Mystery Problems in New Home SOLVED by Builder Using Diagnostics: Scott True, Dimora Homes

Scott True has been building spec and custom homes outside Austin TX, and he impressed me from the first time we worked together. To see some of the experiments he's running to make performance homes more affordable, watch Matt Risinger's 40 minute follow along at one of his builds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjwjeoLi6X0

IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. Say it back, everybody, and spread the word. Find Dimora Homes at: https://dimorahomes.com/

Level 15 nerds get their diagnostic tools at: https://TrutechTools.com

Basement in Florida? Why Mold Took 20 Years to Fail this House...

A very cool client of ours named Niko came to us with a wildly different home issue- a finished basement. In Florida. That's vented to the outdoors. Watch us tour the home being renovated with Tony Gomes, my Tampa go-to-guy for advanced diagnostics on existing homes. We explore how it's possible that mold was held at bay for 20 years, until Niko did a 'good' thing and replaced an old HVAC system with a VRF (variable capacity) heat pump.

Find the brilliant Tony Gomes and Faraday Energy in Tampa Bay at: https://faradayenergy.com/

Test your home for airborne mold with this easy kit: https://GotMold.com

Manual J Default Air Leakage Inputs vs. Blower Door Test ACH50

I'm pretty sure the awesome folks who created Manual J (like Hank Rutkowski- hear my interview with him here), and the softwares we use to run the calculations (Elite RHVAC, used here, and Wrightsoft) do not have a lot of personal experience with the test dynamics of home enclosures, and may never have actually used a blower door before. Here's a demonstration of why it's so important to respect the blower door if you're doing HVAC design for residential construction or home improvement.

Learn to perform and analyze Blower Door and Duct Tightness Tests in my 1 Day Training at: https://buildingperformanceworkshop.com/det-verifier

There are two blower door brands, both available at: https://www.trutechtools.com/system-blower-doors-and-duct-testers.html

See a tour of a full Manual J report below:

Legal Battle over a Mold House: Anil's Lawsuit against Production Home Builder & Lessons Learned

Hear advice and lessons learned from somebody who is willing to throw down with the (second) biggest homebuilder in the USA (as of 2022's numbers, they're slipping haha). Ryland Homes was sold and became Cal-Atlantic Homes, which in 2018 was sold to Lennar. Anil Mittal is a force to be reckoned with- here's how to be like him when you grow up.

See the tour of their mold-infested home, and get the analysis on the house itself here: https://youtu.be/x_jAxHZ-zLE

Get a DIY mold test kit if you think you need one: https://GotMold.com

How to Start a Mold Investigation Inexpensively: GOT MOLD? DIY Mold Test Kit

Our friend, longtime mold inspector Jason Earle has developed an affordable DIY kit for renters, teachers, and anyone else who'd like a quick and easy way to spot check for airborne mold. Here's his background with mold exposure from childhood, and what led him to R&D for this valuable monitoring solution. Check out the kits or order one: https://GotMold.com

Mold House Tour and Scientific Causes: Disaster Production Home Build in Houston Texas

Meet our friends Anil and Nilima Mittal- they're suing the biggest production home builder in the USA. With help from Jason Earle, 20-year mold inspection veteran, we tell the story of how this mold disaster of a brand new home began, and how their health has suffered because of it.

Get your own simple mold test: https://GotMold.com

Become supporters of our work, just like Anil, and join our Patreon group for as little as $5/month! https://Patreon.com/homediagnosistv

HERE’S A SEPARATE VIDEO WITH ANIL’S TIPS AND TRICKS ON THE LAWSUIT ALONE:

Tearing a Historic Home Foundation Apart- Pouring a Passive House Concrete Slab and Shotcrete Wall

Our friends, Builder Matt Hoots (https://www.youtube.com/@sawhorsedesignbuild) and architect Chris Laumer-Giddens (https://www.youtube.com/@LGSquared) have made lots of progress on the 1920's Passive House Retrofit since our initial blower door test, the leakiest test I've ever seen. See and hear the details of how this is working, and what's to come down the road for this project.

Here was the blower door test before they started the renovation:

Where Best to Put Ventilation Intakes? ERV, HRV, Supply and Intermittent Exhaust Vent Terminals

The maintenance of homes just doesn't stop, whether it's a high performance home or not. There are too many variables between family behaviors, between homes, between neighborhoods and climates that you just can't predict everything. Tweaks must be made. Here's a quick demonstration of HOW and WHY to clean the ERV or HRV outside ventilation terminals, as well as a quick modification of the insect screen on these 8" round duct hoods.

More on this home at: https://homediagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead

The Restaurant Analogy: How to Level Up Home Improvement & Construction

From 'HOME DIAGNOSIS' Season 2 Ep13: Aside from simple lack of education (which we and a crowd of our colleagues are trying to fix on YouTube, PBS, and elsewhere), the problems with the building industry are these, as we see it: 1. Low expectations from customers 2. Limited consequences for pros doing it wrong We'll talk about #2 another time, but this video describes very simply how we fix the expectation piece of the problem: by copying restaurant culture. See the whole episode this came from: https://homediagnosis.tv/episode-213-proof-testing-the-house

Explore the Science of Homes with us- join our team! https://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

Attached Garage: Disaster Waiting to Happen?

FROM 'HOME DIAGNOSIS' Season 2 Ep6: People generally don't think about the performance of their garage, even when it's directly connected to living space with a door or a duct (or nothing at all like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI2--RdSq-k).

But we keep all kinds of toxic stuff in garages, and they're always at the bottom of the living space, so houses, townhomes, and multifamily buildings may suck air partly, or entirely, from the garage in cold weather. Here's a quick explanation of the what/why/where of garage air leakage that could pose a threat to the health of your family. See this entire episode: https://homediagnosis.tv/episode-206-windbreakers-air-sealing-and-insulation

Join our team and be a part of our exploration of the Science of Homes: https://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

The Future of House Wrap: a Stronger, Insulated, and More Airtight Envelope

At the Tallwood Design Institute at Oregon State University, we found a mockup built by our friend Mark Fretz, whom you'll be hearing more from. This is an experimental use of Mass Plywood Panels (MPP) and wood-fiber insulation for multifamily buildings and other homes.

One note: they don't seem to have termites up there, so this would be extra experimental around Atlanta, where we certainly do have burrowing insects of all kinds. Season 3 of 'Home Diagnosis' coming soon: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv

Join our members and become part of the making of this show: https://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

Fire Resistant Homes: Testing Vulcan, Silica, and Baffled Intumescent Vents

We found these vents at the International Builders' Show, and were excited to test their performance (partly so that Grace could use her flamethrower). We test the three main types of fire-resistant venting for homes: an intumescent honeycomb vent, a silica vent, and an intumescent baffled vent.

Airflow testing was performed with an airtight box made of plywood and acrylic, using a DU300 fan and DM-32 and DG-8 digital pressure gauges. For the fire, we used a propane weed torch you can get at any hardware store. The chart of our airflow testing shows the square inches of opening inside the metal frames, the airflows, and the pressure drops of all three vents.

For the 'Net Free Vent Area' (NFVA), visit the manufacturers' websites. Brand names of these three vents are Vulcan Vents, Embers Out, and Brandguard. For more on the vents that performed best: https://VulcanVents.com

Watch the first-ever TV series about the science of homes: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv