Indoor Air Quality Project Part 2 - Upgrading Basement Insulation

One of the indoor air quality complaints that we have is now that we've improved the envelope of the house, installed mechanical ventilation (ERV - energy recovery ventilator), and have improved the insulation around all the doors, windows, and attic, we have conditions in the summertime where there is a musty odour when entering the house. I knew we had excessive humidity in the house in the summertime with the air conditioning running - from tracking humidity using a simple digital hygrometer - getting levels up to 60% relative humidity.

Completed Polyurethane Foam Installation in the Basement

Research into this problem led to some findings, some of which have already been corrected:

• A blocked air conditioner condensate drain - which prevents water removed from the air from the air conditioning from escaping, and eventually gets re-evaporated and redistributed into the household air. The fix was resloping the condensate drain line and adding unions to be able to remove and clean the trap;
• The furnace fan running continuously following an air conditioning cycle - not allowing enough time for condensate collected on the air conditioning evaporator to drip off and drain out the condensate drain. The furnace fan would not shut off because of the interlock with the Venmar ERV. The solution was removing the independant Venmar control panel and furnace interlock, and installing a thermostat that can intelligently control ventilation, humidification and dehumidification - my selection was the Honeywell Prestige 2.0 IAQ thermostat. 

The third and final issue was in the way our basement walls were constructed 25 years ago - typical for the time - all the perimeter walls of the house were framed with standard 2x4 stud walls, with an air gap between the poured concrete foundation wall and the stud wall. The stud walls were then insulated with fibreglass batts from the top down to 2 feet from the slab, with no insulation at all in the bottom 2 feet of the wall. Instead of a poly vapour barrier, a foil backed paper was installed, but only where there was fibreglass batt insulation. So - there was nothing to prevent humid air from inside the house permeating the drywall or finding its way to the cold concrete foundations through air leakage through the tops of the stud walls which were not sealed, the bottom, or the many apertures for plumbing access, outlets, etc. When I opened up a 2' x 2' section of the basement wall - I found the lack of insulation, and evidence of seasonal moisture accumulation - cobwebs and spiders, efflorescence on the concrete, water stains on the electrical wiring, and a humid, musty odour. 

Inspection Hole in Basement Wall - White dust is from cutting the hole in the drywall. Note the cobwebs, Efflorescence on the Concrete Wall, Construction Debris, and Gap between the Wall and the Slab

Another issue revealed with the inspection hole was that our basement concrete slab was poured with a formed gap of 1 1/2" between the concrete wall. I believe this is referred to as a "floating slab" installation - which is done in cases where there is a concern that the slab may either raise or settle. If the slab is poured directly against the wall - the perimeter of the slab can't rise or fall, and if the slab moves, it may cause cracks. The issue, however, is that this gap was never filled prior to the construction of the perimeter insulated inner wall. Once the gap was cleaned under the inspection port, wet sand was evident in the gap. The construction debris left in this gap seemed to trap the humidity in this area, and this seemed to be the source of our musty odour getting into the rest of the basement, and distributed in the whole house by the central HVAC system.

Top of photo - poured concrete wall. Bottom of photo - base plate for inner wall - pressure treated 2x4. Just above the 2x4 is the poured concrete slab, and the 1 1/2" gap with gravel and damp sand at the bottom. 

Photos of construction debris taken from the space behind the perimeter wall, sitting in the gap between the slab and wall. Note the water stains on the scrap of drywall at the top. Definitely an accumulation of moisture here.

So - we've found our source of moisture, the cause for the moisture, and the probably source of our musty odour. Before getting into the repairs from the inside of the house - it was almost wintertime at this point, and we wanted to rule out poor foundation drainage as a cause of the moisture at the interface between the slab and the footing. So - we called in a drain company to excavate and inspect the foundation footing perimeter french drain. I'll write about that inspection in another post, but the result was that our french drains were clean, dry, and working well. So it was on to the planning for the repair of the basement wall insulation problem, and the gap in the slab.

