Resources

Field notes on code, equipment, and the attic.

Written the way we talk on a job — no brochure language, no alphabet soup without a translation.

Attic with spray foam covering the roof deck and oversprayed onto a foil-wrapped flex duct, joists, and a wood beam.

Overspray Special

Somebody ordered spray foam and got a free duct coating with it. When foam gets sprayed right onto flex duct, the jacket can get crushed or stressed, nobody can inspect the connections anymore, and the next guy has to cut his way in. Mask or move the ducts first, then spray. Foam belongs on the roof deck, not on your air distribution.

Photo: Anchors Aweigh Energy field photo.

Close-up of a red brick chimney base where wrinkled, peeling white metal flashing is face-nailed into the brick and sealed with cracked gray caulk over asphalt shingles — an example of improper chimney flashing that invites roof leaks.

Shot of the week — chimney flashing, creative edition

Shot of the week: chimney flashing, “creative” edition. Bent metal, face-nailed through brick, caulk as structural strategy. Water doesn't care about good intentions — it finds every hole, soaks the sheathing, and quietly ruins insulation R-value and indoor air quality. Envelope first. If the roof-to-chimney joint looks like this, assume leakage until proven otherwise.

Photo: Sandul1234 / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0