0224 - Metal Roofing, Solar Roof Panels, Siding, and Trim February 19-February 25, 2007 | August 20-August 26, 2007 >> Vila: Hi, I'm Bob Vila. Welcome to the show. Our in-law-suite addition has gotten a nice galvalume roof that's been installed and also some photovoltaic panels we'll be looking at. We've also installed Pella's Impervia fiberglass windows and sash and patio doors. We're going to look at that. Inside, we're dehumidifying the workspace with a giant machine that rolls up to the work site, and on the outside, we're putting up some Azek trim. Stick around. It's good to have you with us. This is our fourth visit to our in-law suite, our addition onto this little Colonial here in Norwell, Mass, and we've gotten very familiar with the whole process of ICF -- insulated concrete forms -- and how that creates the shell of the house, basically using foam building blocks that are filled with rebar and concrete to form the frost wall, the walls, and even the first-floor deck. Next we saw how Howard and his crew framed the second-floor deck, the wall that supports the ridge, and the roof. The roof-deck was sheathed with G.P.'s plytanium plywood.
>> We're using the deckarmor material as our underlayment over the deck. We ended up putting the roof on in very cold weather, and we were concerned about adhesion between the StormGuard, which is the peel-and-stick vapor-impermeable material, and so we're using this because the deck is going to be nice and clean -- no worry about frost. This eliminates the possibilities of frost. Okay, this is the StormGuard product. You can see what they're doing is putting the first piece on. And he's going to peel the very top half off and leave the bottom half with the plastic covering on it so that he can work from the top down. So, he's basically sticking the StormGuard directly on the DeckArmor underlayment, and then he's going to nail the StormGuard as he goes, as well.
>> Vila: Next, our homeowner, Howard, found a source for metal roofing at MetalRoofingWholesalers.com, and we got a professional to come here to show us how it's installed.
>> It's made out of galvalume, and what that is -- that's a steel with an aluminum mix. And you can get it just with steel, but the galvalume -- it does a lot more for you as far as the rust factor goes, especially at the ends of the roofline. When you cut your panels, or they're precut, then you're going to have exposed metal on that edge, and what that does is it prevents it from rusting as much as like a normal steel panel would. They do sell them in steel panels, and you can get them that way, but I recommend getting galvalume because that's the best for it. Now, this type of panel here -- this is 5 v-crimp, and you can get it in 29 gauge, 26 gauge. You can get it cut to length. You can get any size you want up to 40 feet, and it's a special order for anything you do, but they cut it right there and they ship it in a week, so you can get whatever you want to fit whatever job you have. Okay, well, what we do is we use an outside closure, and it goes on the panel like this. And then after that, your ridge cap will go on top of your closure, and at the screw line, which is here, you put what they call a self-tapping metal screw on all your ribs. And this will prevent any rain or moisture going up into the roof cap.
>> Vila: And you've got to be careful installing these galvalume panels 'cause they're big, they can bend, and they can get scratched. But anyway, the other panels that we have on the roof are photovoltaics, and Jeff Wolfe is with us to explain how photovoltaics work. It's solar energy, right?
>> It's solar electricity, and the way the panels work is very easy -- the sun rays come down, the photons hit the panels, the photons make electricity flow through the panels, that direct-current solar power comes down through a wire into the house into an inverter.
>> Vila: So, that's what you have in the basement -- the other component of this.
>> Right. So, in the basement, we have that inverter, which converts the direct-current solar power into alternating current, AC power, that's used in every house in the United States. That power is fed into the main electrical panel and feeds the house with solar power, and also, when the house is not using so much energy -- sunny day -- feeds power back into the utility grid and spins the meter back, making a credit for the customer.
>> Vila: That's the amazing part, 'cause all of the sudden, you're in the business of generating electricity and selling it back to the utility.
>> That's what people really love, is seeing the meter spin backwards.
>> Vila: Now, people always used to talk about paybacks with any kind of energy-related materials, and I think it's a little bit less relevant nowadays than it is green. The big buzzword is "green." And what we're doing here is we're essentially conserving energy, right?
>> Well, we're conserving energy, it's green, it's clean, it's reliable, it's U.S.-made, invites independence. Every dollar we spend for electricity in solar power replaces a dollar we send overseas. So, that money stays here. That clean, green, reliable is what people are really buying today, and different states are helping people buy that. In Massachusetts, the renewable energy trust actually subsidizes and helps buy down the solar powers, making it more affordable for people. Most states have a program like that.
