Welcome to the Fine Homebuilding Podcast, our weekly discussion of building, remodeling, and design topics aimed at anybody who cares deeply about the craft and science of working on houses. This is senior editor Patrick McCombe. I’m joined by Fine Homebuilding editorial advisor Mike Guertin, Fine Homebuilding contributing editor and production manager for TDS Custom Construction Ian Schwandt, and producer Andres Samaniego.

If you have any questions you want our help with, please email us your questions to [email protected]. You can find previous podcasts and check out the show notes at finehomebuilding.com/podcast.

Note: The Fine Homebuilding Podcast team is always looking for ways to improve, so we’re switching up our video strategy. But don’t worry—you’ll still be able to watch all your favorite clips from the show. Check out our YouTube channel or keep scrolling to see more! 

Check in: Private Equity Snatches up HVAC Companies

Listener Feedback 1:

Barbara from Sacramento writes:

You know how some people are visual learners, some learn best by just listening, and others by doing. Well, I’m a visual learner and find it most difficult to absorb the podcast when I don’t have the ability to watch your faces as you speak. Also, watching you all on video always made me feel like I was in the same room. But now with the new format, just hearing your voices without all the visual cues is simply, well—flat.

I don’t know why you changed things to no longer having the full-podcast video, and I’m hoping there’s enough clamoring to bring the full-show video back. What can you tell me about that?

Sactown Barbara

Listener Feedback 2:

Nate writes:

Hey Ian,

I’ve been editing episodes of the FHB podcast and was reminded of your cricket issue on the recent episode 655 discussion. I can’t help you with how they’re getting in, but I can share a possible solution to help quell the cricket din.

My childhood home was an old, drafty house from the early 1900s and always had a plethora of migrating insects to contend with—I’m no stranger to noisy crickets in the middle of the night. After growing weary of nocturnal bug hunts with a flashlight, I became so desperate for a fix that I decided to try one I’d heard about: duct-tape sticky traps. Place several lengths of duct tape with the sticky side up along the perimeter of your room (corners and hiding spots behind furniture work best). In 9 times out of 10, you’ll find the offending cricket plastered to at least one of the traps come morning. Then it’s just a matter of folding over the tape and putting them out of their misery. Not the most humane way to deal with the issue, but after hearing that you were more than okay with “murdering” the little buggers in the dead of the night, I doubt you’ll have much trouble putting aside any moral quandaries. The best part is that they’re usually stuck so fast to the surface of the tape they can’t lift their legs to make their racket. I haven’t had to resort to this for decades now, but back in the day it worked.

As for the science behind it, I couldn’t tell you. I don’t know if crickets are attracted to the duct tape and try to eat it, or if they simply travel around so often that the odds are stacked against them, but as long as you kept the strips of tape fresh, the outcome is usually favorable. At the very least, it’s a cheap experiment to try during cricket season next year.

Good luck!
Nate Gruca
Multimedia Developer Active Interest Media

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Question 1: How much insulation do I need to add to control condensation?

Greg writes:

Hi Mike,

I was hoping you could point me in the right direction. I’m having a rubber roof replaced in Rhode Island (Climate Zone 5). It’s unvented with about R-30 fiberglass directly against the sheathing below. I am concerned about condensation rotting the sheathing after reading some articles in Fine Homebuilding and Green Building Advisor. From what I understand, I need to add R-20 of rigid foam on the roof deck to avoid the condensation.

Do I have that correct? Which kind of rigid foam would you use? Can you glue EPDM directly to it?

Thanks,
Greg

RELATED STORIES

• GBA.com: Ratio Rule for Roof Insulation
• GBA.com: Hybrid-Roof-Insulation
• Smart Roof Design—Building Science Corp
• Replacing PVC With an EPDM Membrane on a Flat Roof

Question 2: Is it a bad idea to insulate a foundation made of stone that occasionally seeps water?

Scott from Brooklin, Ontario, writes:

I’m loving your podcast! Thank you for making it!

I’m moving to a Victorian-style home built in 1896 that does not have insulation in the basement. I’d like to make the home more energy efficient and would like to insulate the basement walls, but I’m finding conflicting information online. Is it a bad idea to insulate a stone (granite) wall foundation that occasionally seeps water? The temperatures will get well below zero outside. Is that a consideration? If it can be insulated without causing future damage to the foundation, what method should be used?

Thank you,
Scott Bennett, BBA
Co-owner Wooden It Be Nice™ – Furniture Repair

RELATED STORIES

• Cure for a Leaky Stone Foundation
• Three Ways to Insulate a Basement Wall
• Adding Insulation to Basements

Sign up for a Fine Homebuilding All-Access Membership

Unfortunately that is all the time we have for today. Thanks to Mike, Ian, and Nate for joining me and thanks to all of you for listening. Remember to send us your questions and suggestions to [email protected] and please like, comment, or review us no matter how you’re listening—it helps other folks find our podcast.

Happy Building!

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Affordable IR Camera

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