Category Archives: Basics

A review of writings past

Posted on December 4, 2017 by Buildinggeek

Before the blog came the newsletter. I had a small email list that received a sporadic and erratic compilation of random information about energy and building science. I’m going to mine some of those for future blog posts, but in … Continue reading →

Posted in Basics, Building Science, Energy, Indoor Air Quality | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Toxic attitude

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Buildinggeek

  The picture above tells a sad tale. A tale of bad project management, dispirited workers, and poor results for building occupants. I should note that I was the first person to access that space on the left in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Basics, Building Science, Energy, Policy, Tools, Water | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rubble, Rubble, Toil and Trouble*

Posted on November 30, 2016 by Buildinggeek

Here in New England most of our older houses have rubble foundations. Rubble foundations are uncut stone, often called field stone. Even the best builders of rubble foundations had spaces between the stones that essentially connect the soil directly to … Continue reading →

Posted in Basics, Building Science, Rot, Water | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Oh, that’s gonna smell…

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Buildinggeek

  Sometimes you just get a lot of the same thing around the same time. The past couple of weeks it’s been the wrong way to insulate concrete walls. Out of the three instances recently, two were a bit, shall … Continue reading →

Posted in Basics, Building Science, Energy, Water | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Short thought on a long sentence

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Buildinggeek

  “Where a preservationist might insist that broad expanses of decayed original plaster be repaired or restored with new material mixed and applied according to traditional recipes and finishes, a renovator would more than likely remove the plaster entirely, replacing … Continue reading →

Posted in Basics, Building Science, Water | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Skepticism as a tool

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Buildinggeek

  The other day a new IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) product assessment tool was announced by Healthy Building Network and Google. For building professionals this could be a valuable tool in their kit. We need to have access to good … Continue reading →

Posted in Basics, Building Science, Software, Tools | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Don’t be a dim bulb

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Buildinggeek

  Light bulbs come up all the time when talking about energy efficiency. One comment I hear all the time, “I’ll switch to the more energy efficient bulbs as I use up the old ones.” I’ve got a better idea, … Continue reading →

Posted in Basics, Energy, Lighting | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A recipe for success

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Buildinggeek

    I bet you figured out, at a very young age, that food is pretty important. Eating became a real habit, and, at some point, you discovered that you could make your own food. But it didn’t always go … Continue reading →

Posted in Basics, Building Science | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Sentenced to serve

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Buildinggeek

  As part of a blogging course, we were asked to define what our blog is about in one sentence. That’s not an easy task. I’d like to make it about everything that interests me, but that would dilute a … Continue reading →

Posted in Basics, Building Science | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Attic adventures #1: Insulation is where you find it

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Buildinggeek

Something new, I’m going to be adding an occasional post about oddities and adventures in building science. Funny things do happen and I’ll be sharing them with you. I’m a New Englander born and bred. Grew up on a farm … Continue reading →

Posted in Basics, Building Science | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment