Interior Reno
To Full Rebuild
Creative Eye Visits Winnipeg
Page 16
Insulation Myths
The Straight Goods
From Steve Maxwell Page 24
Contractor
Dilemma Contest
Cool DeWalt Tool
Up For Grabs
Page 30
Will Gonell’s amazing journey from U.S. marine, to NYPD cop, to Toronto homebuilder
Page 10
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Will Gonell is surely the only contractor in Canada who has been both a cop and a U.S. marine. A profile by John Bleasby.
Creative Eye: River’s Edge Revival
This project in Winnipeg started out as a simple interior renovation of a 1960s-era bungalow. Then things got complicated.
Busting Seven Insulation Myths
Steve Maxwell dismantles a bunch of unhelpful misconceptions that many of us have about insulation. Plus: Using oxygen to kill mold.
Steve Payne Editor
spayne@canadiancontractor.ca
By Steve Payne
One of the principals of a family-owned hydronics firm emailed me recently that the Ontario College of Trades (OCOT) had slapped her firm with a $500 fine. Her husband got a separate $250 fine. Their alleged offence? The firm had installed a high-velocity AC unit into an attic – and not all the subs involved in the installation were dues-paying OCOT members. The horror! Imagine the danger to the public well-being!
When OCOT got up and running five years ago, self-employed contractors called it a “tax grab.” The lifetime civil service types at Queen’s Park – who went out and rented some of the most expensive real estate in Canada (on Bay Street) for OCOT’s official HQ – said it was nothing of the sort. They made grand claims about the trades regulating themselves. And getting kids interested in the trades. And that “public safety” thing.
Ever since it was founded, Ontario contractors have clogged our message boards with pleas for someone, please, to rid us of this College of Fines. What’s interesting is that the fees that contractors are forced to pay to OCOT – less than $200 a year – are a tiny fraction of the vast sums that WSIB demands. And yet the hatred of OCOT surpasses anything we have ever seen.
Why is OCOT so reviled? Just type “OCOT” into our search bar at www.canadiancontractor.ca and get yourself an education.
Editor Steve Payne spayne@canadiancontractor.ca
Contributing Editors Rob Blackstien, John Bleasby, Kim Laudrum, Steve Maxwell
Art Director Mark Ryan
Publisher Rob Koci rkoci@canadiancontractor.ca
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You could win $5,000 worth of GRK fasteners and a Paslode nailer, just for sending us some photos of your project
TV personality and building expert Damon Bennett is giving away $5,000 worth of GRK deck fasteners and a brand new Paslode nailer, to the builder of the best GRK-fastener connected project he can find.
To stand a chance of winning, all you need to do is to send us a minimum of three photos of a project you or your crew have built using GRK fasteners. Simply go to Canadian Contractor magazine online (www. canadiancontractor.ca) and type ‘GRK’ in the search bar at top right. You will see the contest link after that, and there is a button on there from which to send your photos and text.
Damon has extended the contest entry deadline to Oct. 15. The winning project will be featured in our next (Nov/Dec 2018) issue, making you (sort of) famous – and the owner of a whole pile of boxes of GRK fasteners with a $5,000 retail value. Plus a cool new Paslode nailer to drive them home with.
Pictured here are a couple of recently-submitted projects that we think stand a chance to win. They are certainly on the shortlist. If you want to get your project under consideration, visit our site today and click the contest link.
This entry was sent in by Rick Semenzin of Exel Construction, Salmon Arm, B.C. They show a recently-built community project at Hanley Heritage Village in Salmon Arm. GRK fasteners were used in many of the building structural connections and for all of the boardwalk timbers and decking.
This entry was sent in by Ken Schultz, Gateway Outdoor Living, Calgary. It shows a pretty nice pergola near Winnipeg that Ken built with two of his high school buddies, a sort of reunion and construction project, all in one. The laminated 2x10 columns were connected using GRK R4 screws. Thanks, Ken, for sharing this with us. Nice job!
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The30th anniversary of the The Buildings Show (formerly Construct Canada) takes place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Nov. 28 to 30. The Homebuilder and Renovation Expo will be moved to the North Building this year. Canadian Contractor and our sister publications HPAC, On Site and Pro Painter, invite you to drop by and say hello if you are at the show. Please note that our publisher Rob Koci is hosting two interesting seminars:
Wed., Nov. 28, 2:30 – 4:00 pm
Technological changes in construction will be the next major disruptor in our industry. What are some of the latest software technologies in the
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Starting your own company can be a difficult and stressful time. Once you’ve become established, how do you grow your business to the next level? This session will provide a full hour of coaching for self-employed contractors, providing growth advice for those with first year gross incomes between $50,000 and $500,000.
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Will Gonell consults with his site foreman
How WILL GONELL, a former U.S. marine and NYPD cop, became a custom home builder in Toronto.
By John Bleasby
“The owners move in two weeks from today.” I have to catch my jaw before it hits the ground. “You’re joking, right? In two weeks? Here?”
I have just driven through the iron gates guarding a 130-acre property near Caledon, north of Toronto. I’m looking at a 10,000 sq.ft. ICF home that’s covered in scaffolding. The bricklaying is nowhere near complete. Paul Gillis, site foreman for Gonell Homes, gestures for me to follow him inside.
“Yup,” Gillis says. “It will be ready for them, guaranteed. The brick won’t be complete. The landscaping and pool will happen next year. But the interior is 90 per cent ready. Come and see.”
It’s a few days before my scheduled interview with company president Will Gonell. By prior arrangement, I’m meeting with Gillis and a few of the key trades on this project. I’m hoping to gain some advance insight into Gonell’s success in a specialized market.
I DUMP QUITE A BIT ON PAUL. BUT I DON'T GIVE HIM ANY MORE THAN HE CAN HANDLE BECAUSE I KNOW HIS CAPABILITIES.”
Canadian Contractor first heard of Gonell Homes in late 2017 when the firm won national home building awards in Canada and the United States for a French baroque home north of Toronto (see photo, opposite). Today, the firm completes three or four major projects a
year. But what really made us want to interview Gonell, 37, was his background. He is a former NYPD cop. Before that he was in the U.S. Marine Corps. We wondered how he got into our industry. Turns out Gonell married a Canadian and moved to Toronto six years ago.
with a chuckle, “but at the time we needed laborers. He admitted he was new to Canada and didn’t know a lot but that he would learn.”
the administration.” They’ve been a team ever since. Now Gonell provides Gillis’ company, Authentic Construction, with over 90 per cent of its work.
Looking for a job, he began by walking onto residential building sites in the city, asking if they needed any help.
“I literally spent three weeks trying to find someone who would teach me,” Gonell recalls. “I didn’t know how to approach construction. I wasn’t dressed like a construction guy. People didn’t know what to make of me. Over those three weeks I got a lot of no’s.’
The guy who finally took him on was, in fact, Paul Gillis, now Gonell’s trusted lieutenant.
“Will was pretty clean,” recalls Gillis
“I wanted to start at the beginning. I didn’t want to skip any particular phase,” Gonell said. “I’m very inquisitive. I’m always asking questions, I’m always watching, always learning on my own. Little by little I pushed myself to do framing, to do ICF. I would move on to the next thing because I like to progress. What eventually happened is that I became pretty versatile.”
Gonell moved onto other projects but he crossed paths again with Gillis when the two men were working on an 18,000 sq.ft. custom home near Toronto. Gonell had been brought on board for the finishing of an ICF shell structure Gillis’ company had built. “He asked if I was interested in getting involved with him in other projects,” Gillis recalls. “I would supervise the site while he would handle
Gonell’s inquiring mind has never stopped, absorbing information like sponge. This explains, in part, his rapid rise up the ranks of GTA homebuilders. Orest Omeliukh of Blackrock HVAC, Gonell’s go-to air system expert, describes Gonell’s persistence in seeking out solutions to complex issues typical of ultra-high end custom homes.
“Will asks questions and waits for your answer. He'll just keep poking at it. If you don’t know the answers that’s fine, but he’ll give you a deadline to figure it out. If you can’t, he’ll either figure it out himself or put the pieces together using the information you gave him. He’s nice about it, but he gets it done. When you look back, you say, ‘Yes, I was pushed, but it all made sense.’”
Later, Gonell will explain to me what
THE SAME AMOUNT OF DETAIL GOES INTO A PROJECT THIS SIZE AS INTO A SMALLER PROJECT. IT'S THE SAME AMOUNT OF FOCUS AND ATTENTION, JUST A DIFFERENT TIME FRAME.”
drew him to hire Omeliukh, a young man who had only just started his HVAC business when the two met. “I don't look for a worker per se — I look for people who can problem-solve. And when I say problem-solve, I’m really talking about accountability. It's like, ‘Hey I messed up, let me fix this. This could be an issue
later on for me or for the next trade, so let me deal with it.’ That’s how you keep a harmonious attitude on the job site. It’s very important.”
Gonell’s soft spoken manner belies his determination to find solutions. It’s a great foil for Gillis, something both men admit is a bit of an intentional good cop-
bad cop set up. Gonell books the trades while Gillis keeps the troops moving. “I’m aggressive and push the sub trades,” says Gillis. “As much as Will encourages these guys to figure stuff out on their own, I’m on the other side saying, ‘I need it now!’ I don’t have time — I’ve got a schedule and I hammer the schedules constantly. If not, the jobs drag and go over budget.”
Gonell’s commitment to team spirit and what he calls a “mission accomplishment” attitude is evident across the entire site. Both Gonell and Gillis introduce me to their small army of trades battling to meet the move-in deadline: Bruno, the stair and railing craftsman; John, the tile setter; Dagwami, the ICF installer. “The best in their fields,” Gonell proclaims.
Throughout the build, Gonell manages the supply of materials, often using on-line ordering services to avoid timeconsuming and costly trips by individual trades to supply centres. He also chooses to work with independent trade specialists rather than hiring his own employees. “I prefer the guy who only does his thing, the guy who only does drywall, for example, because he has the eye, speed and quality I want.”
Creative problem-solving on complex projects comes down to dozens of decisions each day. Gonell and Gillis are continuously challenged by on-site issues that require immediate creative solutions, issues that are often not covered by an architect’s drawings and only become apparent during the build: the long hallway leading to the master bedroom is dark, so three skylights atop 8-foot high light shafts are installed; a fireplace in the master bedroom is moved to the opposite wall to its improve visual impact; main trunks and lateral air ducts have to be disguised as wall features as part of what Gonell, Gillis and Omeliukh describe as their ongoing “war against bulkheads.”
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While Gillis drives the trades on-site, Gonell massages the clients. Using a good-better-best approach to each element of the project, he develops budgets that they can understand.“Throughout the project, there are always costs and budgets being thrown around,” Gonell says. “People change their minds, there are constant revisions. The goodbetter-best scenarios are a form of cost-benefit analysis.” Sometimes the false economy of customer-supplied materials or fixtures needs explaining. Clients quickly grasp the approach and trust Gonell’s assessments.
Gonell’s insatiable curiosity and keen eye for creative solutions, combined with Gillis’s decades of experience in home construction, has resulted in a process that makes what appears impossible possible, like moving a client into their new home despite outward appearances two weeks from deadline.
One might be quick to assume that Gonell’s military background is the foundation of his project philosophy. However, Gonell explains there’s far more to it than that. “It really started when I was about seven on our family farm in the Dominican Republic. I had a very strict grandfather who drove me hard, waking me at 4:30 in the morning to feed the cows. It instilled discipline, hard work and the understanding that nothing in life comes for free. It was a lot stricter than the military! But the military further ingrained those lessons in me. It taught me the power of teamwork, the power of edifying someone, and the power of encouragement to attain a certain goal.” It also taught Gonell humility along the way. “My name may be on the banner, but I am nothing without the guys. They're the ones who deserve the credit.” cc
The welcoming curbside character of the single-level home was improved with exterior finishes including stone and faux wood metal panelling. A new retaining wall was poured to allow for a more open seating area and main entrance.
This project in Winnipeg started out as an interior renovation of a 1960s era bungalow. It ended up being a major structural rebuild.
By John Bleasby
Somewhat foreboding, the original street side entry was beige stucco, largely hidden by overgrown cedar bushes.
Contractor: Harwood Design Builders, Winnipeg
Design: Harwood Design Builders, Winnipeg
Finished project photographs: Michael Roberts, Duality Photographic and Digital Services
Construction photos: Harwood Design Builders
Evenafter 30 years of building experience and owning a company with 17 award recognitions to its credit, Wayne Sage, president of Harwood Design Builders, can still be surprised when taking on a renovation project. This 1960’sera bungalow in Winnipeg’s upscale Wildwood area was no exception. “We
went there to do an interior renovation, a facelift that was to be largely cosmetic,” Sage told Canadian Contractor. However, that all changed when the walls were opened up. “Whoever built that house should have been shot.”
Sage listed the many structural deficiencies that revealed themselves
above or behind the walls: no headers over any windows, handmade rafters supported by pallets, vertical loads with no apparent bearing points. “I couldn’t believe this house was still standing.”
What Sage and his team at Harwood Design Builders were able to achieve was remarkable. Not only did they transform a dark and sombre home into a bright and open modern living space, they essentially rebuilt the structure of the entire building. “We started from scratch,” said Sage. “We removed the whole floor, fixed the foundation that was cracking, put up new floor joists and a new level floor, installed new roof trusses — we had to redo everything.”
The Wildwood neighborhood of Winnipeg runs alongside one of the deep bends of the curvaceous Red River. Homes are older and sit on spacious lots, this one almost two acres. Sage’s clients wanted improved room orientations towards the river with an open interior concept. This required the removal of a few walls standing between the living room, kitchen and family area, and the shifting of some walls near the bedrooms. New triplepane windows ordered from Innotech in Germany were an important part of the new look. The floor-to-ceiling window panels running across the living room and kitchen-dining area tilt, pivot and turn five different ways, opening the home
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One of the two original wood fire burning fireplaces converted to gas separating the master bedroom for the large ensuite. The other is in the living room.
on the river side as the seasonal weather permits.
Although homes in the area are large, Sage’s clients were happy to simply upgrade the existing 2,500 sq. ft. main level living space and to leave the sub grade area as laundry, storage and utility rooms. The main level may be modest in area, however, the details are by no means modest in finishing quality. The large open family and kitchen areas, the master with ensuite, spare bedroom, powder room, and study with a Murphy bed all have beautiful touches throughout, something on which the Harwood design team prides itself.
Sage’s objective of building “a little above and beyond” includes energyefficiency. The combination of spray foam, stone wool and fibreglass insulation in the new celling delivers close to R60, well above required code. The walls are at least R30.
The Harwood Design Builders team has 18 full time employees, including its own design capability. “We like to
addition of an IKEA washbasin and cabinet did little to rescue the original master bathroom with its 1960’s era
do everything in-house as much as we can,” Sage explained. “This way, I have total control. I don't have to worry about who a subcontractor hired this week or who he's sending over.” Some employees at Harwood have worked with Sage for ten or more years. For example, the site foreman on this project, Jeff Halstead, has been with the company for 12 years. This control over quality and production allows the Harwood team to run up to five projects at one time, rotating experienced crews across sites as required.
Renovation currently represents 80 per cent of Harwood’s business, although Sage feels that might change going forward. “The way things are in Winnipeg right now, people are buying $400,000 or $500,000 homes, tearing them down and starting over.” Given their gilt-edge reputation in Winnipeg’s high end market, Harwood could find itself with more newbuilds on its books.
It won’t change the way Sage conducts business, of course. “Most of our clients come to us because they like the one-stop-
shop,” he said. “They want to go to one place and have everything taken care of. We do the design, the engineering, and we build it all ourselves — that's what they like about us.” It results in a high level of customer satisfaction that often extends the relationship. “Clients become our friends,” said Sage. “We have a company BBQ and some of them even come to that as well. They fall in love with my team, serve them lunches and all that. It speaks for my guys.”
Specific to this project, Sage’s pleasure runs beyond the national recognition resulting from a 2018 CHBA category award nomination for a Whole House Renovation. “We were able to turn over a well-built home. There's nothing hidden, there won’t be any problems. This was a house that could have collapsed around the clients. Now they'll never have any worries again.” cc
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This is the first part of a 10-part series about the Inner Life of a Good Contractor
By Steve Maxwell
Life as a contractor offers more freedom and profit potential than most jobs, but being a contractor also involves more challenges. You need to deal with more moving parts than an employee in a pre-made work situation, and you face more uncertainty and potential pitfalls, too. The extent to which you thrive or wither as a contractor ultimately comes down to who you are inside. Courage, honesty, stamina, patience, diplomacy and leadership are all parts of the equation. Nobody talks much about these virtues, but some of us think about them, at least from time to time. I figure this is a good thing. Life can be hard for everyone, and life as a contractor can perhaps be harder than average. That’s why your inner foundation is vital.
