A Prequel To Evaporation

Let me preface this by saying most professionals in the trades (inclusive of home inspectors, building inspectors, consultants) are not chemists, physicists, or molecular specialists. If you don’t get the concepts herein, or I fail to enumerate their conditions properly, that’s okay. There’s a world of chemistry out there that needs and requires specialists – we don’t need to be them; I just want to expose more of us to very basic premises that can and should help decision making when designing, building, or inspecting structures.

In the physical world, where materials are felt and cut and manipulated, it’s hard to pay attention to what is right there but not readily visible – namely, gases and chemistry. So, this is a walk-through (for me, as well) to create awareness of how a solid, liquid, or gas responds to another solid, liquid, or gas related to material performance.

Perhaps the most accessible and best starting example would be liquid and tape flashings. In modern construction, we have become very reliant on liquid and tape flashing for helping to limit air and moisture (and pest) infiltration into our structures (because, don’t forget, our aim is to control the inside and keep the outside out when it comes to building a structure). Well, not all builders/trades professionals are on this bus yet; but, each year the ranks do appear to be increasing.

These are not the tapes with which you seal…wall, floor, and roof assemblies

When a liquid or flashing tape is used, it relies on a chemical bonding of materials – adsorption; this is one of our key terms. Adsorption is the accrual of atoms, ions, and molecules on another surface in a bonding method. When liquid flashing is applied, the chemical concoction adheres to the surface of the other material. The liquid flashing does not fully penetrate or incorporate into the other material, but bonds at the surfaces. This is adsorption for building materials. The other really important take-away relates to too much of the adsorbate – the liquid flashing – being applied to the absorbent – the other material to which it is adhering: There is a finite layering that can be productive before the liquid flashing stops its intended adhering. Basically, you don’t have to apply (nor would it perform properly) three inches of liquid flashing along the sill/sheathing joint of a wall/foundation assembly.

Think of it like holding hands…but much, much stronger and “wetter”

If we look at flashing tape and adsorption, the same premise applies but a bit differently. You know how you may have heard, “You have to roll the tape,” by flashing tape manufacturers? Well, that’s because the rolling of the tape creates a sorption process whereby the chemicals of the adhesives in the tape “wet” into the tiny pores of the material to which it is adhering. In other words, the mechanical process of physically (think energy usage) wetting the tape by rolling helps to induce the adsorption of the adhesive onto the material at hand – wood, concrete, etc. The tape’s adhesive does not penetrate into the surface, but bonds at the teeny-tiny level to create the “long-term sticking.” This is the same thing that happens when activated charcoal filters your water.

Now, perhaps you do a lot of reading and listening and have heard the on-going rumblings of those nay-sayers that are afeared of failure when relying on liquid or tape flashing. Chemically speaking, this would be desorption; for adsorption and surface bonding, it is the premise that what adheres can also come loose (with an investment of energy). Technically, this is an accurate fear; on-going testing of tapes and liquid flashings continue to help determine long-term chemical bonds and what sort of stressors (think energies) can break those bonds and cause failure in flashing-related protections which could lead to water infiltration and unhealthy issues developing in a structure. This is why the manufacturer’s literature is so vital – the manufacturer literally tells you what you can use their product with and how it must be used and when it will fail. If you don’t follow the recipe, don’t be surprised when your crepe eats like a pancake. As both a home performance consultant, and a licensed home inspector, I cannot begin to extol the merits of reading all that tiny print. That’s my soap box.

Seriously, read the fine print from the manufacturers. It’s good stuff!

The other key term I intended to confuse and befuddle you regarding is absorption. If adsorption is surface adherence, then absorption is full-on “I’m going to gobble you up and put you in my belly.” Think, alligator and a doe at the water’s edge. The doe goes in the alligator, not onto the alligator. A very crude metaphor, yes, but one that helps to express the point – the deer doesn’t adsorb to the alligator’s skin, although that would be interesting. Absorption is the process by which one material is fully incorporated within another, sometimes temporarily and sometimes permanently.

For building science and trades, think of moisture in a wall assembly, or in a floor assembly for those of us accustomed to wet crawlspaces. Unlike caulk, which only adheres (adsorption) to a surface, water can absorb into a material – wood or concrete, for example. Ever seen composite cement fiber board improperly installed and exposed to water? The rate is not fast, but absorption eventually reaches a point of equilibrium/saturation (a max concentration of sorts) that the material was never intended to manage and the related energies and stressors exert so much antagonism on the material that it starts to flake apart in these thin layers. That process starts with absorption and is one of the reasons why wood and cement-based composites are intended to be primed and sealed and separated from ground and roof surfaces (well, we have to introduce capillary action in here to really explain it properly…we haven’t enough word space remaining in this article).

Another ready example would be manufactured adhered stone veneer (a cement product) or brick veneer – both claddings (unless painted/sealed) readily absorb moisture from their exposed surfaces. The veneers will continue to absorb moisture until they reach an equilibrium. Then, either it stays (if it is raining) in the material, or it may begin to exit the material in the direction of less water. If the wind is driving the rain to the brick from the exterior, water may leave the brick on the interior side that faces away from the rain (more to less). And what’s on this side of the brick? The wall assembly. If this assembly lacks proper configurations to manage bulk water, the water may then begin both the adsorption (weather resistive barrier) and absorption (wall sheathing) processes all over again. We all know what water does in wall assemblies, right? Right.

If you guessed you’d find a mocktail therein, well…you are a cheery bloke, ain’t ya?

To further convolute, solar drive is an energetic process whereby the sun’s radiant heat physically forces the water onward/inward, which can have detrimental consequences for a wall’s performance. But, solar drive is not absorption. I am no chemist, but I suspect it is a variant of desorption since energy and heat are involved in altering the chemical relationships and driving one material out from within the other.

Please, don’t take my word on any of this. Check with your local, friendly, neighborhood professional chemist. We all have those, right? Remember, you don’t have to be a chemist and you don’t need to be able to write a dissertation on any of this. What you should be able to do is have an inkling of an idea how this stuff works so you can make informed choices as a professional, so you can properly cite deficiencies or discovered issues, and so you can proficiently communicate to the client/consumer thereby being respectful of their time and money.

What It Means To Dry

Where does water go when it dries? This sounds like a replacement line for Nirvana’s cover-song “Lake of Fire,” originally written by the Meat Puppets (who knew…). But seriously, where does it go?

As home inspectors, building consultants, homeowners, trades professionals, we all have this magical understanding related to things drying. But, what really happens when something dries and how might it be important to our understandings of our modern-day huts? Strap on the old thinking cap because we’re on a reading rainbow journey!

Let’s take drying clothes as an achievable example: We pull the clothes from the washing machine and hang the delicates to dry. How is this happening? We feel the clothes wet when they come out of the washing machine drum, so we tangibly know the water is there. But, then we hang them and poof, the water isn’t there…but also isn’t anywhere else we can see. Evaporation.

Okay, so maybe you’re thinking I’m new to this world. But, no. You can’t just say, “It evaporated.” What does that mean? Can you say? Most can’t. So let’s: Evaporation would be the process where a tiny mouse wizard comes behind us when we leave the room and waves a wand around, chants some very indiscernible words, and creates just enough energy (think megajoules per kilogram) to disperse the bonds of the water molecules near the surface. These molecules are henceforth not a liquid, but a gas and then, like all well-meaning gases, leave to play pickleball, go see an over-priced movie, or get their hair blown out. Eventually, they will get lonely and re-congregate into a nefarious fluffy cloud and phase change back into a liquid. They could also re-appear as condensation…depending on several variables.

This is Fred. He’s pretty busy drying all our clothes.

As a side bar, as those water molecules nearest the surface change phase and evaporate, water molecules left behind take their place (more on this below) at the surface, and then, they too evaporate and disperse if conditions are proper. And thus, eventually, we get “dry.”

So, maybe ditch the magical mouse and wand, but the energy part is true. The thing is, the required amount of energy to “dry” depends on several factors we shan’t be including herein. Now, the key for us in the built environment is what often gets phrased as “the drying potential.” This is not the same as “college potential,” though both could prove to be unexpectedly expensive. While we may not need to worry about how our plasticized briefs and bras air dry (there’ a reason many of our undergarments come with warnings to avoid excessive heat), we should be concerned with the drying potential for moisture in the materials that make our fancy huts.

Seriously, if your undergarments aren’t cotton, look at the packaging and/or labeling. Most have a warning to stay away from heat sources…

You see, in my glorious 1940 home, any water that adsorbs onto or absorbs into the board sheathing will diffuse readily along the grains (wood in particular) and eventually evaporate/dry out with minimal effect because my home has great drying potential due to being poorly air sealed and insulated (please, send me money in lieu of medals for this amazing accomplishment…it can help me pay my utility bills). But, in some homes of various vintages, inclusive of modern builds and commercial applications, there is LESS drying potential due to modern configurations of our wall assemblies and building materials (that is, those areas that get wet don’t necessarily have access to the energy needed for evaporation because energy is being properly sequestered within the home’s interior habitable enclosure). This is not a bad thing, if you care about the status of the environment or your bank account. It IS a bad thing, however, if you want your walls to not be a terrarium of mush that can’t stand up to wind and pests AND you build without paying heed to moisture movement.

You know all those local news stories, social media posts, and leaflets dropped from above that focus on toxic mold in homes (side bar: such mycological toxicity is real and really, really bad where it actually occurs…that’s not every time, however)? Those highly credible news sources should be focused on how those fun guys (get it…) showed up to party in the first place. If we managed our assemblies better with a mind toward drying potential (read, evaporation), then it would be less frequent for these spores to rudely take over. I digress.

Yep, imagine these spores just waiting to party in your home’s walls, or ceiling, or crawlspace, or basement, or ductwork…well, anywhere where variables are conducive to their partying..

Evaporation. Okay. So, evaporation happens when water molecules near the surface gain enough energy (heat energy, temperature) to free their oppressive bonds. Then, diffusion (think about perfume being sprayed in the air) via physics disperses these from high to low concentration and hence they “disappear.” Again, remember that diffusion also is the reason one concentrated wet area spreads to less-concentrated dry areas during the stage of what we’ll call “water wetting” (this is named thusly because there’s another chemical process referred to “wetting” that I don’t want to confuse with our current topic). Without diffusion in the product/material, evaporation would not be possible – but, we’re talking about diffusion in a liquid phase first, then in a gas phase post-evaporation. Meanwhile, back at the farm, if your environment is really wet, or cold, the moisture in our proverbial materials, be they clothes or building supplies, will not evaporate as quickly because there isn’t enough potential energy and there may not be enough dry air for diffusing from wet to dry/more to less.

Very simplistically, diffusion is one of the things occurring in this photo…along with a jean vested bartender in the background…

There’s also osmosis. This technically isn’t the same as water drying, but it plays a role in the exchange of water from Point A to Point B. We won’t get into osmosis because it technically reverses the always high-to-low principle, but then it doesn’t because it isn’t about the water for osmosis – it’s about the sketchy people water hangs out with (solutes) and the need to dilute those 1980s Seattle-based punks. As an aside, osmosis can be the force behind the death of your brick and other masonry materials; the force is strong with this one. So, the next time you see spalling brick and efflorescence, you can thank me (again, send money).

Why does this truly matter for us as inspectors, builders, and consumers? Well, if you have a failure in a wall, roof, or floor assembly (use the same mental image of a rectangle, just rotate for each position), whether that failure results in catastrophic damage and fungal growth partially depends on the drying potential which happens via diffusion, evaporation, and diffusion. The longer organic-based materials (and non-plasticized composites) stay wet, the greater potential for degradation. And, in many of our regions, most trades professionals remain ignorant (in the truest sense of the word) related to building with a mind’s eye toward the physics of drying and so moisture gets “trapped” in the assembly components (assume Liam Neeson [heat energy/potential] can’t get to his daughters [moisture] to free them from the bad guys [the building materials]). If you read the fine print by many manufacturers who make these building materials, you will see they assume their products will get wet. After all, they are exposed on the exterior, which is outside. They provide instructions, configurations, and videos explicitly showing how to make sure said product(s) can be protected and/or can dry by not trapping water.

