EXTERIOR RIGID INSULATION

2" Polyiso rigid board insulation

 

 

Each window gets a 'window buck' or 4" wood frame around it's perimeter to enclose the insulation.  We also pulled up the vapor barrier from the foundation in order to have a continuous barrier from the underside of the slab up to the roof.

 

As with all the insulation, a tight installation and overlapping seams is a must!

 

We had to add a small strip here but will overlap these seams on the final layer.

 

We liked the grey color so much we are thinking about repainting the entire house......yikes!

 

Once the insulation was installed we added the rain screen battens and taped all the frames.  This is where we lap in the first layer of flexible flashing.

ROOFING INSTALL

 

Once the roof material arrived we didn't waste any time getting in on the building.  We chose the same metal roofing used on the existing house. These are exposed fastener, gavalume coated steel roof panels.  If all goes right it should last for a long, long time.

THE ROOF ARRIVES!

INSTALLING THE WINDOWS FROM INTUS

Our dog Ulu gives new meaning to 'strike a pose'!

We started preparing all the openings for the window installation. 

 

 

Mac takes a moment to inspect the opening prep.  On the inside of the frame we used an expanding foam tape, caulk, and setting blocks to seal the perimeter of the frame.  It was a warm day so we used a trick from the guys at Hammer and Hand  Construction Co. and kept the foam in a cooler to slow down the expansion process.  This gave us a little more time to set the windows before tape expanded.

 

 

On the smaller windows we did not use the flexible flashing on this layer.  We will save this for the outermost layer. In the corners we added a small bead of caulking to make sure we closed all the gaps.

 

On the larger openings with multiple units we added the flashing as an added precaution.  We weren't sure this was necessary but we decided to install it for peace of mind.  Notice that we did not adhere the lower flashing to the exterior wall.  This will get lapped into the next layer when the insulation is installed.



 

 



GOLD!

Our primary weather barrier layer is a liquid applied coating from Sto Corp. called Sto Gold.  Once the exterior sheathing is complete we will apply multiple coats over the entire envelope.

 

 

 

The first coat is covers all seams, corners, and openings.  After that you apply multiple coats until you reach the desired thickness. 

 

 

Despite all the weather setbacks we had in the fall, this weekend we struck gold in the middle of the winter.  We topped out at almost 80 degrees this afternoon and will not fall below 50 for the next couple of days.

 

 

 

Next step will be the windows from Intus.