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Engineered Hardwood Flooring – How to Select It For Your Needs

January 27, 2010

By Alan Trauger Engineered Hardwood Flooring Engineered hardwood flooring is a product made of a core of hardwood, plywood, or high density fiber and a top layer of hardwood veneer that is glued on the top surface of the core. It is available in almost any hardwood species. The product has the natural characteristics of [...]

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Fiber Cement Siding – What You Need to Know

January 27, 2010

By Alan Trauger Fiber-Cement Siding is termite resistant, durable, non-combustible, easy to install and finish, moisture resistant, and typically carry 50 year manufacturer’s warranties. Fiber cement siding has the appearance of wood siding but it is lower priced and has lower maintenance costs than wood siding. Fiber cement siding is manufactured by many large building [...]

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Durable Housing Concepts

January 27, 2010

By Alan Trauger Initial thoughts may seem straightforward with a straightforward answer: durable housing is tough; its vertical and horizontal surfaces resist deterioration from weathering and use. It could be theorized that durable housing would possess three qualities. Firmness – it is well built of solid materials. Utility – it is useful and comfortable to [...]

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What is Knob and Tube Wiring

January 27, 2010

By Alan Trauger Knob and tube wiring was a system of open electrical conductors supported on ceramic knobs. It also used ceramic knobs where wires cross each other or pass through framing. This type of wiring was in common use from the 1880′s to 1930′s, in North America. During the era when knob and tube [...]

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Infrared Thermography – How it Works in Building Science

January 27, 2010

By Alan Trauger Infrared Thermography How It Works In Building Science Thermography enables us to see and measure heat. All materials on earth emit heat energy, in the infrared portion of the spectrum. Unfortunately, the unaided human eye cannot see in the infrared. However, infrared cameras can not only see, but record infrared images and [...]

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Polybutylene Piping Failures

January 27, 2010

By Alan Trauger Polybutylene is a form of plastic resin that was used extensively in the manufacture of water supply piping from 1978 until 1995. Due to the low cost of the material and ease of installation, polybutylene piping systems were viewed as “the pipe of the future” and used in lieu of copper piping. [...]

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Termite Types and Preventive Measures

January 27, 2010

By Alan Trauger Termites have been around since the dinosaurs, when all they did was devour trees in the forest. But now, they eat away at homes to the annual cost of $5 billion in treatments and damages just in the U.S. They are a 24/7 pest, meaning they toil 24 hours a day, putting [...]

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Aluminum Wiring Facts and Fallacies

January 27, 2010

By Alan Trauger When first used in branch circuit wiring, aluminum wire was not installed any differently than copper. Due to increased copper costs in the mid 1960′s, aluminum wiring became more prevalent in wiring homes. It was known at the time that aluminum wire requires larger wire gauge than copper to carry the same [...]

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Identifying Polybutylene Pipe

January 27, 2010

By Alan Trauger Polybutylene Pipe (“PB”) is a non-rigid sometimes curved, usually gray (or possibly silver or black) plastic pipe used in indoor plumbing. The fittings / joints connected to the PB pipe, such as elbow and tee-shaped joints can either be gray acetal plastic inserts or copper / metal inserts. The poly pipe connectors [...]

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