Seriously, the literature that accompanies materials can be very informative and valuable.

So, if you find evidence of something wet, it has at least one source and that source may or may not be readily obvious. Try to find it or hire someone who can. Remember – water, heat, energy, and pressure move from high to low, more to less. If you see something deteriorated from being wet, you can assume it doesn’t have the potential (energy) to dry via evaporation and diffusion because there are nearby variables askew for healthy conditions (or, it was exposed to moisture in a way that it was never designed to be…like composite cement cladding in direct contact with a roof/ground surface). Find them (the askew variables). When you can name “it” and “them,” you can put the puzzle pieces together, inform your client, and help the right people answer, “so what now?”

Our Southern Homes and Water Vapor

Prologue

Writing, for me, is synthesizing ideas, concepts, and facts into understandings of my own words. This creates meaning for me as a professional and, thus, helps me to be a better professional for my clients.

Writing helps create meaning…which has to be read…to create meaning

Recently, I was re-reading Dr. Joseph Lstiburek’s 2004 article, “Insulations, Sheathings, and Vapor Retarders.” In my best moments, I try to touch one of his articles once per week. His material is dense, but accessible and witty. It really satiates my brain. But, I find that the information does not self-retain in my noggin – there is no adsorption or absorption for all of what Dr. Lstiburek freely disseminates. So, I have to re-read things continually to overcome my mutton-headed ways.

In the above-mentioned article, vapor in walling (and technically, roof and floor) assemblies is discussed in terms of thermodynamics and chemistry. At one point, the article talks about how vapor will diffuse to the lower vapor pressure and/or temperature side between two sides, regardless of air pressure. For our southern, humid climate this means that the water vapor that is outside in the warmer months will migrate inward for two reasons – our air conditioning “usually” is pulling moisture from the air inside our homes while simultaneously cooling interior surfaces. So, the inside has less vapor pressure (fewer water molecules inside than outside) and cooler surfaces. Vapor moves from high concentration to low concentration (inward in warmer months in our region) and from warmer to cool (inward in warmer months in our region).

Our Market

Now, the most common wall assembly configuration in our market is 2x4 studs, OSB wall sheathing, and a weather-resistive-barrier from DuPont (although competing brands are starting to show more frequently, but they mostly perform the same). These WRBs are not air barriers if not fully sealed (they never are in our market) and they are not vapor barriers as they are usually semi-permeable. Basically, they are designed to manage bulk water, but can’t do much for water in gaseous form (if you live here, you know we have a ton of water in gaseous form for at least 7 months each year).

A representative example for homes in our region which usually look modern-pretty from the cladded finish side

So, our wall assemblies are deplorable, historically, at managing water vapor. In older homes, like one I was in last year, this results in saturated fiberglass battens and some fungal growth on the battens’ paper-facing and the backside of the finished walling. The assembly configuration is uber common, even in new homes here – brick veneer, a banal WRB, sheathing, battens, interior wall finish (paneling and drywall in this instance). Now, this home’s walls had not rotted, but insulation was ruined and there was the fungal growth. So, what gives?

The walling was disassembled from the interior for renovation during the summer months. The previous owners had kept the home at 68 degrees F. up until it sold to the new owners. When we got into the walls, we saw thermodynamics at work – the interior temperature of the walling materials were at least 20 degrees cooler than outside temperatures. That undeterred, hot and humid air was like Garfield at a lasagna dinner – “Gimme, gimme, gimme!”. So, the vapor moved inward to less density and cooler surfaces whereby we happened to hit dew point due to Delta T and, Ta-da! Wet stuff.

Where’s the Mush?

So, why wasn’t it all mush? Why aren’t all our homes mush? Well, honestly, my best guess is that because we spend almost no time on air sealing, the walls are drying out – in the summer from heat and convective air movement; in the summer from vapor moving into the interior and the A/Cs reducing some amount of said moisture load (hello, utility costs…!?!); in the winter from being generally more dry outside while also being dry inside (a equilibrium of sorts). Inefficiency has saved us. Quick, ditch all that damn wall insulation…inefficiency saves us!

Except, maybe not. Utility costs continue to rise (TVA announced plans to raise their rates by 4.5% this fall). Building materials are not coming down in price to pre-COVID numbers. Home prices and mortgage rates also remain elevated. Oh, and let’s not forget the changing of weather that adds more strain to our structures. Maybe inefficiency shouldn’t remain our rule of thumb.

The flipside scenario also is not the answer – in several new homes in the last two years I’ve been called out related to moisture (relative humidity) being too high inside and under the home. Usually, these homes were built with modern materials and slightly better air management details. Slightly. We haven’t increased the R-value of our walling beyond an R19 (not regionally enforced), nor are we sealing our sheathing or WRBs, nor air sealing dissimilar assembly joints. We are starting to use integrated air/moisture management systems, but not properly executed. So, water vapor is still getting in via diffusion and air penetrations. And then it gets trapped with nowhere to go from the inside of the home (except the attic sometimes…not good in winter…unless we also are leaking heat to dry the moisture (heat from the sun and heat from our houses)…inefficiency is such an efficient cycle).

We Are Not In The Clear

What we can’t see within pretty exterior and interior finishes may pose issues for our younger homes in years to come…

In none of these newer homes have we been allowed to perform surgery to see what the innards look like. I’m hopeful, but not delusional. What creates deficiency in one direction can create it in the other direction, seasonally speaking. As most newer homes are drywall and latex-based painted, unsealed penetrations for conditioned winter air to move outward are going to be somewhat limited to man-made holes for electric and finish features. Vapor diffusion, moving outward, shouldn’t pose an issue due to proper paint finish on the interior side; plus, during the day the exterior materials are warmer which may escape the dew point (except shaded sides) and vapor isn’t trapped by vapor semi/permeable sheathing and membranes which is mostly what we still use. So, our winters mostly should harbor fewer issues than summers when warm air and higher vapor concentrations hit the cooler/dryer backside of drywall.

