Archive for the ‘Tips and Trade Secrets’ Category
Straw Bale Minutes on YouTube
Hi everyone. I think it may have been a long time since some of you have had a chance to review my straw bale minutes on YouTube.com. I haven’t spoken much about them recently, but there are a lot to check out. Start by clicking on this link to see some of the most popular videos. I hope you enjoy them.
Assessing Moisture in a Straw Bale Wall
The most common time I am asked the question of how to identify moisture issues is when someone buys an existing straw bale house. Moisture is not often a problem in straw bale homes as long as the house was built well. That said, there may be issues that show up over time. Here are some basic things to consider when wondering about moisture issues in the home.
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Saving Concrete Stakes From Your Foundation Pour
Concrete stakes are essential to just about any foundation project. In fact, they are used on almost all concrete projects that a home owner is likely to encounter. If you recognize the stakes in the image above, then you must have used them before. If you don’t know what they are, allow me to explain. Concrete stakes are used to hold the concrete form boards in place prior to and during a concrete pour. They stay in place until the concrete has hardened enough to remove the forms. At about $5 each, they are not cheap, and an average home foundation can easily use 200 or more of them. Making sure that you are able to get each one out after the pour is well worth the effort, but does not always happen.
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Tips for Getting Plywood to Your Roof
Ever wonder how to get plywood to the roof when you are working by yourself? How about making sure your concrete stakes don’t become a permanent member of your concrete foundation? There are always little tricks of the trade that make the job easier. Many of them are made up on site out of necessity and others are passed down from builder to builder. Here’s a couple that I’ll pass down to you.
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