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Jun
27
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To the surprise of many, Alberta does not have any building code for multi-family or high rise condo building exteriors. The City Of Calgary has taken upon itself to start inspecting single family homes to ensure the builders are completing their projects properly however this division at the City is very small. That all said the people in this division are new to the practices that are standard with building science Engineers and specialists. Codes for this portion of building have been in place for several years in Ontario and British Columbia, why not in Alberta, good question there are many trying to change this. It is individual people, owners and complaints that will ultimately drive and lobby the Government of Alberta to change these codes provincially. Until that time you can check out this blog and keep up to date.
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13:12
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Apr
15
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A drainage plain is simply the area between the paper and the finished building exterior component such as siding, conventional stucco, or an efis application etc. this area between the wall is somewhat expected that there can be water present in this area of the envelope. Its sole purpose is to allow the water to drain down the wall and exit at the bottom of the wall system through drainage ports. This can be a woven plastic mat or can be pre formed groves on the back of foam panels(styrofoam) mainly used on concrete buildings with a glue on application, or just a void between conventional and the building paper. This is very important that the paper does not have a reverse lap. A reverse lapping of paper happens when a non trained worker installs the paper with the over lap facing to the top this allows water running down the paper above immediate entrance into the wall and creates a trap for the water to penetrate into the interior walls.
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9:56
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Comments Off
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Apr
7
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A buildings envelope is what separates the transition between the inner and outside wall, it is also what protects the sheathing from the elements of weather. The windows are the first to be installed and prepared for a building envelope to be successful in redirecting and water even if there is a breach or a leak, the industry call this a drainage dam. It is constructed by installing a strip of sloped wood on the bottom sill situated on the inside of the window rough opening ledge. This area then gets a primer application and wrapped with a rubber like membrane material called Soprema, on the outside of the bottom of the windows rough opening, a cut section of building paper is attached to an extended flap of Soprema making it look at the base of the window like its an apron somewhat. After this the window is installed into the rough opening on top of the newly built drainage dam and fastened to the building, then the sides and top of the window receive primmer and Soprema placed on top of and surrounding the nailing flange of the window should water ever get in the window area it will drain down to the bottom of the window onto the drainage dam out onto the apron. After the double layer of building paper has been applied to the buildings exterior the apron is placed on top allowing the water to now naturally drain onto the drainage plain. The double papering of your building believe it or not is the single most important part of a building envelope being successful. Often this part of the construction is done by the least experienced workers and is the single largest reason for building envelope failure we call this reverse lapping.
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9:45
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Apr
1
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Insurance is tricky these days many people believe that they are fully covered and that their agent ensures that they have the best coverage. However, most policies don’t cover moisture damage, most people confuse this with flood damage that is also confused with the standard sewer backup damage the later is quite often a shock to people that if the sewer doesn’t back up then the repair cost are their own. This can be serious amounts of money, you need to be very specific and ask for attached riders on your policy. In most cases the cost is low for this but often overlooked.
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9:43
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Feb
26
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Each policy can different from one insurance company to another. You need to review your home owner’s policy and ask your representative to clearly explain what coverage if any you may have for mold. Always ask if there are others options to add on a trailer policy, some of these that offer more coverage can be as follows:
- Environmental liability policy
- Director and officers liability policy
- National New home
When you hire a Building Envelope Engineer or a Building Restoration Contractor they should be able to determine whether your insurance policy covers mold remediation. Mold inclusive insurance, if you don’t have it, is highly recommended to add to your policy even if your building is newly competed, this will be very advantageous if you building is determined after testing that you have level 2 or level 3 category remediation work required.
WHY TEST FOR MOLD?
Certain strains of Mold is a recognized heath hazard, these strains have been connected to heath problems such as allergies, aspergilloses, and mycotoxin poisoning.
While not all mold is harmful, growth of any micro organisms in occupied building should not be allowed. Testing helps determine the hazard level and how to handle them safely.
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10:47
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