Trades Industry Sherpa For Consumers

There was a time when good work was in short supply, but good workers were not. Then, by various triggers that would require a top-ranking economist to explain and chart, good workers started to be in short supply and good work plentiful.

“…good workers started to be in short supply and good work plentiful.”

Then things got even more strange. People who performed the work started charging more money while more consistently performing a mediocre service or finished product. It seems, to my lint-filled pockets, money has lost its holding value for consumers. This is where the home diagnostic and consulting skill sets sweep in to save the day.

If you at all listen to The Unbuild It Podcast, or follow Home Diagnosis, or any of the plethora of available resources out there, you should be aware that the trend for ensuring what is built performs to a standard of today’s global and economic climate, and NOT a standard of past-home-building-decades, is becoming more common. Trade schools have been catching on over the last 10 years, industry figure heads (mostly via social media) have been adopting, adapting, and espousing these principals, and titans of the performance industry – Building Science – have freely shared so much technically difficult and yet simplistically executed information that there is no reason our buildings aren’t healthy, durable, and safe. If you have never taken a course with Joe (see previous link), then you just don’t know.

Unless you are a consumer.

Consumers don’t follow these channels. Consumers are living their lives, focused on their professions, and paying our trades professionals on the assumption that we will execute to a level worthy of the money they pay.

Consumer’s are a valued commodity by businesses.

How can consumers claw back the value of their money?

That does not happen, yet. Most general contractors, trades partners, and laborers work from a set of game plans that are based on requirements from the local jurisdiction having authority (if there is one), which means standardization is not standard across our states and even within any one state. This means the local business and trades culture shapes and reinforces skill sets, habits, and practices. There’s more truth to, “Well, that’s how my granddad taught me and the homes he built are still standing,” than many realize. Like the paths cut through a forest by furry creatures, we humans blindly follow that which provides the least impedance.

“Three hundred and sixty-six words in, this piece really is to say I shouldn’t be needed. But, there is such a chasm for consumers looking to understand their homes and spend their money wisely versus the trades professionals that perform said work…”

The beauty of what an entity like myself does is amalgamate overlapping fields of knowledge and practices to the benefit of the consumer. You have to know the basics of construction and related processes, materials commonly used in your region and their performances, typical trades practices within the field, a modest amount of building science, how to investigate, how to test, how to communicate, and how to listen. Entities like myself once were unicorns – now, we’re growing in number because there’s a need for us – we’re usually reasonably educated, experienced, open-minded to problem solving and willing to say we may not know the answer on the front end, and understanding that the consumer is not a trades professional and a trades professional is often limited in what they know or do (that whole worn path thing, again).

Some of us, like TNergy Services LLC, have chosen to act as consultant in order to properly guide consumers toward competency of decision making. It’s not my job to make choices for my clients – my job is to help my clients step from one stone to the next until they get to the end of the path and can choose their own way. My job is to listen to their choices and help them facilitate their needs and wishes to a contractor in language relatable to the contractor. This is the only way to deviate from the “norm” of trades practices that often leave consumers short for the value of their money spent.

Okay, so no cape and cowl.

But, consumers still deserve a means to make empowered decisions related to how they spend their money.

Having an entity such as myself makes sense – I have no dog in the fight. I don’t perform the work. I don’t cherry pick the contractor. I acquire information for the consumer, I gather bids for the consumer based on decided scope of work for an intended outcome, I help interpret said bids for the consumer, and I add an informed eye toward work performed to ensure proper execution. All of this is done without any sort of kickback from contractors or materials manufacturers. Yes, I get paid, but I get paid because I am hybridized, I am specialized, I am communicative, and I am a guide. Entities like myself are the sherpas of the trades industry for consumers.

I want my world to be better. I want my community to be better. I want our homes to be safer, healthier, and longer-lasting (one of Mr. Baczek’s common refrains is “long live our buildings”). I want to do more than just say, “I want.” This is me executing, trying, working to help our communities be better by assimilation of information that’s out there. The truth is out there (anyone interested in this last reference may be interested in this tidbit of fandom).

National Radon Action Month. Every January.

Radon. January is National Radon Action Month. Not exclusively this January. Every January. It remains an on-going push to make citizens aware of the presence and potential danger of radon. Like cholesterol, you don’t really know how you have it until you test for it. And, yes, I said “how.” The data available, albeit oldish, indicates every one of our homes, rental properties, schools, offices, and grocery stores has some amount of radon concentration present. Like I tell my son regarding schoolwork, it’s the concentration that makes all the difference.

Please To Meet You, Er…

Now, if you have never had the pleasure of meeting a radioactive gas – well, you are in good company since we can’t see it, taste it, touch it, smell it. And, as far as we know, our dogs and cats don’t notice it either, or perhaps they choose to not tell us. But, radon as a radioactive gas is there. And there. And there. And even outside, though exterior concentrations are thought to not be an issue as amounts are generally well below 1.0 pCi/L (picocuries of radon per liter of air – if you live anywhere else than the U.S., becquerels are the chosen measuring stick…and, yes, there is a conversion rate).

I realize my tone is less than serious but make no mistake – the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers is serious. 21,000 deaths (estimated) each year is serious. Being labeled as a Category A carcinogen by the EPA is serious. It’s serious street cred. for radon and serious for us humans with cellular tissues (if you happen to be a human sans cellular tissues, I’ll try and keep an open mind…). Radon is real – did I tell you all the story of the well-known engineer in my market who told a client (with me present) radon wasn’t real?!? True story. Another time perhaps.

Radon Really is Real

Okay. So. Radon is real. Radon can be detected via testing. Testing can be performed by you the homeowner, your neighbor, a housing professional, an industry expert, and in states like Tennessee, well-trained walruses. Testing equipment can be acquired from the state, from online, from some local retailers, from housing professionals, from industry experts, and in states like Tennessee, well-known engineers and real estate professionals who know more than trained scientists. I’m not bitter, just incredulous.

Credit: AARST for all their hard work and continued desire to save lives from radon exposure. This is their data and their image, readily available. But, it’s theirs.

The issue is that just anyone testing for radon would be like just anyone teaching your kid about religion, gun control, or geometry. We have enough odd angles in this world – no one wants that. Or, like just anyone teaching you how to skydive. You with me now?

Dealing With Radon Requires Professionals

What we need as a consumer base is quality control and quality assurance. And how do we get that? We set standards of education, of practice, of professionalism. Enter AARST and NRPP and NRSB. We mandate certification for those who want to test (fewer than half our states require such certification – online data claims TN requires it, but trust me, TN does NOT…unfortunately). We set similar standards for equipment used and procedures for accurate testing and management of testing equipment. Which means – homeowner tests, neighbor tests, and poorly trained professionals tests should not be viewed as the ideal solution; it’s like taking your child to McDonald’s because she has a sore throat…I mean, maybe the person helping you will be in med school. Plus, you get fries and a shake.

The other important component to understand here is that radon is not difficult (in most scenarios) to mitigate AND is preventatively mitigated in new construction in many jurisdictions already (but, not nearly enough). However, testing is key, as is disclosure. If accurate testing does not occur, and said information is not provided to concerned parties, no good comes from any of it. And, believe it or not, there are fewer than two handfuls of states that require any sort of radon disclosure to renters (please read: landlords are not required to test and make sure their buildings for which they are charging borderline mortgage rates are safe for the people who move into them). And that’s crazy. The same is true for most public schools and municipal buildings.

Tangent Time…

Now, on a more skewed perspective – I also think we’ve been slowly poisoning our residential home professionals (home inspectors and diagnosticians such as myself) without any care or concern. Did you know I have no retirement package when I retire? The state gives me nothing. So, if I contract lung cancer from prolonged elevated dose exposure over the duration of my career (beyond 11 years now), I’m on my own for medical care.

Scientifically speaking, when radon decays at half-life, it releases alpha particles (as does radon’s progeny) and these high-energy particles are what get embedded in lung tissues when we inhale and they then disrupt our cellular processes increasing cancer-potential. Well, these high-energy particles are too large to pass through most materials, so they “plate out” when they come into contact (meaning they become harmless for the most part). I have adopted a practice in recent years of wearing face masks (entirely unrelated to our lovely pandemic that shall not be named) in order to improve my odds of NOT inhaling said alpha particles. I’m hoping that more of them plate out on my face mask. It’s simple science with absolutely no data or studies to back it up. But, there is nothing out there for my industry to help us be safe against radon exposure. And, even though any one dose may not be an issue, prolonged and constant dosing over many years definitely increases the risk of developing lung disease. If any of you know of dose packs/monitors that are readily available for residential home professionals, let me know.

In The End

The moral of the story is test for radon and talk to a family member and one friend about testing for radon. If you test and it comes back high, ask for the data. If you test and it comes back low, ask for the data. If you mitigate for radon, have it tested post-mitigation and every 2 years afterward (also, consider having the system reviewed by someone who is certified for doing so [pick me, pick me] ). If you live in anything but a tent or tree house, have it tested. Then test it again in 2-3 years. Like our school systems tell us about the competency of our children – it isn’t worth a flip if you aren’t testing. Except for radon, there really is no controversy for always testing. Because, now all of us can have consumer grade radon monitors in our homes (search for it, people – there are many readily available). And remember, January is National Radon Action Month.

TNergy Services maintains national certification through NRPP for testing, analysis, and soil gas mitigation system inspecting. We offer a full range of indoor environmental quality services, radon testing being one such service provided via our sister company, WIN Home Inspection Cookeville.

The Pains of Progress

After a recent conference, a seat-filler proclaimed – “The presentation was good enough. But, I think some of these ideas are suspect. Maybe 20% is accurate, but I bet other industry professionals would say he doesn’t know what he is talking about.”

Slowly We Go…

The subject matter related to how to quantify home performance and help homeowners live in and keep a healthy home. This is the realty of our industry. There is an HVAC-ton of apprehension and willful refusal to change understandings and habits (see what I did there with that HVAC ton…I’m a quick one, I am…). Larger, more youthful areas of our country likely have an easier go at this. Rural, more aged and conservative communities likely are slower in acceptance.

Building science is not rocket science…common knowledge among building scientists

Building science is not high-level physics. It can be, but most of what practitioners need is not high-level. All building science really does is incorporate the “why” into the “how.” The other thing building science does is provide on-going advancements in testing to confirm – confirm performance, confirm deficiency, and even resolve deficiency. And everyone appreciates resolution, right?

Err, maybe not so much. Turns out, without active and prolific enforcement, many regions of our country remain happily humming along executing at the “same old, same old” quality of construction and home performance. Don’t believe me? Listen to any number of trades-related podcasts – the subject will and does come up routinely. We know what we know and we do what we know and we won’t do what we don’t know unless and until someone else makes us know it (eat my biscuits, Dr. Seuss!).

Hitting Home

In the south, TVA remains king which affects attention to energy consumption

For my business in the conservative South, where TVA still reigns king and electricity remains less expensive per kwh than many other regions of the country, getting anyone to see me as anything other than crazy is not easy. The thing is, there’s no motivation for anyone local to see the merit in using my services – if consumers don’t ask for it, and codes departments don’t require any of it, then what compels any one builder or contractor to learn and do better? Literally, there is no competitive edge in doing so in our market. Yet.

See, that’s my hope. There are a few builders in our region who are doing “some” portion of a pretty good house detail, but no one builder has started to build exclusively with the total details package. I’m hopeful that the trend will continue. Hell, I’m even starting to kick around the idea of doing it. Licensing isn’t that large of a hurdle. If I can understand the building science of a home, and how to test for performance, then surely I can manage a license exam. Based on what I have been seeing for the last decade, I shouldn’t have an issue. Boy, I’d be embarrassed if I did.