This is the first of a ten-part series called The Inner Life of a Good Contractor. I’ll share thoughts that have helped me over the years, beginning with the most important of all questions. “Are you just molecules or something more?" Is the universe and everything in it (including you) the product of an unguided series of happenstance events, or is there some eternal significance to you, your life, your loved ones and how you live? Are you just molecules or more? Your answer determines everything about you, including whether or not you’ll smile or frown as you read this.
Although I didn’t start out this way, science eventually convinced me that blind chance could never have led to the complexity of life and the fine-tuning of the universe that we see around us. I simply no longer have enough faith in Lady Luck to believe it all just happened to happen randomly. Starting from the microscopic level, even the simplest single-cell organisms have astonishingly complex digital information encoded into their DNA, information that’s necessary to guide all processes for life. There’s no such thing as any living creature that’s simple, and it’s not just mechanical complexity I’m talking about. Information also has to precede life processes just like software is necessary for a computer to run. Complex information is what you find encoded in the DNA of, say, a single-celled amoeba, not to mention you
and me. If life needs complex information before it can exist and function, how could life processes begin from nothing more than the random presence of simple, non-living atoms and molecules? When was the last time you saw complex information arrange itself out of nothing? This is one reason I’ve become convinced that the universe is more than just molecules.
On a larger scale, there are other facts that argue you’re more than just a random collection of elements. Many forces in the universe, for instance, must be present in just the right proportions for time, space and matter to exist. The strength of gravity, for instance, the strength of electromagnetic forces, the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, and others. Physicists say that all these must exist exactly as they do now for the universe to exist at all. Change just the force of gravity, even the tiniest bit stronger or weaker, for instance, and planets and stars never would have formed. And gravity is just one force of many. The odds of all the forces of the universe lining up as they do by chance has been calculated to be much more unlikely than the chance of picking one specific grain of beach sand out of all the grains of sand on earth with one random draw. How likely is that?
Why does all this matter? Besides the fact that observable reality bears the fingerprints of more than just chance, a meaningless universe offers nothing upon which to cultivate the morals that make for a strong inner contractor. Let me warn you about something, though. Left to its own devices, the human heart wants the universe to be meaningless because this removes personal responsibility and replaces it with something much easier to live with – personal preference. Do you feel anger at my suggestion that you and I and the universe are more than just happenstance arrangements of molecules? Some people do, and that’s your heart fighting for the easy way out. The thing is, what we want is no guarantee of what really is. Aligning yourself with reality is the first and necessary step to thriving as a contractor and a human being. cc
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” – Anonymous
By Steve Maxwell
Afewwinters ago I got an email from a contractor looking for advice on an unusual situation. A homeowner had pulled the baseboard off a wall and a steady flow of water streamed out onto the floor. Lots of water. As it turned out, there was no plumbing or siding leak involved. The water accumulated because of mistakes made when the home was insulated during construction. This is just one example of how fundamental errors can be made when it comes to insulation. Bust the seven most persistent insulation myths and you’ll enjoy better energy efficiency and a better building life.
Myth#1: Internal wall and attic condensation is caused by a lack of ventilation
This is true in a way, but there’s more to it than this. Although the right kind of building envelope ventilation can allow condensed water to leave walls or attics harmlessly, lack of ventilation is not the root cause of condensation. The real cause is air leakage at times of year when outdoor air is colder than indoor air.
The ability of air to hold moisture is directly proportional to its temperature. The warmer the air, the more moisture it can hold. So if warm, indoor air is allowed to make it’s way into wall cavities or attic spaces, that air will slowly cool as it moves deeper into the building envelope. Eventually, the air loses the ability to hold the moisture it used to be able to handle at higher temperatures, causing water to appear out of nowhere in the form of tiny droplets within your walls or attic. The level where temperatures
drop to the point of causing condensation is called the dew point. That distressed homeowner with water running out from behind the baseboard had a 2x4 wall insulated with fiber-based batts and an improperly installed vapour barrier. The air leaks and sharp temperature gradient between interior and exterior wall surfaces led to massive internal wall condensation and leaking during winter. This condition is actually quite common, though not often as extreme. Not that it matters much. A little water in wall cavities is as bad as a lot.
Myth#2: R values accurately reflect real-world energy performance
R value and the metric equivalent RSI are the yardsticks by which all insulation products are measured in Canada. Professional builders, homeowners and building inspectors all use and rely on R and RSI values because there are no other number out there to measure insulation performance. Trouble is, these numbers are highly flawed yardsticks. They change length, so to speak, depending on what you’re measuring. That’s because there can be (and often is) a big difference between insulation values as determined in the lab, and the real-world energy performance that different insulations deliver.
The problem with lab analysis of R values is that it completely eliminates air movement from the results. This matters a lot with fluffy insulation materials that allow air movement through them. Air movement greatly lowers real-world insulation performance, and everyone knows that drafts and air currents often happen within wall cavities and attics. On the other hand, insulation products that don’t allow air movement through them (spray foams and rigid foams, for instance) have real-world insulation values almost identical to the lab results you see on packaging and advertising. Their performance doesn’t decline. Air-impervious insulations can be twice as effective as air-porous insulations of the same R value under certain conditions.
It’s natural to believe this myth when you’re staring at a clear
vapour barrier with moisture behind it. Trouble is, reality is not always as it seems. The purpose of a vapour barrier is to stop warm, moist, indoor air from infiltrating fiber-type insulation during cold weather. If infiltration occurs, the indoor air cools during winter, loses some of its ability to hold moisture, and this moisture comes out in the form of droplets. Visible moisture on the inside of a vapour barrier is either caused by a leaky vapour barrier or moisture migrating into the wall cavity from the outside. Leaky siding can cause this, but it can also happen in basements that are apparently leak free. Vapour barriers are essential for any kind of insulation that air can pass through. Never do the really foolish thing of slashing a vapour barrier that you find has moisture behind it, or failing to install a vapour barrier in the first place.
Back in the 1970s, urea formaldehyde spray foam was used to insulate homes. This proved to be a problem because authorities didn’t fully understand the dangers of urea formaldehyde off-gassing. Just don’t let your clients think that all spray foam is harmful today. That’s too simplistic. Despite media reports that conjure fear, properly applied spray foam delivers safe results and outstanding air sealing. Nothing else works as well as closed cell spray foam for sealing and insulating.
Myth#5:
Just because you use, say, R24 batts in a stud frame wall, it doesn’t mean you get an R24 wall. There are two reasons why. The first is that fiber-based insulations only deliver their stated performance in the lab. Drafts and convection air currents within stud frame cavities lower real-world performance significantly. At least as
important is the fact that 15 to 20 per cent› of every stud frame wall is made of pieces of wood that go right through the wall, extending from inside surface to outside. Wood has an insulating value of only R1 per inch, so for a typical 2x6 stud frame wall, one fifth of the wall area is only functioning at about R5 or R6. This situation is made worse by the fact that many stud frame wall cavities require custom-cut batts. In the time-is-money building world, precise fitting of batts doesn’t always happen whenever it should. Accurate insulation R values only come from a complete, real-world assessment of an entire building envelope, not just the nominal rating of one insulation component.
People have been turning basements into living spaces for more than half a century, and during most of this time batt-insulated stud frame walls were the only way to create warm, finished basements. We have more choices these days and that’s a very good thing. The fact is, hollow stud frame walls are vulnerable to internal moisture coming from two sides, precisely because basement walls are underground. Moisture can migrate into
walls from the finished basement space if warm air is allowed to enter the wall because of flaws in the vapour barrier. That’s why you need a vapour barrier on the warm side of every exterior basement wall. Trouble is, moisture vapour can (and often does) migrate through masonry basement walls from the outside and into the stud frame wall cavity, even if no liquid water is visible. Musty basement odours and low indoor air quality throughout the house can happen because of hidden moisture and mold trapped behind drywall.
Rigid foam insulation systems are best for basements because they’re less vulnerable to air movement, they don’t allow internal condensation and they don’t absorb much moisture.
Stuffing batts between rafters in a cathedral ceiling and covering them with vapour barrier is easy but risky because there’s no place for condensation to escape if it builds up within the roof structure. And build up it probably will. Unlike walls, roofs are more likely to have air leaks that lead to internal condensation and frost. That’s why it’s not unusual for water to leak down through cathedral ceilings in spring, as a winter’s worth of frost melts and trickles out. Cathedral ceilings insulated with batts need open vent space from eaves to peak to prevent cold weather condensation, or they need to be insulated with spray foam.
