FRAMER CONSTRUCTION WINTER CRACK
FRAMER CONSTRUCTION WINTER WINDOWS

You can squeeze both ends of the balloon at the same time if you’re prepared. That’s not to say that true energy efficiency is a futile endeavour. It’s sort of like squeezing a long balloon - one end gets smaller when the other end gets bigger. You set up one bulwark against the cold, cruel blast, and a new problem springs up as a result. What’s clear is that the benefits of comfortable housing in a cold climate don’t happen without a struggle. Then, as homes became tighter and quicker to build in the 1970s and 80s in response to high inflation rates, other problems appeared: window condensation, mold growth, truss uplift and increased respiratory disease, especially among children. The internal condensation that occurred within walls as a result was something that few people foresaw. One of the first was fiberglass insulation installed inside wall cavities before the need for vapour barriers was fully recognized. You actually get pretty hot when you’re moving.Īs the home construction industry evolved from building, old, cold home designs towards warm, comfortable modern structures beginning in the 1950s, cold-climate surprises began to appear.

Working outside isn’t as cold as it looks. Here I am after working outside in a Canadian winter for most of a day.

FRAMER CONSTRUCTION WINTER WINDOWS

Many people living in cold climates spend 90%+ of their time inside during winter, and with windows closed from October to May, it can get pretty stuffy. And don’t forget about the very real issue of indoor air quality. Then there’s the problem of liquid water that appears out of the blue within ill-sealed wall cavities as warm, moist indoor air condenses in cold spots.

FRAMER CONSTRUCTION WINTER CRACK

It’s climatic extremes that sometimes cause your painstakingly-taped drywall joints to crack mysteriously during their first winter. And the further below freezing you go each winter, the more “different” things need to be. But lots of other parts of the world get cold too, and that’s why it’s important to understand how it’s necessary to build differently in regions where temperatures regularly drop way below freezing. I live in Canada, and of course everyone knows Canada is a country that’s cold enough to kill you for a good part of each year.

Framer construction winter