New Year Feel-Goods

Going into the new year, I’m hopeful I can begin to find a way to better access the existing housing market and help owners and builders begin to make choices that benefit everyone. As a builder, if you work to change some practices – be it materials used or methods of construction – then you could see improvement in your profit, in your product, and in your client interest. As a homeowner, if you demand better conditions from your home – more than the aesthetics of the kitchen or baths – you could see less money spent on utilities, healthier indoor air quality, and a greater longevity of the home itself. There are many reasons why understanding how your home is failing could help you take control. Such control yields more value for the money and time spent on and in your home.

May the end of year bring you blessings and peace

TNergy Services wishes all of you a safe and enjoyable holiday season. Whether you travel, stay in place, hang out with copious amount of people, or cuddle up with a few good books – may stress not be a mitigating factor for choices made. And, in the new year, if you are ready for a new adventure and to take control of your home, give me a call. I’d be honored and humbled to be of help.

Codes Are Not A Low Bar, People Are

What do building standards stand for? If you operate in any overlapping category of real estate and the building trades, then you have heard the phrase – “it meets code” – at least once. Maybe twice? Well, what does that mean?

Code gets a bad rap not because it’s bad, but because it requires humans

In our Middle TN region, it tends to mean one thing the closer you are to Nashville, Knoxville, or Chattanooga, and quite another in lesser populated areas in between. It also depends on which code is being referenced – International Building Code, International Residential Code, International Energy Conservation Code, International Plumbing Code, International Fuel Gas Code, National Electric Code. Each of these tomes is generated by a dizzying array of academic, professional, and trade specialists, combined with governmental, and sometimes lobbying, entities.

Again, the context of where you are entirely dictates the rules of the game. This is, unfortunately, a glib way to summarize the situation. In reality, what tends to happen is because humans create, adopt, and enforce the codes, inconsistencies and errors are very common. This is not to point toward corruption (perhaps another article…?) beyond the corrupt imperfection of humans. And, you know what humans really dislike – chaffing and cold water, yes, but more than that…change.

We tend to shy away from change more than from exercise or house cleaning.

We humans love to stomp our paths into ruts. Ruts are easy to follow. Ruts can guide newbies. Ruts are convenient because they can be followed whilst paying attention to something else. Ruts also tend to be hard to escape after decades of stomping and following. And so, we come to homes built fresh atop newly sectioned-off lots that cost more than four times (yikes!) what our folks paid for and yet perform very similar to those same homes of yesteryear.

When I say perform, I mean: Put together with the same methodologies related to air, water, and pest management. These are the three horsemen of the home apocalypse and are very much understated in their presence until it may be too late for the home. There is no reason for a home built in our modern era to perform the same way a 1950s home does when it comes to a blower door test (feel free to email me if you don’t know what the scientific simplicity of a blower door as a measurement tool is). We don’t accept new cars that perform like cars from the 1960s. Why do we do it for homes?

Seriously, think about it – how much material is spent in making a home? What about the average carbon footprint (folks, it’s pretty bad what one home contributes to our atmospheric pollution, let along our landfills) for making a home? Why are we okay with following standards for building said home that will result in said home making its way to a landfill in 30-50 years? Why wouldn’t we simply adopt a slightly different set of practices and standards that allow said home to last for 100+ years? Change.

I don’t like it, change that is! Keep it away!

Change for humans is like Shere Khan from “The Jungle Book” faced with fire. You wave change in our faces and we hiss and retreat. In our market, this looks like resistance to better building standards by most (not all) general contractors; this looks like local building codes departments slow or unwilling to adopt modern codes that require trades professionals to put the pieces together differently; this looks like homes being built without any verifiable testing for performance (again, would you buy a new car today that didn’t have safety ratings from crash testing?).

Building a new home to “code” should be a badge of honor and pride garnering respect. Unfortunately, it historically has trended toward the other end of the spectrum. In my market, that same phrase usually is used to excuse such errors as water and fungal growth in a crawlspace, or HVAC return duct plenums built by voided framing space. In my market, that same phrase usually is used by trades and real estate professionals (oh, the stories I could tell…) to argue against a home inspector or building performance specialist who has advised clients of information that makes said clients have higher expectations for the home.

I am convinced that “it meets code” is merely a crutch on which to lean against impending change. The dirty little secret is that most current iterations of code – any of the code entities out there – really do afford for well-performing homes that keep occupants safe and healthy, as well as keep the home intact for many more decades, if not generations. Codes and standards have evolved quite well. It’s the people who remain resistant to change. It’s the people who continue, with the help of special interest groups (ever stop to wonder what’s so special about those interests – ahem, money, ahem…) to carve out the sections of code they choose not to adopt or enforce.

Codes have changed for the better (enter “Wicked” song here…)

With a wink to irony, it’s also people who are leading the change. It’s the high-school education programs teaching students building science; it’s the social media presence of trades professionals sharing what they learn from their failures; and its professionals like home inspectors and building performance specialists taking up the mantles of educator and consumer protector. Yes, it’s a tall order. Yes, there are so many forces pushing against change. Yes, making these choices means upsetting some local trades professionals and losing some business. I’m doing it. Others are doing it. We’d love for you to join us in making our homes, our neighborhoods, and our communities better and healthier for family and friends.

No Flashing Where It Counts

Case Study – Flashing at Dissimilar Materials Joints

In roof framing, it is widely understood that those areas of most interruption, or planar differences, pose the greatest risk for leaking (think valley, or greedy dormer). Ergo, the more complicated a home’s roof line, the greater risk for leaking. How do professionals (not you, Grandpa – real, actual professionals industry trained with real world experience) manage this? Flashing.

Now, let’s move that concept down from the roof to the wall assembly. If you have a wall made of wood, that wooden wall will inevitably end. In our middle Tennessee region, it usually ends on the foundation (concrete blocks aka CMUs), but slabs are becoming more prevalent and we do have old housing stock (stone and brick foundations).

Where that wooden wall ends (you have to picture the wall naked – of siding/cladding here) the materials are dissimilar (usually wood and concrete or masonry). Dissimilarity, in home performance, is the ideal location for issues to develop – usually via air, moisture, and pest. The solution would be, like roofing, flashing. The problem is flashing of wall assemblies and components is not a highly regulated area of home production in our region and, based on what I see often, there is a wide spectrum of understanding and skill by those performing the work.

