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Show bi lie ress skin oanel house lowers utility Q: I'd like to build a conventiona2,000 sq. ft. house. I'm on a limited budget and want to do some of the work myself. Are stress skin panel houses very energy efficient and easy to build? l-looking H. D. A: A stress skin panel house Sensible Home ft. by 8 ft., so there are few joints to leak in air. Several of the companies that sell complete house kits include heat recovery fresh air ventilators. These provide continuous fresh air in a controlled, efficient manner. If I were building an efficient house for myself, I would definitely include a heat recovery ventilator system. The term "stress skin" panel refers to the fact that the wall and roof panels carry all the load themselves. They need no framing or other supporting structure. This makes construction simple for stress skin panel (sizes vary based on floor plan) consists of thick rigid foam insulation sandwiched between oriented strand board (OSB). OSB uses small trees and wood scrap, so it is earth friendly. A typical James Dulley would be ideal for you. It is one of he most energy efficient building methods available. Construction is ;o simple that several inexperi-;nce- d workers can totally enclose house in one weekend. A properly built stress skin )anel home should have utility )ills less than half of a convention-i- l 2x4 framed stick built house, rhis is a result of the super high nsulation values and extreme air ightness. The airtightness not only educes utility bills, but it nearly :liminates dust, dirt, noise and utdoor allergens. Some stress kin wall panels are as large as 24 i Insulation values are as high as for the panels. Expanded poly0 styrene (EPS) or urethane foam are usually used. Urethane (now made without ozone damaging CFC's) has the highest insulation per inch thickness. Urethane is foamed directly between the OSB skins. EPS is bonded to the OSB skins. Most stress skin panels attach together with some type of wood spline at the edges. This creates a strong house with no settling or cracks. One unique design uses built-i- n plastic cams to draw the panels together for assembly. Tongue and groove edges actually support the wall. Future remodeling is simple. You literally saw a hole for a window or door. Frame the opening and install the window or door. Electrical wiring chases are built into all the foam panels to facilitate wiring. The indoor OSB surface can be with hardwood prefinished veneers, paneling, drywall - any standard finish. With a numbered paneled house kit, once the walls and roof are up, it is basically complete. Write for Update Bulletin No. 686 listing 44 manufacturers of stress skin panels and complete house kits, construction methods, panel descriptions and three floor plan layouts and exterior diagrams. Please include $2.00 and a By NICK HARDER Even though my wife had fastened tod-lle- four-erso- In n, the spa cover, she worried about the remaining water and asked me to drain it. I procrastinated. Then, a few months ago, someone told us that a toddler bouncing on the semi-har- d spa cover could break it and fall into the spa. I took that information with the proverbial grain of salt, figuring it would have to be a pretty big toddler to do that to our cover. Then I saw our little guy bouncing on the cover. He's only about 32 pounds but that spa cover looked like it was ready to cave in after only a dozen bounces. That was one day before I decided to make a sandbox of the the Garden' 13 Landscaping design. will soon i addressed in a popular maga-me. This Old House magazine is g itroducing a new section on in its JulyAugust issue aw hitting newsstands. g "In the Garden" covers and gardening projects id techniques with an emphasis n practicality and payoff for the ome gardener, according to the iitors. If you can't find the magazine i a newsstand, call (800) 835- - James Dulley, The Daily Herald, 6906 Royalgreen Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45244 Q: Even though there is a breeze at my home in the city, the air always seems cooler when I drive out into rural areas. Is this just my imagination or is it really E. Y. cooler? A: You are referring to a phenomenon called "urban heat islands" These are created by the large numbers of dark surfaces and lack of vegetation. On a typical needed I 015 Bir-i- l 1 l 11 Heavy .nsulation h i -il III ILII . a chases are built into each panel H I fffiti : r"a-JEf- 