>> Vila: And it is an important thing, especially in places where the utility rates, the electricity rates, have gone up by as much as 80%.
>> In many areas of the country, we're seeing utility rates escalate, and we'll be seeing more of that in the near future. Grow solar operates throughout the country. At www.groSolar.com, people can find us and find how to work with us anywhere in the country. We have deals and partners to put solar energy like this on their house anywhere in the U.S.
>> Vila: Now, you were saying this is close to a $15,000 investment, though, and I think the point that needs to be made is that when you're doing a major rehab and refinancing the equity in your house, it's something worth considering.
>> Absolutely worth considering as part of that rehab. Even without a rehab, with the state programs buying down, that $15,000 investment can become as little as half of that, making it very affordable for the average homeowner.
>> Vila: Thanks, Jeff.
>> You're welcome. Thank you.
>> Vila: Once we had a roof over our heads, we could get tight to the weather, installing our windows and our sliding patio door in the back. And these are low-E glass windows. They're a new fiberglass window from Pella that includes low-emissivity glass, which means that they fit right into our energy-conservation story. Plus the fiberglass frames -- they're not susceptible to extremes of weather -- heat or cold. They're not going to warp or rot or anything like that.
>> This is our Pella Impervia patio door. It's made from DuraCast -- a fiberglass composite -- a very strong material, very durable material, resistant to impact, to scratches, and just a very, very low-maintenance material for windows and doors. The other feature I want to show you on our product is all of our hardware is color-matched to the product, so it blends very nicely for the interior look. And as an upgrade option, it's also available in other finishes like brass, satin nickel, or bronze. The other feature of the double-hung, obviously, is the dual operation of the sash, so the lower sash raises, the upper sash lowers for a very natural ventilation. The other feature we have is an easy-tilt clean feature, so it's easy to tilt both sash in, clean the exterior and the interior from the inside of the home, so you're safe so you don't have to get on any ladders, and then they simply snap back into place and you can close the window. The other feature of Impervia is the Energy Star rating. Pella Impervia products are Energy Star-rated in all 50 states, saving the average homeowner 24% over single-pane wood windows.
>> Vila: And the powdercoat finish over the fiberglass means you don't have to worry about staining or putting the finish on. You can use them right like they are. I also like the very slim profile and the fact that you get full screens on them. Once the windows are all in place in the construction site, that means we're tight to the weather and we can start worrying about drying out the inside of the job. And that's become more and more of a concern for builders all over the country because of mold-growth problems within the house as it's being built. We brought in the pros to show us how it's best done.
>> My name is Kurt Bolden. I'm with the Hydro Lab training facility. Training and research is what we do for water-damage mitigation -- new-construction drying. We train mainly insurance companies and restoration contractors. We do property management and also contractors. Our goal is to basically educate them on the effects of water damage to a structure, whether it be from a broken pipe, a hurricane, or just new construction. New construction is a big problem in our industry right now because a lot of the materials that are being delivered to job sites are wet. A lot of people don't know how wet they are. This is an example of a new construction. It has been wet as of up to a week and a half ago. It appears to be dry, and a lot of contractors at this point would go ahead and start putting in their insulation, hanging wallboard. What they don't know, though, is what the moisture-content load is in the structure, obviously, moisture being one of the number-one causes of defect in a home or commercial structure. We need to map this structure out, showing them how much moisture is in all these different building materials. At that point, we dry, this being one method. We actually install long pins or screws. I can show you how we do this. All right. Once we install the screws -- we've actually taken a pin or a screw and we put it through this mass of material. The purpose of that is now we can check the moisture content in the core of this entire piece of wood. What we do now is we actually use what's called a Delmhorst meter. This particular meter reads moisture content from these two pins. I'll demonstrate here. As you can see, the moisture content on my finger. So, it gives you a reading of the moisture content using electrical current. The pins or the screws that we install into the wall are basically extensions off of these pins. So, at this point, a surface reading, for example, on this piece of wood, shows that this wood is dry. If that's as deep as you use this meter, then you're not getting an accurate reading. Once you actually take the pins and put them on the screws, you can see that the moisture-content load of this particular mass of lumber is running about 18%. Industry standard in this region is about 12% this time of year. A number that's very dangerous is the 16% moisture-content load, which is basically where you get fungal growth, where you get a mold growth. So, if you were to trap this lumber behind drywall and insulation, theres's no way for it to dry -- obviously leads to a possibility of having fungal growth in the wall structure.