Where a wall meets a foundation, or any transition, merits your attention — where is it here?!?

Often times, wall flashing is overlooked, or under executed. In some of our housing stock, the home survives with deficient wall flashing purely because the interior enclosure is so very much perforated (read, not air-tight) and the walls can dry. But what happens in our younger homes? Let’s see.

The Home

This home was built in the mid-2000s and likely was intended to be a moderate-to-high-end home based on materials used and aesthetic finishes. Composite cement fiber product was used for siding. Concrete cast stone veneer (lick and stick as it is so lovingly referred to here) was used for both foundation veneer AND some areas of siding. Where the cement boarding terminated and adjoined the stone veneer, there sat a shelf. A very flat, flat, shelf (see photo above).

As best I could tell, there was no flashing beyond a typical weather resistive barrier installed along this common joint line (which ran around the entire perimeter). And, this is for yet another article, the concrete cast stone veneer appeared to be adhered via thin-set directly to the wall assembly over the WRB with no adequate separation and this negates any water management ability…but, I digress.

Our flat joint had no special flashing installed. Flat surfaces hold water, or at least don’t let it drain away and off. When water is held flat, it will follow capillarity (think trees) and find other points by which to travel – up, down, sideways. At our dissimilar joint with no special flashing, the water readily accessed a percentage of the walling assembly over time. Time and moisture vs. OSB. Which do you think wins? Hint: pick moisture.

This is NOT how the rim joist should be looking — if only there had been flashing…

This home that was less than 20 years old, was set up for disaster from the onset of construction. With no attention to flashing detail, and no apparent understanding of needing to protect engineered laminated products (OSB, manufactured I-joists which were the substructure framing), this home started rotting very soon after construction. And unlike old housing stock that was more drafty, this home was less drafty (still drafty, just less drafty). Less drafty means less drying or longer drying time. Prolonged exposure to the moisture delaminated the resins/adhesives in the engineered materials, primed the wooden fibers for pest snacking, and degraded the general strength of the framing.

ENTER ME

By the time I came on the scene, the murder had already occurred. The un-flashed joint work at the exterior was my first clue. My knowledge of the abhorrent installation practices of concrete cast stone veneer in my Tennessee market was my second clue. A very pervasive and present musty odor in the garage was my third clue (have we talked about garages not being air tight and communicating air with crawlspace and interior space?!?). My fourth clue was degrading or already deteriorated rim joist, I-joist ends, and sill plates around the perimeter of the structure. Only along the perimeter of the structure in these areas.

If you had a probe, and lightly poked, you would find this wood readily gave

Some Science

Wood is comprised of polymers (like most things, glucose is king at the molecular level for form and energy). Some of those polymers form cellulose and lignin, the two components that help wood in its natural form withstand biodegradation for an extended period in the natural world. However, we’re talking processed wood here and wood that has had moisture removed (and likely some of the lignin) as part of the engineering process. If you take out the water in the wood fibers, then the degradation slows down even more. Guess what happens if/when you reintroduce continued cycling of wetting to those same wooden fibers that were mechanically dried out? If you said it speeds up the microbes that “eat” the wood, you are correct. Additionally, we get oxidation of the wood fibers which lends to the very darkening of wood coloring. Oxidation also is a decay process. **See this 2011 MIT paper for a brief explanation of wood and moisture.

Does Your Brain Hurt?

Okay. Okay. Let’s jump ship from chemistry. I usually don’t bring up chemistry with clients or in field reports because it’s confusing and usually unnecessary. And in truth, I usually have to “refresh” my own understanding routinely. The simple explanation fits well – you can’t take a material that was intended to be dry post-processing and allow it to repeatedly get wet. It degrades and anything it was supporting no longer is supported as well. Ergo, you must protect this dry product and keep it dry. Dry from the exterior wet world and dry from the interior (crawlspace) wet world. When you fail at this, the material(s) fail and you get unhappy homeowners, or shocked buyers who no longer want the otherwise pretty home.

All of this – and I mean all of it – could be avoided by well-executed flashing. But, then again, you can’t execute flashing installation well IF the installer doesn’t understand the basic principles of building science and why they should flash, where they should flash, and how the flashing should be designed (ahem, to shed water…).

I’m not the best artist, but you can “see” the idea here — if the home had this flashing, there wouldn’t be this problem so early in it’s life.

Whaaaaat am I doing?!?

This is a post for all those entrepreneurs who aren’t sure they are making the right choice, or who find themselves with only two nickels to rub in their pockets.

Business Second-Guesses

My business of home performance and home diagnosing (conditions review and consultations) is fledgling by almost all standards of measurement. Add atop this the fact that this is a “side business” resulting from years of self-education while running a home inspection business. I decided that this line of work was not the same as home inspecting, rarely spoken of in the world of home inspecting, and so could be treated separately to best perform for clients.

To complicate matters more, the region of the country in which I reside is not exactly known as a hotbed for building science or home performance. This is ironic since some of our most prominent figures in this field – Allison A. Bailes III and Grace and Corbett Lunsford – are just a few hours drive away from me. Also, some pretty good work occurs at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory related to building science and this isn’t too far away.

Still, trying to get people to see the worthiness for paying a home performance consultant in my market is very tough. The only ones who take that dive tend to be those who already are experiencing issues in their homes. But, this is sad because more proactive assessing could curtail or prevent some of these adverse issues from continuing or becoming very expensive to address.

“ Be true to the value you bring, but don’t be defensive if you have to speak to these things. Just be real and care.”

— TNergy Services

Real World Example

As an excellent example – we have encapsulated crawlspaces. Currently, the companies and contractors performing these encapsulations are charging consumers (be it homeowners or home buyers) exorbitant amounts of money for what is very simple science. Seal the crawlspace off from intruding air and moisture, clean up the space as needed, and manage the air space. That’s the gist of it. Yet, I often see – as a home inspector and a paid home diagnosis consultant – these installs poorly performed and apparently poorly understood by the installer and occupant. If consumers knew they could hire someone such as TNergy Services to assess the condition(s) of their home and then provide them a roadmap for actionable steps, as well as help explain the science and methodology intended to be used, they might get more for their money when they pay for encapsulation. A more educated consumer is a better advocating consumer.

