!!!! SEPP to Boot: Stephen's Experience (BEL)

Mike Haasl wrote:By "vapor barrier" do you mean the brown kraft paper or something else?

Condensation is usually caused by humid interior air contacting something that's cold enough to be below the dew point.  The most common things I can think of are either a glass window, metal doorknob or metal roofing nail/screw.

The barrier was black plastic sheeting. I believe it was already there when Paul first bought the place. There was no insulation at all between the outer wall (some kind of wooden plywood stuff) and the barrier. When the barrier was exposed, it was already so cold that the air touching it (and later leaching through our first, thinner insulation attempt) caused ice to build up on the vapor barrier inside the room.

There was a debate about whether we should just remove the barrier from that section of the wall, since the temps fluctuate to such extremes during the winter and summer, but after researching it ourselves we opted to keep it intact and see how it behaves over the next few years.

Great, I'm glad it wasn't the kraft paper.  Yeah, cold sheathing with cold vapor barrier and then warm, humid interior air against it can reasonably lead to condensation.  Keeping that humid air from reaching it with the kraft paper is the key (and insulation between the kraft and black stuff).  Making sure there aren't gaps in the paper that let air from the room out through the insulation to condense on the black stuff is a good plan.  In a perfect world, taping the overlaps of the kraft paper with tape would be great.  Stapling it down regularly and holding it down further with interior paneling is plenty good enough.

Rock on!

BRK #215

A Sunday where we welcomed new Boots to Wheaton Labs. The previous few days were all about last-minute clean-ups and extra dusting and sweeping and so on. The day went well.

This is what the sky looked like after sunrise, and didn't really change much at all through the day. There were little bits of snow falling from 1pm onward. By the time I retired for the day, there was maybe a half-inch of snow on the ground.



Through all that, I chipped away at the front porch project. My goal for the day was to add additional "slats" to the lattice on the panel I started a couple weeks ago. Here's a beginning-middle-end sequence of the day's progress.







I think this one is done for the time being. I also started on the panel above the gate leading into the paddock behind the Fisher Price House.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BRK #216

Monday is almost done... Didn't have much time to settle down until just now - and it's past bedtime.

Here are a few hornets' nests I noticed for the first time, today. We'll relocate them before things warm up in the hopes they won't be a bother to guests or boots.



In the whirlwind of today, we had Day 1 for two new Boots. Here's new Boot Sarah and now-seasoned-veteran Boot Reid when they joined me this morning for one of my personal favourite tasks: moving cans to the Willow Candy Warehouse.



(Seriously, this was the technology that let me know I should be here.)

Finally: here's another new Boot, Wesley, trying his hand at the Sawmill earlier today. We're still working our way through the massive tree felled by Grey maybe a week and a half ago.



To top it off, Sarah, Wesley and I caught Paul's presentation at the Missoula Public Library, and had an excellent time while there. Dr. Watson donated a bunch of tree seeds to us, I handed out my email to prospective Boots, and then the three of us (Boots, that is) grabbed a couple slices of pizza at the Pie Hole. It was an extra-full beginning to the work week.

Really, really need to go to bed! Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

thanks for all the great, insightful, inspiring posts Stephen! congrats on hitting 200! nick in spokane. p.s. my pinky finger healed up nicely. watch out for the cement mixer gear! hope you get the dump truck running! Thanks for inventing Preonneke Day. I made a spoon