Podcast 595: Raised Floor Systems, Carriage House Conversion, and LED Strip Lighting
Listeners share thoughts on condensate drains, fake shutters, and silicosis. The crew takes questions on insulating a floor system, converting a former storage building to living space, and how to use LED strip lighting.
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Roberta says her first house had a disconnected condensate drain. Josh shares about a house with bogus shutters. Andy reminds us to protect our lungs. Paulet wonders about double vapor retarders in a raised floor. Chris is turning a 4500-sq.-ft. shed into his house. Tom wants more FHB content on working with LEDs.
Editor Updates:
- Ian’s weather, garden, and “nothing new after 2”
- Mark’s house: no time for projects
- Patrick’s Contract Aftershow based on Caleb’s FHB Podcast question, Drywall with new mud pan, and Pro Talk conclusion
Listener Feedback 1:
Roberta in Texas writes: Your comments about damp floors and dehumidification reminded me of my first house. It was brand new. After I first turned the air conditioner on I found that the carpet was wet. I called the builder who sent out a repairman. While waiting for him, I turned the A/C down low in an attempt to dehumidify some.
When the repairman came, he was so astounded by the problem that he showed it to me. The A/C drip line came down and ended several inches above and to one side of the drain line it was supposed to drip into. So, of course, it was dripping on the floor and seeping into the carpet. And running the A/c made it worse.
He connected the two lines and I didn’t have that problem again.
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Listener Feedback 2:
Josh writes: FHB Podcast Crew,
No response or acknowledgement expected, but based on recent podcast topics of unnecessary shutters and how to do dormers well I thought you might appreciate this photo. The dormer is disturbing/humorous in that it serves no purpose other than the non-functioning windows providing light to an unfinished/unfinishable attic. This is a fairly common design in a sought after development here in Iowa and I am not sure it meets the local vernacular (as Patrick would call it). Don’t get me started about all the roof area feeding the valley that dumps water into undersized gutters at the front entry…
Keep up the great work,
Josh
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Listener Feedback 3:
Andy writes: This is a grim one, but it seemed important: Silicosis Among Immigrant Engineered Stone (Quartz) Countertop Fabrication Workers in California
Findings In this case study 52 engineered stone fabricator patients developed silicosis. The median age was 45 years at diagnosis, and nearly all were Latino immigrant men. Diagnosis was delayed in 58%, with 38% presenting with advanced disease (progressive massive fibrosis), and 19% died.
Meaning In California, silicosis associated with occupational exposure to dust from engineered stone primarily occurred among young Latino immigrant men; many patients presented with severe disease, and some cases were fatal.
This is a particularly high death rate. I wonder if consumer pressure might help improve safety protocols at these manufacturers. It would also be interesting to see how natural stone manufacturers compare.
Cheers,
Andy
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Question 1: What is the proper way to insulate a floor above an unconditioned space?
Pauley from FHB Forum writes: Hi all, I have gotten some conflicting information while searching forums and some articles about the proper way to insulate a floor above an unconditioned space. I am building a 16×12 room on a pier foundation with two beams and want to insulate it well enough to use during the winter time. My layers from top down would be:
- Sub Floor
- Vapor barrier
- R-30 faced insulation
3a. 2×10 floor joist - 1″ thick rigid foam (to break thermal barrier. on bottom of floor joist)
- exterior sheathing.
The conflicting information comes from the rigid foam being used. Would this create a second vapor barrier where moisture will now be trapped between this rigid foam and the vapor barrier below my subfloor? I have attached a pdf to show the floor assembly.
Thank you,
Pauley
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Question 2: How do you sequence replacing posts, truss elements, and joists of a sagging structure?
Chris writes: Dear FHB team,
I am a contractor who is about to embark on my most ambitious project yet – my own home. We bought a 4500sf 100-year-old post and beam constructed warehouse/glorified shed. It used to be a carriage house for the town’s ice house. The train would deliver fresh ice to the ice house at the front of the property and then the carriages would deliver it throughout the town.
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Our plans for it are to make it into a live/work building. Unfortunately, over the years a lot of the structure has started to sag and it needs a ton of work. I have a structural engineer who has given us plans on replacing structure as needed and spec’d out hardware and shear walls, but my biggest question is how would you sequence the shoring up and replacement of posts and truss elements and joists? We will also be pouring new footings for every single post and an entirely new slab, although the perimeter foundation will mostly be left untouched (with the exception of a couple locations that need to be filled in).
We are in the Bay Area in California so energy efficiency usually isn’t the most front of mind since it’s so mild here, but since you tend to be interested in that… We will be doing a flash and batt install in the ceiling to get the required R value. Mineral wool batts in the walls. I don’t have any special plans for air sealing or anything like that. We will not have radiant in the floor so we won’t be doing any insulation under the slab unless you think there is a significant reason to do so.
I’m sure I’ll have a million other questions as things progress. I can send more pics if you’d like.
Thanks,
Chris
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Question 3: What are best practices for hardwired LED strip lights?
Tom writes: Hello FHB podcast,
When Apple stopped including first floppy disk drives, and then CD drives from its computers, and then took away the headphone jack from the iPhone, there was an initial shock, but then a realization that it was time to move on from those technologies. If Apple were to design a house, I am quite confident that there wouldn’t be a single medium base light socket anywhere; the possibilities with LEDs are so much more varied. But Apple doesn’t design houses, and moving beyond standard light sockets is not easy!
In response to your discussion in episode 583 about doing an article about the nuts and bolts of LED strip light installation, I say “Yes please!” I really like what LED strip lights can do, but haven’t really found a way to install them in a method that isn’t somewhat slapdash.
The first installation I’ve done, to get an effect that wouldn’t really have been possible without LEDs, is in the reach-in bedroom closet in our 1941 house. I put LED strip lights around the door trim on the interior of the closet, and the result is a bright and even light that lets us clearly see everything at all levels of the closet. I also put an under-cabinet light in the kitchen, using LED strip tape that was dense enough so that, mounted in an aluminum channel with a frosted lens, one gets an unbroken line of light.
But for these and other installations, I want the LEDs hardwired instead of plugged into a receptacle, I don’t want an inline switch on a power cord. I don’t want controllers with batteries that need to be replaced, or that rely on an app that could stop working in a few years. Dimming on the 24V DC side of the transformer, using pulse width modulation (PWM) is far superior to dimming on the AC side.
So much of what’s available seems like it’s for hobbyist projects and not permanent home installation. The world needs a comprehensive FHB article, or two or three, showing us appropriate electronics and hardware and best practices for putting it all together. Where do we locate transformers? Is it better to use one large transformer for several LED strips, or one for each installation? How do we safely and legally route the wiring for both the 120V AC and the 24V DC electricity? Are standard wall switches still the best way to turn the light on and off, or are they also a relic that we need to move beyond?
Please, help us move to the next generation of lighting design!
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END NOTE:
Podcast 595: Members-only Aftershow — Building and Remodeling Contracts
The crew talks about generating a good contract to protect you, your business, and your client.
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