I researched the best ways to seal the gap in the slab and the wall. Some believe that this gap can serve as a drain - a way for condensation that forms on the cold walls of the basement to trickle down and escape without collecting on the slab and damaging the walls or finishing of the basement. Well - in our case - we don't want the condensation in the first place - we want a clean, dry basement that is properly air conditioned with good air quality. Multiple sources, including the Canada National Research Council (NRC) publications on building construction, advise to repair all sources of water entry into the basement prior to interior finishing or insulation. In my case - I didn't think that I had any cracks or leaks, and I had my foundation drains inspected and found them to be working. So - on to how to seal this crack between the wall and the slab. There are different products available to seal a gap in concrete - there are caulks designed for expansion / construction joints, there are epoxies designed for structural repairs, and there is expanding polyurethane foams designed for waterproofing and non-structural repairs. I sought out the advice of contractors and a civil engineer, and in the end decided that since this gap is not structural, and that the slab may continue to move slightly, a product that had some flexibility and was highly adhesive and would bond to the concrete would be the best fit. Closed cell polyurethane expanding foam was my choice. By the way - if you ever get into this type of situation - I advise you to not only do your own research, but to also consult professionals with appropriate experience. Your building envelope is critically important for the integrity of your dwelling - improper decisions can lead to further problems - moisture, rot, mould, etc. Seek professional assistance. 

Now - as a minimum, I was going to have to open up the bottom of all my basement walls and seal the gap between the slab and the wall with closed cell polyurethane spray foam. I also needed to insulate the bottom 2 feet of the walls where there was no insulation - so an obvious choice was to continue with the closed cell polyurethan spray foam. At this point, it was obvious the best solution was to open up all the basement perimeter walls - and insulate with the same foam. The basement is about 50% finished living space, and 50% storage / mechanical space - extending under the structural slab which is the garage floor. Total basement permimeter wall surface area - approximately 1400 square feet. At this point it's worth mentioning that when you consult the building construction literature - such as NRC "Keeping the Heat In" basement insulation chapter, or Bulding Science Corporation basement insulation - there are many different ways of constructing a basement wall insulation system - which includes insulating the exterior of the foundation wall, and various ways of insulating the inside of the foundation wall - 2x4 walls with mineral wool / fibreglass batt insulation, rigid polystyrene foam insulation, spray polyurethane foam insulation, etc. Again - I recommend highly that if your considering a repair or retrofit, that you consult reputable sources of information, and that you pick an appropriate system with professional advise as required, and implement the complete system carefully. If you or your contractor cut corners here - you may be exposing yourself to potentially significant problems in the future - water problems, condensation, wood rot, mould, etc. Take your time, think it through, get professional assistance. I really don't think this is a place to be cutting corners. 

I pulled together three different contractor / self perform scenarios, consisting of two contractor quotations and a self-perform option where I would hire some demolition and construction labour to help out with me assisting. I finally decided on the third option - and got started on the project about 2 weeks ago. 

We started by removing all the drywall and starting in the storage room, mechanical room under the garage slab. About half the drywall was fairly easy to remove - it wasn't even taped yet. The remainder was taped, and some of it could be saved, some of it couldn't. In a full day - we had exposed the concrete basement walls of about half the perimeter of the house. 

Perimeter wall with gyproc and fibreglass batts removed. 2' of rigid polyurethane foam at the top of the wall, gap between the interior wall and the foundation wall.

At this point - I decided I would try using the Touch-n-Foam closed cell kits to do the 3" minimum foam - so that I could proceed with the project sequentially and move into the living space later. I went out to my local home improvement store, and purchased two of the 600 board feet kits - each kit consists of 2 cylinders (A and B which mix together in the gun) of 45 pounds for each cylinder. So - 2 kits - 180 pounds of foam in the 4 cylinders.

• Part 1 - Touch-N-Foam System 600 Polyurethane Spray Foam Kits
• Part 2 - Completing the Job with a Spray Foam Contractor
• Part 3 - Foundation Wall Vertical Crack Repair
• Part 4 - Finishing the Job and Insulating the Garage Stairwell
• Part 5 - Basement Floor Slab - Horizontal Crack Repairs using Sika Crack Fix

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Adding a Yard Drain

With spring coming and snow melting I thought I would post about the yard drain that I installed two summers ago to help with some drainage problems on my property. Following heavy rain, I had water pooling up against the back of my garage, and next to my pool shack, halfway across my back yard. The fix for the water pooling up against the back of the garage was fairly easy. Over time, the backfill around the garage foundation had obviously settled, so I had a landscaping contractor come in, lift all the interlocking brick around the back of the garage, add about 12" of compacted stone dust, and then reinstall all the interlocking brick giving me a nice slope away from the foundation.

Yard drain - installation in progress.

This however, only exacerbated the problem with the drainage in front of the pool shack. Heavy rain - three to four inch puddle of water about 150 square feet. I would also get large puddles on the other side of the pool shack, due to the landscaping at the back of the yard. Some research lead me to the concept of a yard drain - essentially a section of 4" drainage pipe coming up to a drain grate integrated with your landscaping, which allows water to run off the property. I'm fortunate that I have a fairly deep drainage ditch running across the back of my property line - so I could run a drainage line halfway back my property and have enough fall / slope in the pipe to allow for good water flow, and still be able to drain out the end of the pipe.

I was also in the process of levelling all my interlocking patio stone, so it was a good time to install the yard drain. The process started by lifting all the interlocking brick in path of the excavation. Trench digging by hand is definitely a skill - there are some good online videos on digging trenches - I made sure I had two very good shovels - one square shovel with a heavy wooden handle for cutting the sides of the trench, and one long handled spade for getting into the bottom of the trench and digging out the debris.

Start of the project - patio stone stacked on the right. Pipe and fittings in the foreground. The start of the trench.

Obviously, avoid a hot humid day or digging in the peak heat of the afternoon. One solid day of digging and we had our trench, in very hard, clay soil. I verified the slope periodically with a 4' level, to ensure I had at least a 1% slope (1/8" drop per foot of run) toward the back of the yard.

The excavation proceeds

 I wanted to install two drain points - one on each side of my pool shack, due to the way the ground sloped in my back yard. The outlet to the back of my yard had only one decent route between some mature lilac trees, and I wanted to minimize the number of roots to cross, so I had to have a cross trench in a T shape to pick up the second drain point.

T intersection in the trench.

I installed a T at each drain point, to create a shallow sump to trap sand a small rocks that may drop into the drain. Once a year, I'll remove the grating on the drain, and scoop out any debris in the bottom of the T fitting. The base of the T is plugged with a cap fitting.

The uppermost drain point. Note the duct tape closing off the drain pipe so that nothing gets into the drain while backfilling with earth. 

The long run from the uppermost drain.

Trenching across tree roots is not terribly difficult. Most roots run fairly close to the surface, and if you can avoid cutting the roots, and trenching through the roots, you give your trees the best chance of survival. It helps to have a small spade shovel (6" wide) to get inbetween the roots and faciliate cleaning out underneath the roots.

Note the T fitting and branch line to the second drain. The pipe runs underneath the lilac roots. 

Since I was going to have to reinstall my patio stone above the backfilled drain line, I took my time to ensure the drain line was very well compacted. The trick to compaction is shallow raises of your backfill - a couple of inches at a time, and compaction with a vibrating plate compactor makes it go much quicker. I rented this gas powered vibrating plate compactor for $20 for the day, including gas. Sprinkle some water on each raise to help with the compaction - just enough to make your backfilled earth moist, but not soaking wet.

Vibrating Plate Compactor, Gas Powered.

Long run partially backfilled.

Partial backfill.

With the backfill complete, it was time to reinstall the interlocking brick, and then install some grating on the drains to prevent leaves from getting into the drain pipe. 

Upper drain - completed, with grille installed. Very inconspicuous.

Lower drain on the T branch - grate installed.

These do a great job of preventing the accumulation of standing water in the back yard. The levelling and cleaning of the interlocking brick also made a big difference in how everything looks.

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Cordless Tool Charging Station in Ikea Wall Cabinet

Part of the garage organization project included setting up a charging station for cordless tool batteries. I wanted a central place where I could install my chargers, and always have a few batteries charged and ready to go. I wanted the charging station to be hidden from view, and easy to keep organized but out of sight.

I set up  an extension cord from the closest outlet behind my Ikea cabinets to a convenient wall cabinet, and then installed a 3/8" plywood backboard to simplify the installation of the chargers. A coat of white paint helps keep the installation neat.

Plywood backboard installed with four small angle brackets. Note that the shelves are actually straight - the distortion is from the camera lens.

Next step was to install the chargers. I've standardized on two systems - 18V dewalt for most common handyman tools, and Ryobi 18V for my yard tools - cordless lawn trimmer, cordless hedge trimmer and cordless blower (I'm a pretty big fan of these three tools).

Dewalt charger on the left, Ryobi charger on the right. Mounting on the back wall of the cabinet maximizes space in the cabinet for batteries and tools, and helps keep things organized.

Dewalt and Ryobi chargers installed on the backboard. 

And finally, in front of the chargers - lots of space for the Dewalt 18V cordless shop vac, impact and drill.

Cordless tools - out of the way, always ready to go. 

Pretty simple project, took about an hour in total. Painting the plywood took the most time.

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Garage Organization Using Ikea Kitchen Cabinets - Akurum or Sektion

One of the things that was sorely lacking in the new house was any form of garage organization - just a huge, empty, 40 x 18 x 10 foot box. Here's a photo of how things were organized following our move into the new house:

Next to no organization - piles of boxes and a big open mess.

