OUR BIGGEST FAILURE
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- The thing about building a house is that you can be riding a high after completing a huge project (like our deck), and then you’re knocked down before you even have time to celebrate.
That’s exactly what has happened to us.
We thought we were so close to getting our final certificate of occupancy.
All we needed to do was pass our blower door test.
Simple, right?
Well, apparently not.
In all honesty, we had NO IDEA how air tight our house was or if we were prepared for this test so we did all the things we could think of, but then we FAILED.
And we didn’t just fail by a small margin, it was a failure of epic proportions.
So bad that one person we called for help on fixing the issue said, “How did you get that score? That’s REALLY bad.”
We gave ourselves a few days to be sad about it, and then we got to work on fixing the problem. Because that’s all you can really do in this kind of situation.
Follow along as we try to fix our failure and get our house ready to pass the next blower door test.
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And now a little back story on us, in case you just found us on UA-cam. We’re Sara and Ryan. We are your average suburban family, but 10 years ago, we purchased a raw piece of land in the Hood Canal in Washington. We’ve been developing this piece of property slowly, and this year we knew it was time to go all in. So we purchased a log cabin kit home and decided that 2020 would be the year we built a house on our property. We plan to build this cabin (as much as we can) on our own.
Unfortunately, some unforeseen events in 2020 that were completely out of our hands put a delay on our cabin kit being produced and delivered in the time frame we had originally planned. While we could have just waited it out and pushed back starting on the build of our home, we decided to shift gears and change our course for the time being. We purchased a 30 foot yurt, and will be setting it up as additional living space when we begin to build our cabin.
In the summer of 2021, we FINALLY moved to the Hood Canal so we could start the build of our future home. While we are building our home, we are living in a camper trailer and the yurt that we built in the summer of 2020. We hope to have our cabin kit home built by the end of 2023. Just my husband and I are building the house. We get help here and there from friends along the way and we do plan to get help on the roof but other than that we are doing it all on our own.
Follow along with us as we build our dream in the Hood Canal.
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This is a great project you are doing.
My suggestion is a vapour barrier between roof girders and the inner wooden boards.
Also, as recommended by others, close all vent holes, stove tube etc.
Best regards from Germany, the worlds leading nation in exaggerated bureaucracy and regulations😅
Having a background in creating negative air-chambers for various remediation processes, I get the science and effort needed to create a sealed structure. What I don't get sometimes, is the thought process behind it when building. I understand the need for due to heat loss and all that, especially if you have a forced hot air heating system and I'm glad you found some of the obvious infiltration issues. The thing is structures need to breathe as much as the people in them in order to maintain a healthy environment. I have had to go into new homes and set up specialty commercial drying equipment to dry our hardwood floors that cupped because of trapped ambient moisture when building. As a kid growing up sixty years ago it seemed like the healthiest kids came from the drafty 100-year-old farmhouses. If you do some homework you will find that once codes got stricter and houses were sealed up due to the energy crisis there was a parallel increase in asthma and other respiratory illnesses. While it can't be directly linked to homes being sealed up, it does give you one of those "Hmmm" moments. One last thing, in my experience I've often run into issues with woodstoves and stove pipes being a major culprit when attempting to create a negative airspace. One time all it took to obtain the readings on my manometer, a device that measures air pressure, was to push down on the door handle a little to make a tighter seal.
You guys are doing wonderful, blessings👍
Look how far you've come. You've done amazing work for two people who have never built a house before. You're doing great, I have every confidence you will pass the next blower test.
I’m constantly amazed we aren’t all dead due to the housing we lived in growing up!
Right? So many things that should have killed us.
😂 we are the walking dead 😂
Bet their homes wouldn't pass...
Now the houses are so air tight we have to open windows or else we get sick from not enough ventilation. 🤦♀️
You make the building too tight you’re apt to get SBS, sick buildings syndrome.
Apreciada familia, no decaigan por algo puntual.
Hicieron un magnífico trabajo, con mucho esfuerzo y perseverancia.
Mis mejores deseos para toda su família el próximo año 2025. Desde España.🎉🎆
Hey guys, you are both amazing. 1 - (IMO) I think these 'tests' are a load of bull cookies. You should be able to move in when you think you are ready. 2 - When Ryan was coming up the ladder I was reminded of the Gentle Giant logo. They were a great progressive rock band from the 70's.
I agree with you! It's a bit silly, if we want to live in a drafty house we should be able to. On the other hand, I find the technology pretty interesting I just wish it wasn't a condition to get our final.
