Insulating, Sealing & Ventilating Your House [Paperback]

William P. Spence (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2006

Good insulation can keep a house cozy in winter, and cool in summer—while saving money and conserving energy. In amazingly thorough detail, with plenty of color illustrations, William P. Spence, author of such bestsellers as Carpentry and Building Construction, describes every step of insulating, sealing, and ventilating your home. He shows how to determine the amount of insulation needed, locate air leaks, regulate air quality, and determine the costs versus benefits of any job. Find out where to start work, which materials are most effective, and how to handle potential insulation problems. From air-sealing external walls to adding vapor barriers, all you need to know is here.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (October 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402724098
• ISBN-13: 978-1402724091
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #989,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Remodeling & Renovation > Energy Efficiency

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great if you are building a new house....not so great for an existing house, February 2, 2009

By 

Andy in Washington "Andy" (Washougal, WA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Insulating, Sealing & Ventilating Your House (Paperback)

I have finally gotten tired of high energy costs, and decided to take on adding weatherization to my house. My house is reasonably modern-built in '92, and no worse built than the average custom home. I live in an area of very high winds (50+mph), so there was probably some payback to added insulation.

I bought this book hoping that it would help me plan and prioritize my projects, make specific suggestions to certain problems, and provide an overview of materials available. I also bought Popular Mechanics Weatherproofing and Insulation by Albert Jackson (which I also reviewed, and found this to be the more useful of the two).

To start with, the book is probably about 80% geared to new construction rather than fixing problems with older houses. This was sort of a game breaker for my own needs, although I believe the book would be invaluable for new construction...or monitoring what your contractor is doing.

For existing projects, I found it more hit and miss. Perhaps the best way to describe it is to provide specific examples of things I was trying to do.

1. Weatherstripping: Every time I consider weatherstripping, I end up going to Home Depot, and getting frustrated. There must be a dozen types of weatherstripping, and it is never quite obvious which ones would be appropriate. I was hoping for a detailed overview with how to instructions. Instead, what I found in the book was "There are a variety of weatherstripping products. Some will work better for your insulation than others". Similarly for door sweeps- "There are a variety of designs available, so choose the one that seems to fit your situation".

2. Duct sealing: I am fairly sure I am losing heat and pulling cold air into my ductwork. I had planned on insulating these, but the book was silent on specific ways to do that, other than saying that it was a good idea. I am considering gluing rigid panel foam to the ducts, or perhaps wrapping fiberglass around the ducts. In one section, the book mentions that fiberglass isn't a good solution for reducing drafts and air leaks, but no mention of what to do with ducts.

3. Drafts coming from electric outlets: This book does mention the foam inserts that you can buy, but I have already installed them and found them lacking. I assume that spraying foam into the wall behind the outlets would be a solution, but no mention of any technique. The book did show some new materials available to solve the problem in new construction.

4. Drafts from improperly installed windows: I had previously removed the interior trim and added foam between the framing and windows. The book suggested this, and provided clear directions. Unfortunately it did not caution against using expanding foam (rather than door and window foam, which has a low expansion) which can warp the door or window. It did mention this in an overview, but not specifically in the window insulation section. The book also mentions adding or replacing weatherstipping to windows, but doesn't provide much detail on how.

So in summary, the book was somewhat disappointing for my needs. My suspicion is that the book may have been more useful in early drafts, but the lawyers gutted it worrying about liability and building code issues.

The book does have some excellent tips for new construction, which can be modified for my use. However Ii was disappointed with it as a guide to adding weatherization.

The book was also silent on methods to prioritize projects having the highest payback potential.