I did a bunch of research, and looked at the garage storage systems in the big box home improvement stores. My impression of the systems offerred, both in metal and in melamine - was typically of mediocre quality, and a lack of flexibility. Typically, only one or two base cabinets and tall cabinets were offerred, so getting a good fit with my space would be difficult or impossible.

Then I went to Ikea and checked out the Akurum kitchen cabinet system. Here - lots of choice in base cabinets, wall cabinets and tall cabinets. Lots of widths, height, door and drawer combinations. In essence - exactly what I was looking for - full flexibility to implement a storage design taking into account my space available. (Note - I understand that the Ikea Akurum system will be replaced in 2015 by a new kitchen cabinet system - Sektion - but that shouldn't change the principles of implementing a similar solution in your garage). 

The first stage was to plan everything out. I'm a big fan of using Sketchup for 3D modelling projects around the house. It was quick and simple to draw my garage in sketchup, including the constraints such as the doors, stairs to the house, and two exposed beams that interrupt the flat wall surface on the side of the garage. I was able to find and upload pre-drawn models of the Akurum cabinet system, and of my motorcycle and table saw, directly from the Sketchup 3D warehouse. I had to work around my motorcycle, table saw, mini fridge, freezer and rolling toolbox. I wanted to have all my storage against one wall, to keep as much of the width free for the cars and space to work or do projects. 

Sketchup Plan of Ikea Akurum Storage System.

Once I was happy with the plan, and I reviewed the plan with my partner, it was time to get started. Due to the volume and weight of the cabinet system, I had Ikea deliver everything right to my house for a very reasonable delivery charge of about $40. The truck offloaded everything right into the garage:

Wall Cabinets, Tall Cabinets, Doors and Drawers

Then it was time to get started assembly. I had one cabinet that I had to cut and custom fit around a column protruding from the wall - so I started there.

Empty wall - ready for cabinets

I used two moving blankets to protect the cabinet components during assembly.

The first tall cabinet - fit around the wall column.

I decided to use the plastic levelling feed sold with the Akurum system to level all the cabinets. This system works really well. I made a simple jig to help me tilt the cabinets up vertically without damaging the plastic feet.

Jig for tilting wall cabinets vertical - you wouldn't need this if you had a second person to help you lift these vertically. 

Jig ties around the cabinet, allows you to lift the cabinet vertical with one person, without bearing on the plastic feet.

Plastic cabinet feet on the bottom of the wall cabinet, ready to tilt vertically. 

Once the first cabinet was raised into position, the remaining cabinets went quickly. I installed a thin strip of plywood along the cabinet tops to compensate for the offset of some ceramic tile on the wall at the bottom of the wall. This simplified getting the cabinets straight and solid against the wall.

Wall mounted plywood strip to compensate for the ceramic tile on the wall at the bottom. A laser level makes it quick and easy to install this straight and level.

Plywood strip - for seuring the top of the wall cabinets

Adding boxes to the initial wall cabinet. Levelling is quick and easy with the plastic cabinet feet.

Once all the wall cabinets are installed, its time for some doors and drawers. I went for the soft close hinges and drawer slides - makes for a polished installation.

Doors and Drawers almost complete

Once all the wall cabinets were complete, it was time to concentrate on the wall cabinets that would go above the table saw and deep freeze. I used the Ikea wall cabinet installation rail - which makes for a quick, easy, solid and straight installation.

For installing the wall cabinets - start by setting up the rail. The laser level simplifies placement and levelling

The first cabinet clips onto the rail using the installation hardware provided

Then two more cabinets clip on - the hardware for joining the boxes together is included with the boxes.

One tip for making the whole process go quicker - use an air powered trim nailer - brad nailer for tacking the back panels of the cabinets to the cabinet frames - this really speeds up the slowest part of the whole operation. Then the final touch - installing the door hardware:

This door hardware was selected from Lee Valley Tools - perfect for the garage

And now for the finished product - which ended up looking pretty well as planned in the Sketchup Model. The mini fridge fits perfectly under the wing of the table saw, and gives a nice work area when combined with the deep freeze. All in all - it took a solid weekend to get the installation to this point - 5 tall cabinets, 3 wall cabinets, 6 drawers, and 18 doors.

Cabinets installed

And the detail of the table saw - one sheet of slotboard finished in white matches the wall cabinets and ties everything together:

Slotboard to close out the installation.

