Podcast: The Science Behind Coating Exterior Surfaces That Last with Anthony Giangrossi

Anthony Giangrossi, President and Owner of Dynamic Colors, Inc., stopped by the podcast to talk to Tim about exterior coatings. Some of the topics they discussed were:

  1. What are the ideal conditions for applying exterior coatings to different surfaces?
  2. Why preparation is key to ensure coatings last longer?
  3. Reading the manufacturer's instructions and verifying you picked the right coating?
  4. What considerations go into painting different surface types (metal, wood, concrete, etc)

For the full show notes visit: https://pod.co/the-home-geeks-podcast/10-the-science-behind-coating-exterior-surfaces-that-last-with-anthony-giangrossi

What You Need to Know About Lead Piping

Lead can have serious effects on our bodies. We can absorb lead through food, air, and water we drink. Lead poisoning can cause kidney damage and also reproductive problems, which can lead to infertility. It can affect the nervous system and the ability to learn in children. So the main issue with using lead pipes in homes was that it made your drinking water exposed to lead, which eventually caused different health problems.

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What are Galvanized Pipes?

One of the more misunderstood items that often gets flagged during a home inspection is old galvanized piping. A lot of times, when I am inspecting a house with galvanized piping, there are no symptoms of low water pressure or rusty water, but it is still reported because there is some likelihood these issues will occur in the future.

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A Basic Guide to AFCI Breakers

In my very first blog article, I talked about GFCI breakers, which have become commonplace in pretty much all homes. A different type of circuit interrupter that many people have never heard about or had to deal with has recently started being installed in more homes since the turn of the century. This device is called an AFCI or an Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter. So what does this device do, and is it essential to have in your home? In this blog post, we will break down how this protection device works, starting with what an Arc Fault is.

What is an Arc Fault?

An Arc Fault is an unexpected discharge of electricity within a circuit. The cause behind an arc fault can be any damaged, corroded, or loosed terminals or wires. As circuit breakers can’t detect low-voltage, overtime heat is generated at the point of the arc, which, as a result, breaks down the wiring insulation and ignites any flammable material present in the surrounding.

What is the purpose of AFCI?

Standard circuit breakers are unable to detect harmful arcing currents. An AFCI is designed to detect wide-ranging arc faults, which helps to reduce the chances of an electrical system of becoming a flammable source. AFCI protects single-phase, 120 volts, 20, and 15-amp branch circuits that supply the electricity in dwelling units such as bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, etc. AFCIs were developed in response to all the identified problems, which can cause fires in a home, as reported by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and many other organizations.

How does an AFCI work?

AFCI breakers or outlets use electronic technology, which monitors the circuit and detects the presence of arcing conditions. It uses detection circuitry to differentiate between unwanted and normal arcing conditions. When an unwanted arc fault is found, internal contacts are tripped by the AFCI’s control circuitry and, as a result, reduces the potential of the occurrence of a fire. It serves as a dual-purpose circuit breaker- it not only shuts off the electricity when an arcing fault event occurs but also trips whenever a short circuit or an overload is detected.

AFCIs protect against three types of arcing faults, as mentioned below:

  1. Damaged conductor or lose connection, series fault
  2. Short in wire circuit, line to line neutral faults
  3. The line to ground faults such as frayed lamp cord

When did it start being mandated by specific codes?

The National Electrical Code is reviewed by almost 5000 volunteer members of the committee, having a wide range of expertise in electrical systems. AFCIs made their first appearance in National Electrical Code in 1999. In the 1980s and 1990s, various studies were led by the National Fire Protection Association, which led to the inclusion of AFCIs in the National Electrical Code. The 2020 NEC states that AFCIs shall be installed in a readily accessible location. The NEC 2014 required a ground fault protection for personnel in dwelling units for all 15, and 20-ampere receptacles, 120 volts, single-phase installed in the locations such as bathrooms, garages, kitchens, crawl spaces, living rooms, boathouses, etc.

Is it an issue if your home doesn’t have any?

Introducing AFCIs in your house is considered a safety upgrade. While many new homes have AFCI breakers, many older homes do not, and that is deemed to be acceptable since they were not required during the code year the house was built. Additionally, while many National Codes suggest they be required, local building codes may not require them (for instance, they are no longer needed in Chicago). The reason some municipalities have removed them from their current building codes is that AFCI breakers have been known to be overly sensitive and trip when there is not an arc-fault. While your city may not require them, AFCI’s may still be a worthy investment. If you are the type of person who buys a security system for your home, then you may wish to invest in installing AFCI’s to make sure your electrical system is extra secure as well.

Humidity and Your Attic or Crawlspace (Part 2)

In the first part of this series on humidity, we went through the basics of what humidity is and how it works. In this second part, I want to talk about humidity in unconditioned spaces of your home and how not correctly managing the humidity in those spaces can leads to mold growth.

Why Should I be concerned with Humidity in My Attic?

For the sake of keeping this article short, I will mostly talk about attic space humidity, but most of the points here will count towards crawlspaces and other unfinished areas as well. So why should you be concerned with the level of humidity in your attic?

If an attic is poorly ventilated, the temperature of that attic space can reach up to 150° Fahrenheit during a hot summer day. As you may remember from my last humidity post, the warmer air gets the more capacity it has to carry and also absorb water droplets. Let's say the attic space heats up to 110° at 40% relative humidity during a warm summer day., but overnight your attic cools to 70°. At that temperature, the new relative humidity would be over 100% (which is not possible), so the excess water will start to condense in the attic space.

Maybe a better visual for what is happening is imaging a semi-damp sponge being ringed out by compressing its volume. Now, a lot of the water may re-evaporate the next day, but it's not guaranteed as some hot days are followed by cooler and shadier days with rain. When a surface is damp for a semi-prolonged duration (a day or even less than that), mold will start to form, and that is not desired.

How do I control humidity in my attic space?

I will speak only for unfinished attics (or crawlspaces) because the best way to control the humidity of any space is to condition it (have HVAC running in the attic), but that can also run up your electrical bills and is not ideal for everyone. There are two critical parts to control humidity in unconditional spaces to ensure excessive humidity does not create water and mold issues, ventilation and insulation:

Ventilation

The primary purpose of ventilation in unconditioned spaces is to replace the hot, humid air in the attic with cooler, less humid air. I think most of us learned in junior high school science that hot air rises. This is an essential concept for designing properly ventilated attic spaces. We want to utilize what is called the stack effect to ventilate properly, which means hot air rises and is vented out the top, but will subsequently pull cooler air from the bottom of the attic space.

The best way this is achieved is by having a ridge vent at the top of the attic space and soffit vents at the lower sides of the attic. You can also use an attic fan to blow the hot air out the top mechanically, but still, need to have soffit vents to pull air from down below. The one issue I see with attic fans is they tend to breakdown over time, and most people don't tend to check if they are running or not, so it defeats the purpose of having them.

Insulation

One topic we have not talked about yet is localized humidity. While you can have an attic space that reads 110° at 40% humidity, other areas might have more localized temperatures and humidities. An excellent example of this is an un-insulated HVAC duct in the attic. The duct temperature may be 65° and cause the air around it to drop in temperature. The other issue with this is the drop in air temperature can cause the local humidity to reach saturation and for condensation to start occurring.

Another potential area where lack of insulation is a concern is your attic floor, which is the boundary between your conditioned home and the attic. If you do not have insulation in the attic space and are running your HVAC, the inside of the attic floor can locally have temperatures 30° to 50° less than the attic temperature. Having the appropriate levels of insulation per ASHRAE standards is not only important for keeping your home comfortable, but also your attic space dry.