Improperly sealed seams negate the effectiveness and intent of an encapsulated crawlspace.

Fungal growth on framing due to improperly executed encapsulation of crawlspace. Properly installed, encapsulations limit elevated relative humidity which then reduces a favorable environment for fungal growth.

I would be happy to go into the specifics of encapsulating at some point in the future, but for now we have no need – we could be talking about air sealing, water drainage in a wall assembly, insulating an attic, HVAC duct work. There are so many home system components that are often poorly assembled, understood, maintained; there are equally as many home system components paid for that perhaps are not needed, or not as worthwhile as other options would have been – Do you pay for a new window/door package, or do you air seal your wall assembly? This is a question a company like mine can answer based on the home’s conditions, your goals and budget, and other building science information out there.

So What’s To Say For Start-ups

To circle back around to our entrepreneurs who aren’t watching money pour in – one way to stay motivated and find solutions for effective marketing should be to self-argue your way to the same place as these last few paragraphs – what do you feel you bring in value for your client(s), how do you communicate the worthiness of your services, and what can you do to empower consumers writ large? If you have answers to these questions; if you have answers that you believe in wholeheartedly; if you get excited articulating these answers – pinpoint that focal point and go with that. Genuineness is hard to fake and very appealing for most of us. Be genuine. Be caring. Be proactive in marketing. Be true to the value you bring, but don’t be defensive if you have to speak to these things. Just be real and care.

Unvented Conditioned Attics, Take II

A wrinkle to consider, if you read the last post.

I’m in an attic that has been sealed with our foamy plastic stuff that is both amazing and potentially torturous for the planet. I’m staring at the far gable wall of the attic over the garage and it’s spray foamed. So is the roof framing. This garage is shaped like a rectangle until it turns 90 degrees and opens into a giant square which is the main structure living space (so, think an “L” shape). My brain is screaming at me and I can’t interpret fast enough. So, I stand there.

The garage attic is spray foamed. The garage attic attaches to the main attic. The main attic is spray foamed. There is no partition between the two spaces. Okay. Thank you brain.

The garage is an exterior enclosure. This means every time the overhead doors are opened, or left open, untreated humid air (summer) and cold air (winter) will enter into the garage.

The main home, and now attic, are an interior enclosure. The main home, and now attic, are conditioned via the HVAC systems and commercial grade dehumidifier. The garage is conditioned via the outside. Ah-ha!

My brain is screaming at me because our garage is going to introduce an entirely different moisture load into the attic space than the main structure. This moisture load, particularly in more humid times of the year (so, like 6-8 months per year), is going to stress the unvented conditioned attic. Couple with this the inefficiencies of foam installation we chatted about last time, and we have all the variables we need for potential moisture issues developing over time to the roof framing (likely, near the ridge if my educated brain recalls properly — see people smarter than me).

Where Do We Land?

The fix for this interesting configuration is to insulate and air seal the ceiling of the garage. Basically, block off the garage from being able to mix with the unvented conditioned crawlspace. If done properly, ta-da! No additional stress or strain to the home’s attic space. Now, the attic likely merits monitoring to make sure the size of the attic does not present issues with relative humidity over time (the volume of the total unvented conditioned attic space will be greater than the perimeter footprint of the interior enclosure’s main floor). If RH is found to be consistently elevated (say, greater than 55%), then perhaps a balanced moisture management system would be beneficial, or a vapor diffusion port as written in Green Building Advisor by Martin Holladay back in 2018 (yeah, we’re not reinventing the wheel here — other peeps have done that for us — we just have to seek it out and read and digest). All we need do is think as a system. If that fails, reach out to these industry giants that came before us and everyday make this stuff look more like paint drying on a wall than performing complicated physics equations.

G.

And So The Testing Begins, Sort Of …

Sorry You Got Lost :)

If you stumbled your way here, I’m sorry. But, not sorry. You should know I color myself humbled in relation to others in my profession. The thing about building science is there is always a new way to “see” something and always someone else who can “show” you something new to see.

While home performance testing is pretty straight forward, there is guess work involved and it isn’t always a hard science. Additionally, some of the set standards referenced in the industry don’t necessary have a poignant or purposeful origin. Home diagnostic testing becomes even less “hard science” as often you have to look at the system as a whole in order to find the chink in the armor. Yes, there are common and routine causes and known issues. But, each structure can be unique and so needs to be “seen” in a unique, open-minded manner that fits the client’s requested solution(s).

Let’s Have An Example

As an example, indoor air testing has been all the rage in recent years. There are oodles of products available on the marketplace for home owners, as wells as professionals. However, when we get a call for “mold” testing, I feel we have a responsibility to not just sell someone on a test to make money. The truth is, sometimes air testing is relevant and helpful to determine a particular contaminant. The bigger picture, however, is listening to what’s really being asked and then have a conversation regarding spending time reviewing structure systems to determine a deficiency and/or cause. In then end, does it matter knowing what’s in the air specifically for hundreds of dollars (the tests we use cost between $200 and $350 just for the test), or could we do other diagnostic work (that’s fancy speak for using our education, experience, and some shiny tools) and come away with a list for guiding repairs and/or modifications (read — resolution)? All a test will tell you is what you have in the air, and there are no agreed upon standards for concentrations, limits, or significance. And let’s not get into the quandary of knowing lab standards and practices…

Ruminate For Action

In the end, what you may need for your structure — be it commercial, or residential, or hunting cabin, or storm shelter — isn’t necessarily every test in the world thrown at it. Sometimes, the best answer may start with knowing how to ask “why?” Why is this happening? That’s what TNergy Services does for you and that’s where we start. Sometimes, you literally need a blower door test (new homes, e.g.); sometimes a blower door would be silly to perform when what you need is a site assessment to identify system deficiencies causing water (usually always water) related issues. We’re really good listeners. We’re really happy thinkers. We’re pretty good communicators. Give us a ring and let’s see how we can help make your home/business perform and “feel” better.