Since this installation - I've made a series of improvements which I'll describe in future posts:

• LED strip lighting over the table saw and deep freeze
• 18V cordless tool charging station
• Wall Cabinets and Storage Shelving installed over the motorcycle and rolling toolbox
• Plano Hardware Storage in the Wall Cabinets

If you have any questions, feel free to post and I'll try to answer quickly. 

After about 15 months - this setup is still rock solid and very practical. I can't imaging working without it now.

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Eavestrough Repairs and Preventing Downspout Blockages with Gutterstuff

Our latest house is two stories tall, with eavestrough at both levels. It's also situated close to many mature trees, and as I quickly found out, none of the downspouts were clear and working properly. In the summer we get oak seeds (double samaras) - some people call them helicopter seeds, and then in the fall we get leaves - lots of them.

Downspout blocked with tree debris

My first season in the house I tried to alleveiate the problem by installing spherical downspout strainers on all the downspouts. These worked - for about 2 weeks. And then they become completely blocked with leaves and as the leaves rod, they gradually allow infiltration into the downspout. It was definitely not the solution I was looking for.

My second season, I went looking for a better solution. I considered the plastic or aluminum covers that you can purchase, however I was worried about two aspects - i) fit; and ii) performance - would water just sheet off the cover and overrun the eavestrough? It seemed like too much trouble to install, and would be finicky to fit.

I stumbled across a product called Gutterstuff in my local home improvement store - it's a black, open cell foam cut into a triangular shape, which stuffs into your eavetrough gutters making it impossible for helicopter seeds or leaves to get down into the gutter and block your downspouts. It looked like it would work - so I bought half a dozen pieces to try out on my eavestroughs. 

The triangular shape leaves the bottom free for water to flow to the downspout. The top surface is completely closed - preventing any leaves or seeds to get into the downspout. This is the "K Style" Gutterguard. There are other shapes available.

The open cell design allows water to flow through very easily.

Installation is very simple - the pieces are 4 feet long, and stuff underneath the nails or screws that hold your eavestroughs to your eaves. It cuts with scissors, and can be easily fit around corners or odd angles.

Gutterstuff installed in both upper and lower eavestroughs

Transfer spout filters through Gutterstuff before continuing down the next downspout.

So - how does it work? Absolutely great! I haven't been up to clean out gutters by hand in 14 months now, and everything flows perfectly. No more overflowing gutters, no more water soaked brick, no more blocked downspouts. I find that leaves may land and rest on top of the gutters, but not for more than a few hours or a day. As soon as a little bit of wind hits the gutters, the wind will sweep the leaves off the top of the Gutterstuff keeping everything clear. Water sweeps right through the open cell foam, and does not splash or overrun the gutter. So far it's holding up well under the sun with no UV degradation.

If you have a problem with leaves and your eavestroughs, I highly recommend this product, it will work.

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Central Air Conditioning Condensation Drain, Trap and Cleanout

Last summer I began having humidity problems in my house, even with the air conditioning running. A quick inspection of the fan coil unit showed that the evaporator condensate pan was not draining properly, leaving the pan full with water. As the fan circulated ventilation air when the air conditioner was not running, it would simply evaporate the water in the condensate pan, and bring it back into the house.

My condensate drain was constructed of 3/4" CPVC pipe, and the installer put in a simple P trap made of 90 degree elbows, as shown below. I tried flushing out the P-trap by putting a hose nozzle inside the fan coil unit - very awkward, and not very effective. I had to find a better way of cleaning out the trap.

Condensate drain made from 3/4" CPVC pipe and 90 degree elbows

A second issue with this drain was that there was no slope added to the pipe when it hit the floor and ran for about 20 feet.

Drain runs about 20 feed along the floor slab to a floor drain

To be able to get in and clean out the P trap, I cut the trap out of the system, and reinstalled it with two CPVC union fittings. I started by installing the top union, to be able to measure the down pipe on the other side to get the right height for the second union. When I got the P-trap removed, it was completely gunked up with scale, rust from the condensate pan, and spider webs. It was easy to clean out once removed.

Installing CPVC union fitting on the trap

Here's the finished trap with two unions installed. 

I also corrected the slope of the pipe running along the slab, to avoid water pooling in the flat runs, evaporating, and leaving scale. 

Shimming the drain pipe to get the correct slope 

Adding shims under the pipe straps to correct the drain slope.

All told, this project took a couple of hours, but it should reduce the amount of maintenance required to keep the pipe flowing, and greatly simplify cleaning out the trap. If you're putting in a new drain, consider putting in the union fittings right from the start. They're not expensive, about $4 or $5 for a 3/4" union.

Water fllowing through the drain line again.

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