>> Inside the building, we're creating an atmosphere which is going to promote the rapid evaporation of the bound water inside of the building materials. As we bring very dry and warm air into the building and circulate it through the building, the wood will give up its moisture. That moisture will become part of the air. We will take that air and bring it back out of the building. Basically, what this equipment is doing is it's turning the inside atmosphere into a huge sponge that can absorb tremendous amounts of water. Once that water is absorbed into that dry airstream, we remove it directly to the outside. So, the building dries very, very quickly, and there is no odors left behind. Equipment that you're looking at -- the water out trailer -- and there are about 200 of them around the country presently. Our typical project is drying flooded buildings from all sorts of mishaps -- anything from a hurricane to a pipe break, ice machine. This trailer is designed to create an environment inside of a building that will evaporate the excess moisture, bring it to the outside, keep bringing dry, clean air in, taking wet, moist air out, taking air with odors to the outside. It will dry a building incredibly fast, whether it happens to be a hurricane or just, in this particular case, bound moisture to new building materials.
>> Vila: Closed captioning provided by...
>> Hi, I'm Bob Vila. Next time on this show, our in-law-suite addition has gotten a nice galvalume roof that's been installed and also some photovoltaic panels we'll be looking at. We've also installed Pella's Impervia fiberglass windows and sash, and inside, we're dehumidifying the workspace with a giant machine that rolls up to the work site, and on the outside, we're putting up some Azek trim. That's next time. Don't miss it.
>> Hi, I'm Bob Vila. Next time on this show, we're dehumidifying the workspace with a giant machine that rolls up to the work site... And on the outside, we're putting up some Azek trim. That's next time. Don't miss it.
>> Hi, I'm Bob Vila. Next time on this show, we're dehumidifying the workspace with a giant machine that rolls up to the work site, and on the outside, we're putting up some Azek trim.
>> Vila: Our homeowner, Howard Brickman, has been -- you actually invented a testing device, right, to see how dry it really is?
>> Concrete's a real problem for the wood-floor installation business -- actually, for any floor covering or coating in the business. So we developed a meter that measures the relative humidity in the interior of the concrete, and it will predict what's going to happen after it we cover it with a floor covering.
>> And because of the nature of the whole shell of the house here, we're standing on a concrete slab.
>> The whole exterior structure except for the roof-deck is concrete, and so it's critical that we dry the concrete on the floor prior to installing the wood floor on top.
>> And that's the case anywhere in the country, but especially in southern climates where you have slabs on grade. That's where you really have to check what you're doing.
>> Because you'll have ground moisture coming up.
>> Vila: So, while the house is drying out and all this interior work is going on, we can also be putting the siding on, right? And because it's a concrete shell, Howard, how do you go about putting on the furring strips?
>> We attach the furring strips with an adhesive to the foam exterior structure.
>> Vila: Uh-huh. And then you need these fasteners to make sure that the siding is not going to go anywhere, and Jack Armour's here from powers, and how do these things work?
>> All you do is you simply drill a hole and drive them -- same diameter as the diameter of the fastener. So, as far as this is concerned, 1/4-inch diameter, you drill 1/4-inch hole into your substraight, right through your 2-by here.
>> Vila: Right into the masonry. Does that wrinkle in the front end of it -- that little --
>> That's the "S" shape -- the "S"-shape version of that. What happens is it's bent and it's manufactured with the "S" shape in there, and then that turns into a heat-treating process which, once they heat-treat that process and they drive that into the hole, it exerts pressure against the walls of concrete because it has memory, and it wants to get back to that "S" shape.
>> Vila: That's how it works. Now, this is a company that's almost a century old with this kind of a product, right?
>> That's correct. Powers fasteners was formerly known as the RawlPlug company. It was a European company, which they were the first manufacturers of a masonary anchor, which was marketed by the powers family about 75-odd years ago in the United States.
>> Vila: Did they really make them out of jute?
>> Yeah, it was a jute-fiber plug with a lead-based insert.
>> Vila: And then that evolved into the lead shields that...
>> Which then came into the plastic.
>> Vila: ...Came into the plastic. Wonderful. Well, thanks for your help.
>> You're very welcome, Bob.
>> Vila: So, Howard, this is what we're going to be using for the siding. What's it called?
>> It's Hardie Plank. It's a fiber-cement product.
