Costly DIY Mistakes and Listener Questions

First off – The Handyguys welcome listeners from RFC Radio and give them a brief background on The Handyguys.

Costly DIY Mistakes

Having to pump water from a finished basement is a costly mistake

This week we talk about the most costly mistake a DIYer can make when finishing a basement—not taking care of potential water issues before finishing your basement. Water can damage your belongings and your newly finished wall and flooring and can cause mold, rot and decay. The Handyguys provide some tips to ensure your basement will stay dry. Even if you are not finishing your basement, check out the podcast tips and keep your basement dry!

Ideally, water penetration is prevented from the outside of your foundation wall. The most common contributor of a damp or wet basement is improper grading around your house. If the ground around your house slopes toward your house then water will likely find its way into your basement. Fix the grading and you can prevent most water problems. Another common contributor to water in the basement are short downspouts that empty water to close to the foundation. You should extend your downspouts at least four feet to six feet from your house.

Listener Questions

Broken Window

The Handyguys then address a question left as a comment on our show about window repair.

Bonnie Writes:

Randomly exploding windows? What could be going on? Listen to the podcast for some discussion about the problem.

Hi, My husband and I have been searching the net looking for an answer. Our home has vinyl windows they are probably at least 15 yrs. old. So this year in the last 4 months they have started to literally explode. So far 4 of them. We were actually home when one went tonight, it sounded like an explosion, we thought someone threw a brick at our house. After looking around sure enough it had happened again. We can’t figure this out. They are double pane, argon gas filled. No real pattern, sometimes its the inside pane (1) and sometimes the outside pane (3). Can you by any chance tell us whats going on? I am going to call the insurance agent tomorrow but I don’t know if they will cover something like this. any ideas would be most appreciated.

Thank you Bonnie

The Handyguys address this very odd issue and give some suggestions for Bonnie. Listen to the podcast for details.

HE Furnace Vent

Another fan write us ad asked about critters getting into the vents for their new High Efficiency furnace.

Diane Wrote:

Just had a 95% high efficient furnace installed with the vent going out the side of my home (PVC pipe).

My concern is that a small animal could crawl into it?

Should it have some sort on grate on it? It is only @ 2 feet from the ground.

Thanks!

Diane – The way your vents are installed is normal. We do have some suggestions if critters become an issue or you are concerned. Listen to the podcast for details and discussion.

Dryer vent Discussions

The Handyguys wrap up the show with a brief discussion of dryer vent cleaning. This should be an additional item for our Spring Home Inspection Checklist that was discussed during show 57. Do you clean your dryer vents? Any tips you would like to share with other listeners? Leave a comment.

Related shows:

1. Basement Finishing Best Practices And Common Mistakes
2. Mower Blade Removal, Metal Bending Brakes And DIY Mistakes
3. DIY Basement Finishing – Is My Basement Ready

Getting the Noise Out!

The Handyguys analyze the noisy question that is a major issue in modern homes.  How do you isolate yourself from disruptive sounds originating in another part of the house?  Whether the problem is noisy children or televisions; sometimes we just need to get away from it all.  The Handyguys are no exception… they need to record a podcast each week in a quiet room!

One of our listeners asks the Handyguys about the noisy problem:

I work from my home office and my children can often be heard while in the office or on the phone. The room is about 12 x 14 (12 foot ceiling) and on the main floor. Two walls are exterior and two interior. Aprox 3 feet of the walls have oak wood paneling on top of the drywall. The other 11 feet have drywall and a thick cloth-like wallpaper. It looks like the studs are 2×6 and the doors are paneled glass french doors (solid wood). There are no rooms above the office and the basement below is unfinished so all the sound is coming through the two interior walls.

We are ready to take down the wall paper and paint but want to do anything we can to make the office as sound proof as we can – preferably DIY. I’ve heard some people recommend cutting holes in the drywall and blowing in insulation and others say insulation won’t help. Some recommend double drywall but I think that would make the two door frames and window not look “right”. I’ve heard there are sound absorbing paints and sound absorbing drywall and on and on. I’ve heard that single pane glass and the gaps under the door could be the biggest culprit.

What is the first most effective thing I could do followed by the second and third and so on. I’d like to get to the point where the kids could be playing or even yelling and not be heard inside.

Thanks,

Greg

A Summary of Brian’s Response

Click on this thumbnail for a full sized version. This image illustrates various techniques and their efficacy (do handyguys use words such as efficacy?) for controlling sound passage between adjacent spaces. The passage of sound is measured by the scientific geeks using a number called the STC. STC stands for Sound Transmission Class. It refers to sound waves moving through air and objects. The higher the number the less sound can pass. The techniques shown use a combination of mass (sound doesn't travel as well through objects as it does air) and decoupling. Objects, such as studs with drywall, can pass sounds to adjacent spaces (even though they have mass) by decoupling spaces the sound passed through the mass of an object can't effectively continue. The best techniques use mass, a decoupled air space, and more mass. Insulation plays the role of mass but has a limited impact when used alone.

Brian provides three levels of mitigation against the noise that can invade your room.  In general, sound isolation requires you to:

• block Conduits of Sound

• add Mass to Walls

• decouple walls

Brian’s first suggestion is not practical for most handyguys as it includes some serious construction.  Greg could add another wall in order to decouple the interior wall, which connects Greg’s office to the rest of the house, with the inside office space.  Another wall would help a lot, especially one which is insulated and uses 5/8″ drywall. If this is not realistic, you could just rebuild the interior wall using 2×6 top and bottom plates with alternating 2×4 studs so that no stud is connected to both sides of the wall.  This decoupling method is used for the Handyguys home studio (see image to the right for more details on this method).

Brian’s less expensive and less invasive option is to beef up the interior wall with an additional layer of drywall.  In addition, Greg could replace the french doors with some solid core wood doors to add mass and decrease the sound transmission.  Furthermore, these doors can be whether stripped like exterior doors.  This middle level option is still intrusive as it will entail trim work with jamb extensions for the doors and/or windows.

The most realistic and cheapest option is to provide some weather stripping around the interior doors and to close off any HVAC duct work that could be transmitting the sound from the rest of the house (something you would want to do with any option described above).

For more details on Brian’s response, please listen to the podcast.

Applying the Principals of Sound Insulation to finishing your basement

Click on this image for a full sized view. This image illustrates some possible techniques for controlling sound between floors. The sci-guys have another measurement for this, its called the IIC, or Impact Isolation Class. It deals with the sound heard from impacts to the floor as head from below. Imagine, sitting in your home theater and hearing people walking around upstairs. Again, isolation and mass play a part. Also, carpet and padding above are critical for helping with IIC. There is even a technique that involves pouring concrete but we didn't draw that, ask us if you want to know about it.

How do the principals of sound insulation apply to the basement?  Many handyguys are concerned about sound transfer when turning the basement into a cool entertainment space or a kids playroom.  For the basement, the sound typically transfers through the ceiling, up through the stairwell or via your HVAC duct work.  Are there methods for isolating the sound when renovating your basement?

Listen to the podcast for more suggestions.

This show is part of our Basement Finishing Series. If you are considering finishing your basement you should ckeck out our other shows.

Related shows:

1. Part 2: An Interview With Roger German (The Basement Guy!)
2. Material Choices When Finishing A Basement
3. Basement Finishing Best Practices And Common Mistakes