I'll check out the band. Thanks for watching and supporting the channel.
Blower door test? Never heard of it.
Shh stick a dish towel in stove vent 😂 stick a towel inside wood stove.close drains in sinks throw rug in front of basement door
Vents stick a sock in it 😂😂
Sorry about failing. Keep up the hard work
Just realized in your loft area you don't have any vapor barrier and you didn't use spray foam. Good luck.
Ich mag eure Videos sehr. Ihr seid ein tolles Team und leistet großartige Arbeit.
Ich wünsche euch und deiner Familie alles gute für das neue Jahr.
Viele Grüße aus Deutschland
🇩🇪👍❤️
Wow! I am ready to get ours on our cabin so now I’m freaking out some.
fingers and toes crossed for the next one, you are so close now guys x
Keep ur chin lovely people ...u got this 👍 ❤
Beautiful home.
Hope you had a great Xmas in your new home 🎉🎊 even though its still November there 🤭
Hope all goes well with the next blower test 🤞🤞
Thank you. We are going to do everything we can to ensure that we pass the test the next time around.
I think it would have been easier to build offgrid and left all the perments and codes out of it that's want we did but we are in kentucky...but never the less every looks great
I know it has to be frustrating to work so hard and receive such news.
But , you both just buck it up and plow through the obstacle.
I don't know when this video was recorded. (So channels are two or three months between recording and posting.)
So here's hoping that the situation is resolved and that you were able to enjoy the Christmas holiday.
Also wishing you the best in 2025
You could look at all the water and waste pipes that go through the ground floor to the basement, make sure all them are sealed. Also was the log fire closed up when the test was run.
That's a good idea. I spray foamed all the penetrations before we put up the walls, but I think I neglected to seal around the gas lines. So I'll be going down below soon to get those sealed up in an upcoming episode. We did have the damper on the fireplace closed when we ran the test.
You will get it.
Good test ! You will save a lot of money/wood once you correct this insulation issue. Sorry you have to work harder instead of enjoying moving in…
I know it will be worth it in the long run, but right now it really sucks.
On one of the devices there’s a square foot reading. Air changes per hour (ACH) are based on house volume. Did she factor the correct
volume of the house into her calculations?
Put a smokegranate in the house, and close everyting. then take the fan and blow air in the house and then just go outside and just wait to se there the smoke escape. it should work.
I was thinking of doing something similar with a fog machine. I'm hoping it will show us where some of our leaks are at.
Oooh ... luckily due to a weird combination of regulations our heat-pump supplier managed to invoke a 'no blower door test needed' clause for our eco house acceptance. Phew.
She had that blower right near your wood stove ? how about your vent in the kitchen?
Did the tech not go around with a smoke pen to identify the leaks?
They mentioned that ‘that was where it was really drafty’ so maybe those were spots she pointed out.
That IR camera gadget looks cool (???) .. where did you get it?
@@coldlyanalytical1351 I got it off Amazon. It’s a FLIR product.
Once the fan is in place a smoker machine will expose the drafts just like a vacuum leak on a car
Hi guys!! Are you kidding??!! I have never heard of such nonsense!! Who came up with that piece of garbage??
We don’t have that here in Australia it must be an American thing!! And to think that you have to pay for their fun!!
I just don’t understand as to why it’s considered important? What happens if you build a house with vents along the walls like we do here for cross ventilation?? Do you have to have floats attached to the bottom of the house in case it floods so it can float happily?? Or perhaps you must have steel slides that automatically go off the minute it starts to get windy to protect the windows?!!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Lots of family fun, good food, presents and happy memories.
And May l wish you the very best for the new year. May it bring you occupancy, happiness and good health!!
2025 is going to be your year!! You will be in your home, finishing your bedroom and enjoying the space with the kids!!
Just laugh at the madness and know that everytime you fill a hole in it’s one less that can leak!!! 😅
You will have to run out of holes eventually! Maybe even nail some wood over the balcony doors in your bedroom so that they can’t leak air too?!! It’s one less issue then!!
Please take good care. Know that we are all thinking of you and praying for a very quick resolution!
Look forward to the good news next week! Big hugs!
We have that in europe as well. We also have to pass it, but we’re still long way away. The better the results, less heat or cold you are loosing, therefore less on heating/ cooling of the house is neccesary.
I am sorry WA state is full of BS regulations . IMO .
It's a bit silly, but we don't really have any other choice then to play by their rules. Hopfully we will do better next time.
Job creation through regulations.
Why does your State care if your house is drafty?