Introduction What You Don’t Know Can Make You Uncomfortable Nearly all of us have lived in a house with annoying and puzzling

Introduction

What You Don’t Know Can Make You Uncomfortable

Nearly all of us have lived in a house with annoying and puzzling issues like cold rooms that should be warm, hot rooms that should be cool, pesky persistent drafts, musty-mildewy smells, mold or energy bills larger than what we should reasonably expect. By reading this book, you can solve many of these puzzling problems in your house or you can avoid the common construction pitfalls that lead to them.

In the first ten years of our marriage, my wife and I owned and lived in many houses that we considered Bad Houses in that they never fully met our comfort expectations. After numerous years of dealing with the different issues in each house, I learned what makes a Good House good and the defects that make a Bad House bad.

No matter how big, small, lavishly finished or inexpensively constructed your house may be, all houses should function in a similar fashion, unless of course, you have a house that defies the laws of physics. Good Houses should keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer, they should keep the inside air fresh and clean, and they should manage moisture so you do not have to worry about water damage or mold. Therefore, Good Houses keep the outside temperature conditions from affecting your indoor comfort and manage indoor systems to keep you healthy and safe. Furthermore, Good Houses should heat or cool every room in the house to your desired level of comfort without your having to resort to alternative devices such as space heaters or window air conditioners.

In contrast, Bad Houses do not do one, several or any of these things. If your house does not meet these standards, you may experience seemingly unexplainable annoying issues with your house. However, if your house does all these things well you will feel very comfortable and safe in your home.

Unfortunately, you need to have many of the things that make a Good House good completed during construction or you will find them too costly to implement. However, you can still significantly improve existing houses to make them much more comfortable then they are now. In addition, understanding what makes a Good House good will help you make better decisions about your current house or one you may want to purchase or build in the future.

In this book, I focus on houses using 2x4 wooden studs for the frame, fiberglass insulation and central air systems because most US builders build houses using this type of construction. Furthermore, builders can construct good houses at a reasonable price using this type of construction if they adhere to Good House principles. However, if they do not, you most likely will experience comfort issues with your house.

Each chapter of this book addresses a different house performance issue you may experience. Frigid Lair covers the defects that cause rooms in your house to be cold in cold weather and hot in hot weather. Clogged Arteries explores how ducted conditioning systems are supposed to work and why they may not work so well. Next, Cold Feet walks you through the importance of and what to look for in well-insulated foundations. Then, Fluecky Fireplaces enlightens how an open-hearth fireplace will actually cool your house down instead of warming it up. Hair Spray highlights the importance of fresh air ventilation and what to look for in a good ventilation system for your house. Mold and Musty Cellars explains how to control mold in your house by controlling moisture. Finally, Gas Chambers describes how fossil fuel burning appliances in your house and other sources of carbon monoxide can cause health problems for you and your family.

I have also included reference material that can aid you in your quest for a Good House. After reading this book, the Quick Reference Guide, Appendix A, can help you refresh your memory of the Good House details when looking at houses. It organizes the defects by type: Air Pathways, Conditioning, Insulation, Safety or Ventilation. Each section covers the types of defects for that category. For example, Insulation covers insulation type defects and Safety covers both mold and combustion type defects. Additionally, the Good

House Inspection Check List, Appendix B, should help you to inspect a house in an organized manner.

This book should help you understand and recognize house performance issues as well as help you communicate to your builder or handyman how you want your house constructed or improved. For more specific detail on how to implement these recommendations, you should refer to the Energy and Environmental Building Association’s Builder’s Guide written for your climate zone. You can obtain a copy of this book from the Energy and Environmental Building Association’s web page www.eeba.org. Additionally, if you need help deciding what to improve to get the most value for your money, you should contact a Home Energy Rater listed on RESNETs website, www.resnet.us/directory/rater_directory.asp. Home Energy Raters can also help during construction by inspecting and measuring the performance of your house to ensure the builder meets or exceeds your agreed upon standards.

Enjoy utilizing this book and if you have further questions refer to the Good House website www.yourgoodhouse.com where you will find recommendations and links that could point you in the right direction.