1 Wiring Simple window panel I All I H Pll J ff KM il I 1 panels are NATIONAL ESTATE bags of bought 10 sterilized playground sand at my local home center and hauled them home. Then I hauled them from the street out to the deck. Before I poured in the sand, I taped the filter with two layers of duct tape. Then I dumped the sand into the spa. It filled the area on the bottom of the spa and provided a layer of sand on the seats on I ch both sides. So far, our little one loves it, as does his mother. I like it because it means fewer trips to a park so he can play in the sand. I also like it because we can easily put the cover on the spasandbox to keep HEAl PROF ESSIONALS Orem, UT 857 Went Center ' precut and Stress skin houses are efficient and easy to build sunny afternoon, urban areas are from 3 to 5 degrees hotter than rural areas. It is estimated that this extra heat costs urban dwellers millions of dollars per year. out our cats, who might think of it as a giant kitty litter. I have a few misgivings, though. First, I think the duct tape will prevent sand from entering it, but I don't know for sure. I probably won't find out until I empty the spa of sand a few years from now. Second, I'm wondering if I should have put a layer of vinyl or plastic sheeting down first. I ask myself, will the grains of sand or a little plastic shovel he wields scratch the fiberglass? The bench-sea- ts probably will be more susceptible to this because they're close to the top of the sand. Maybe I'll tape down some plastic on top of the seats and get a few more bags of sand for additional cover age. Will this work in any spa? Maybe, but it's not something I'll recommend. necessarily Personally, my wife and I would rather use our outdoor spa for its intended purpose. We look forward to using it in the future that way. Fortunately, I had an extra-larg- e indoor spatub installed when the house was built, so we can use it at any time for my old, aching muscles. I just hope our little guy does- n't mimic Daddy and start filling that one with sand. Nick Harder is home editor of the Orange County (Calif.) Register. Write to him at The Orange County Register, PO Box 11626, Santa Ana, Calif. 92711. INC. XLJ3 I 765-16- DUPLEX OR HOME 2 kitchens. 2.100 sq. ft., separate entrances, great tor families or investment. $129,000. (44) Matt Smith MAPLETON MULTI LEVEL. - 5 bed, 1 Kith. MM) sq. ft. 12 acre with animal PKOVO 5 rights. RV parking, hcautihil mountain news, hiilt in '87. Looking at all citrcrs Jason Brinkcrhoff DREAM 1x1,2 ba, SPR1NGV1I1E RESiDLNTULDtPLEX inongige payments Sound proof trail 4 bd. 2 bj. car vnp wthis perfect property! dt SWjOO (1401 1.192 m). ft. Must set - 4 bed, this Inc. Rambler, remodeled, new satellite dish net. Great buy! ijaraitc, tprat freeway access, sprinklers, iMfW lllll Mitt Smith r " ivOO sq. ft. 2 " 2 6 bed, i bath, newly family rooms, jetted tub, it) 1art Smith 'mm' BEAUTIFUL HOME- - exceptionally cut- torn designed, 4100 sf, country frcn.il decor, bd, 5 b a, 13 sere, pots stone Si stucco, apartment. Don't wait! Only $279,900 (30) V t , fawn Broikerhoff i i kitchen. Large yard wauto car raratr. Don't miss out! Only appliances JltW.WO.-dJM- 1 sf, bo. Bnck, 2 Dew Hitch I'll 0RE.M FAMILY HOME nice yard, all brick, lite time root', ideal for families. 2 cat 2 bd. s - Offset Must sec! side 2500 between units. Owner's Renter's X SPANISH FORK HEAVENLY HOME I numbered $195,0(10(14.1) land-:apin- Onh MRS use for backyard spa spa. Jll NREP 2 Kith, quiet road, 2520 rni connect Panels j "Buyer's Specialists" land-:apin- ?oo. 'jliLfjL wffs3. support framing SASE. business-siz- e Child inspires a new, playful Orange County Register The spa people may hate me, ut I have a suggestion for those of r. ou who like me have a Fill in your outdoor spa with sand. It makes jmporarily great sandbox! At least, that's what I did a cou-l- e of weeks ago. We have a outdoor spa on our deck, ome time ago, the pump housing racked and I didn't have it fixed, "hat was nearly two years ago, ist after our son was born. (It's te only thing in the house that's roken that I can't blame on him.) I didn't have to drain the spa. "he crack took care of that. But . ..bout 5 inches of water remained i the bottom below the filter. . ', II t OREM SPECTACULAR i btA lmon1mtroViJ00 imrcrnktiViitlachnt! baths. i bin, Hcndi im to . rimbb Jarjuirt. Jixitkn. rf inm ft. icbook looks Sen! biinjwnn'iWieiIiirs,iilbr HMWO." Ham' Onh (t".00 111) Mm S I i I Mit ii fit |
