Q&A: A Forum for Green Building Experts and Beginners

OK - So I began to rip down some of the smelly open cell foam and realized that the foam guy
completely ripped me off with the closed cell that was supposed to be under the open cell. There was supposed to be 2" of closed cell....I'm lucky if there is 3/4.

My question is do I leave the envelope alone and just live with it or do I have someone come in and rip it all out and seek legal action for the removal and for the shortchanging on the closed cell?

I'm supposed to have R-38 in the roof decking. I'm lucky if I have R-24 or R-30 in some areas.

Hi...is there a preference between pink and blue XPS foam board to be used under slab?

...and any drawbacks to using EPS in place of the XPS foam?

Thanks!

If all plumbing lines are within the envelope, and a recirculating pump is installed, what might the payback period be for insulating PEX hot water lines?

Because the advantage of PEX is that the pipes are easily curved around obstacles etc., I bet insulation coverage wouldn't be more than 90% in even careful installations.

In any case, insulation would serve no purpose whenever the wait between uses exceeded a couple of hours, no?

Is this one of those cases where the money would be better spent on more insulation elsewhere?

We're designing a 3500 sq. ft. new home in Southern California, including a kitchen with a professional range that includes a BBQ grill unit. We've had one before, we used it 4-5 nights a week so it is essential for our kitchen, but they do produce a fair amount of heat and smoke when the grill is on high. So a professional exhaust hood is necessary, and the one we're installing will draft 900 CFM on its highest speed. With new construction standards (Title 24 in California), that amount of exhaust necessitates make up air.