Insulating properly is more difficult than it looks. That’s why the reality of insulation often falls so far short of the potential. Besides the fact that the building industry is slow to adopt change, the dynamics of insulation and energy efficiency aren’t easy to see. Heat loss is invisible, insulation products are usually hidden, and the physics of air movement and condensation are widely misunderstood. Let facts bust the seven insulation myths and you’ll be much closer to optimizing the energy performance of your next building or renovation. cc
MILWAUKEE 2727-20 18V 16”
Cordless Chainsaw
When I unboxed Milwaukee’s new 16”, 18V cordless chainsaw to give it a try, the guy I was working with laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding”, he scoffed. “A cordless chainsaw? Isn’t that the kind of thing weekend warriors use to trim little wee tree branches in their backyard on Saturday mornings?” As it turns out, no. While this saw isn’t going to compete head-to-head with a big, badass gas-powered saw for the long haul, it did amazingly well in my tests cutting hard maple firewood logs. The relatively narrow chain meant it could chew through wood almost as fast as my favourite 68cc saw, and certainly as fast as any mid-size gas-powered chainsaw in the 30cc range. Stamina was excellent too, completing more than 40 cuts through hard maple logs averaging 8” in diameter on a single charge with the 12 amphour battery that came with the saw. Visit BaileyLineRoad.com/
Back when lithium-ion batteries first appeared in cordless tools in 2005, tool companies used this technology to make previously corded tools cordless. Tradespeople didn’t buy into the idea enough at the time, so lithium-ion technology was used to power the new and soon-to-be popular sub-compact tool phenomenon. Fast-forward 13 years and lithium-ion batteries are now doing what manufacturers first thought they were all about way back when. The Milwaukee 2736-20 is a case in point. It’s an 18 volt, 8 1/4” professional-grade portable table saw without a power cord. Milwaukee claims it puts out the same cutting power as a 15 amp corded benchtop saw, and though I can’t test this claim empirically, the 2736-20 has more than enough power to do anything you’d want to do with a benchtop saw. It had no trouble chewing through 2”-thick cherry in my tests with the stock blade, and that’s plenty. As for features, the 2736-20 has a rackand-pinion fence system that remains perfectly parallel to the blade every time, locking with a lever under the table. The saw also comes with a guard system and a separate riving knife that
milwaukee_chainsaw for a video of this tool in action. And while you’re probably not a lumberjack, this saw can be especially useful cutting beams and during the gutting stage of renovations. With more than enough power to cut through framing lumber or whatever else you need to chew through at depth during a tear down, this is a very solid, contractor-grade tool. At a street price of $529 with fast charger and 12 amp-hour battery, the 2727-20 is more expensive than a similar powered gas saw, but you can use it safely indoors using any of Milwaukee’s 18 volt batteries.
swaps in and out in a couple of seconds with a lever at the back of the saw. Although this saw will operate on any of Milwaukee’s 18 volt batteries, it does have somewhat more zip and much longer run time with the 12 amp-hour battery. Suggested price $629 with a charger and 12 amp-hour battery and you won’t need the generator roaring all the time for a tablesaw any more.
About a decade ago, oxygen-based stain and mold removers began to appear on the market. They quickly replaced bleach-based products. A Canadian-made product is still my favourite.
Ifyou take on renovations, you’ll sometimes encounter mold that clients expect you to deal with. For years, chlorine bleach was the go-to option for killing mold and removing stains, but for some of your clients this is a case of the medicine (and you as the doctor) being worse than the disease. Bleach removes mold stains, but it’s also caustic, toxic and harsh, especially around plants. Also, bleach only kills mold on non-porous surfaces. The surface tension of bleach prevents it from going much below the surface on drywall, concrete and wood. Avoiding the drawbacks of bleach is the idea behind a category of emerging stain removers that are easier on your crew, more appreciated by property owners, and more effective than chlorine.
About 10 years ago the first wave of oxygen-based stain removers caught my eye. They all claimed to do more than chlorine, with none of the harmful side effects. Did this first wave of products deliver? Yes, some did. During my tests, I discovered there are two types of oxygen-based stain removers: single-part and two-part. As usual in life, the less convenient option of mixing a two-part product is the price you pay for greater effectiveness. This is still true today. The very best oxygenbased stain remover I discovered in my initial testing was a Canadian product called Concrobium Mold Stain Eraser. It comes as a powder that you dissolve into warm water, then slosh onto stained surfaces. The solution works over a two hour period, after which time the active
ingredient breaks down into nothing more than water and oxygen. During my tests, this product did things I didn’t think were possible. It even transformed weathered, grey lumber into bright, new looking boards, without removing wood grain details. It also worked well cleaning the kind of black fungus spots that triggered legal action against composite deck lumber manufacturers a while back. Results like these are surprising, and
something chlorine bleach could never do with the same ease and safety. Until now, dissolving a powder into warm water was the only drawback with the best two-part oxygen products, but that inconvenience isn’t necessary any more.
