Job Site Diaries

Brick is a wonderful building veneer and is the original "Rain Screen" method of separating your cladding from your building with an air gap. Rock on the other hand is…

Mark LaLiberte is an amazing building-science teacher. Read my blogging notes from his seminar titled "Building High-Performance Homes Dos & Don'ts," which I attended in Austin, Texas. Remember that this…

I attended a builder luncheon the other day and was blown away by this cool new shower head called the Kohler Moxie. It has a magnetic bluetooth speaker that magnet…

In this video I'll show you some modern hardie siding details we used to overcome the issues encountered with exterior rigid foam installation.

A moisture-meter reading above 18% means the framing's too wet; use one (or more) of these four options to dry it out.

Everyone loves a house with hidden door or secret rooms, but these are tricky details to pull off successfully. Here are a few of my recent projects with hidden doors…

Insulation advertisements would lead you to believe there products are perfect for every situation. In fact a hybrid approach is more likely to yield the high performance home I'm after.…

In our Hot Humid Texas climate an ERV does a great job of bringing in Fresh Air but rejecting the humidity (Energy) that typically comes with that air. Panasonic's bargain…

Builder Matt Risinger tours an Austin home that's getting upgrades to insulation, HVAC systems, doors, and more.

Flashing a recessed window is tricky, this new product from DuPont Tyvek called Fluid Applied (Liquid Tyvek!) makes the process much simpler. In this jobsite video we will take you…