>> Vila: So, what does that mean -- it's got Portland Cement in it with some sort of fiber?
>> It's Portland Cement with cellulose, which is wood fiber.
>> Vila: It's kind of counterintuitive that the two would work well.
>> You would think so, but they do work extremely well together. It's a very, very durable product. It takes paint extremely well.
>> Vila: But you're going to use it with this finish already, right?
>> This is a prefinished, so it goes installed with the color right on it.
>> Vila: Terrific.
>> Vila: The trim in New England houses has traditionally been made from pine, sometimes cedar. We have a new product that's called Azek, right? And this is Kristen Baer, who's here to tell us all about it. What's it made out of?
>> Azek is a cellular PVC product, and it's made by a manufacturing process called a free foam manufacturing process.
>> Vila: What are the big advantages? It looks just like boards. It hasn't been painted up here, but it comes through like this, right?
>> Yes, and this is going to give you the look and the feel of wood without any of the hassles. For example, it's impervious to moisture, termites, insects, and it gives you a 25-year warranty.
>> Vila: How is it to work with?
>> It's great to work with. As you can see here, they routed this as is right on the house.
>> Vila: Oh, you mean this edge that they've put on it was routed out after they'd applied the wood to the frame?
>> Yep.
>> Vila: And it also provides moldings like we see up here -- this crown?
>> Currently, Azek has a crown mould, a drip cap, and a brick mould. As of March 1st, there'll be 15 Azek profiles available.
>> Vila: So, is Azek very useful in different regions in terms of climate?
>> Yes, especially in New England, where there's harsh weather conditions, and especially where there's -- on the water, Azek holds up very nicely.
>> Vila: And in terms of cost, how does it compare?
>> You're looking about the same as a clear cedar, but once you repaint your wood probably every three to five years, you've already made your money back with Azek.
>> Vila: Are there any warranties associated with it?
>> There's a 25-year warranty.
>> Vila: That's pretty impressive.
>> Yes, it is.
>> Vila: Well, when the springtime weather comes back, we'll have to put a coat of paint on it.
>> Absolutely. And, you know, with Azek, too, you don't have to paint it for protection. However, it holds paint very nicely.
>> Vila: So if you want to have your trim picked out in a different color, obviously, you can do that.
>> You want to use 100% acrylic latex paint, and if you'd like to paint it a dark color, make sure you use vinyl safe made by Sherwin-Williams.
>> Vila: We'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Kristen. Next week, we're going to be working on the front porch, installing doors, putting up drywall, insulation, and I can't think of what else. Till then, I'm Bob Vila. Thanks for joining us. Looking for help on your next project? Visit BobVila.com for everything you need to get the job done right. You'll find show highlights, interactive tools for planning your next project, and helpful how-to articles for every room in your home. BobVila.com -- the ultimate home site.
Additional Bob Vila Showrooms • SelectBlinds.com - The window blinds and shades America trusts • CleanEnergyQuotes.com - Get Solar Energy Estimates for Your Home • White Lightning Caulk - Caulks and Sealants – Protect, Beautify and Save Energy • ETO Doors - Shop for Interior & Exterior Doors - Lowest Price Guaranteed • Sears - Vinyl Siding, Eaves and Overhangs • Sears - Custom-Fit Replacement Windows and Entry Doors
Doors & Windows • Pella - Impervia patio door and energy-efficient dual-sash windows Floors, Stairs & Elevators • Howard Brickman Consulting (Norwell, MA) - General contracting and project management Heat, Ventilation & Cooling • Water Out - Water and moisture removal from building materials and structures Masonry & Faux Stone • Powers Fasteners - Siding fasteners for masonry application • SlabSafe - Concrete slab moisture monitoring system Renewable Energy - Solar, Biomass, Wind • groSolar - Photovoltaic roof panels and power inverter Roofing & Siding • Azek Trimboards - Exterior cellular PVC trim • GAF - Deck-armor breathable roof deck protection and StormGuard film-surfaced leak barrier • James Hardie - Hardiplank fiber-cement horizontal-lap siding • MetalRoofingWholesalers.com - Galvalume standing-seam metal roof • The Metal Men - Galvalume standing-seam metal roof installation Structural & Framing • HydroLab - Moisture monitoring and mapping in new construction • ReddiForm Inc. - ReddiForm polystyrene, snap-together insulated forms for ICF construction Tools & Workshop • Todol Pur-Stick - Gun Foam construction adhesive
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