Concrobium Duo Blast is a dual-liquid version of the two-part, oxygen-based cleaning chemistry that’s taking over from chlorine. In my tests it seems a little more effective than its powder-based predecessor and it’s much easier to use. Like Mold Stain Eraser, Duo Blast has a mild odour of vinegar and a two-hour working life. Hold the two-part jug with the label facing upwards, tip it up to
dispense equal parts of both liquids into a plastic pail, swirl the liquid to mix, then apply. A weed sprayer is the best way to put it on large areas.
Stain removal products like Duo Blast aren’t meant to kill mold spores, though they may do this to a certain extent. If you encounter mold, you need to kill it first with a registered fungicide, then treat to remove mold staining. The best mold-killing product I’ve tried is a bleach-
free item called Mold Control. It’s the industry standard for professional mold remediation. Apply a second dose of Mold Control after removing stains to help prevent regrowth.
The Duo Blast I tested comes in jugs, but I hear it’ll also be available later this year as a ready-to-use spray trigger bottle. The spray mechanism draws from both sides of a two-part reservoir, saving you the trouble of mixing for small jobs. Just spritz it on as needed. There’s no need to wash it off and it’s safe around gardens, lawns, lakes and environmentallyconcerned clients who don’t like the smell of bleach. cc
Doug Fisher finds himself in a bit of a mess. He is a 35-year old contractor with a young team of carpenters and trades, and a list of successful projects over the past few years. His clients are tending to be wealthier and the projects more complex. He loves the challenge of luxury custom homebuilding. “Bring it on!” he says.
Fisher’s problem surrounds his current project, an impressive country home for the wealthy Soderstroms. Bjorn and Eva have been great clients in every respect. However, the Soderstroms have a beautiful 19-yearold daughter, Marit. She started visiting the site a few months ago with her parents and took a very obvious liking to Robbie Kidd, a 25-year old apprentice carpenter. One thing quickly led to another, and now Robbie and Marit are seeing a lot of each other, especially over weekends. At first, Marit didn’t tell her parents. Now Marit has told Robbie that she wants her parents to know about their relationship because she thinks they’ll really like him. Robbie goes to his boss, Doug Fisher, to let him know what’s about to happen.
What should Doug do? See the options at right.
In our issue’s Dilemma, we learned about Sergio Fabiano, a big shot customer with a big mouth to match. He’s asked tiler Peter Seidenberg and son Rolf to come over immediately to re-tile his pool house prior to his daughter’s wedding at the house. Fabiano said money was no object but the Seidenbergs are already busy completing some tiling for a senior couple about to move into their new home.
Every respondent felt that fulfilling that prior obligation was critical – and we agree. “Seniors waiting to move in are just as important as a demanding self-important customer, no matter the occasion,” said one respondent.
At the same time, if the timelines for each project were re-examined, was it not possible to run both jobs concurrently? Why not assess the job at Fabiano’s home first? Perhaps with some overtime and some extra hired help covered by Fabiano, it might work. Our panel of experts felt this option was worth exploring before shutting the door on Mr. Big Shot completely.
The best entry we received that explained the potential of working on both jobs without breaking any previous promises came to us from Howard van Esch of Van Esch Enterprises in Guelph, ON. Congratulations, Howard, you will receive a TSTAK Radio + Charger, courtesy of DeWalt.
1. Turn a blind eye. It’s a personal issue.
2. Tell Robbie to keep his relationship with Marit under wraps. Don’t meet the parents!
3. Strongly suggest that Robbie breaks off with Marit until the project is over because it puts Doug’s business relationship in jeopardy.
4. Something else. Please explain.
Email your answer to John Bleasby (jbleasby@canadiancontractor.ca)
The winner will be announced October 30 on our website.
Your suggested solution can be one of the above ideas, a combination, or your own idea entirely. Please explain your reasoning in up to 300 words of text. The best contractorsubmitted entry, as judged by our editors, will The best contractor-submitted entry, as judged by our panel, will
DeWalt’s rugged 60V MAX* 8-1/4” cordless Table Saw (DCS7485) which has an approximate retail value of $699.
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