Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

TORONTO While most homeowners dont give much thought to whats behind their walls, proper insulation is of key importance to having a comfortable, healthy home. Besides keeping your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer, insulation can help lower your energy bills, prevent mold growth and also keep unwanted noise out.

Insulation helps keep outdoor air from getting inside your home and conditioned indoor air from escaping. This is achieved by trapping pockets of air and slowing down the in/out process.

In winter, heat flows directly from all heated living spaces to adjacent unheated attics, garages, basements, and even to the outdoors, the U.S. Department of Energy states on its website. Heat flow can also move indirectly through interior ceilings, walls, and floors wherever there is a difference in temperature. During the cooling season, heat flows from the outdoors to the interior of a house.

The Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC) compares a properly insulated house to dressing for the weather.

A wool sweater will keep you warm if the wind is not blowing and it is not raining. On a windy, rainy day, wearing a nylon shell over your wool sweater helps keep you reasonably dry and warm. A house is similar, the CMHC website says. On the outside, underneath the brick or siding, there is an air barrier that does the same thing as the nylon it keeps the wind from blowing through. Then there is the insulation (like your sweater) and a vapour barrier, which helps keep moisture away from the house structure where it can do damage.

Insulation is rated based on a measurement of resistance the material has to the movement of heat. This is most commonly referred to as an R-value. The higher the R-value the more effective the insulation is. Local building codes list recommended R-values for each area of your house (these R-values are required for new construction). Improper installation of insulation can lower the R-value of the material you are using so its a good idea to follow the manufacturers instructions or hire a professional to do the installation.

Cold floors and walls in the winter and hot inside air in the summer, mold growth, high energy bills and uneven heating or ineffective cooling are all signs of a poorly insulated home, according to the CMHC.

There are many different types of insulation available. The type you use depends on where youre insulating or what R-value you require. Below is a rundown of the most common types of insulation used in homes these days.

Fibreglass: This is the pink stuff most people think of when they think insulation. Fibreglass in batts is available at most home improvementcentres and is easy to install, offering an R-value of 3.0 3.7 per inch, according to the CMHC. Loose-fill fibreglass is also available, but requires to be blown into the space youre insulating and should be installed only by a professional in order to get the most benefit from it.

Mineral fibre: Like fibreglass, mineral fibre in batts is easy to work with and available at most home improvementcentres (this is usually a sturdier material with a brownish colour). While mineral fibre has a lower R-value (2.8 3.7 per inch, according to the CMHC), benefits include better fire resistance and sound-proofing capabilities. Loose-fill mineral fibre is also available, but like loose-fill fibreglass, it should be installed only by a professional as well.

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What you need to know about home insulation

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FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Soap opera icon Genie Francis has revealed she lost 30 pounds using Nutrisystem.

"I've always been an emotional eater. I use food to comfort myself. It's been an ongoing problem in my life," Francis, a spokeswoman for the weight-management company, said in a statement Thursday.

"But the biggest part of the problem was that before, in order to lose weight, I would do extreme diets and starve. The good thing about Nutrisystem is that I'm more at peace with food," she added. "I know how to eat the right amount of breakfast, lunch and dinner. I avoid triggers and stay away from button foods -- the ones that make you want to eat more. The fact that I get to eat the foods I love on Nutrisystem satisfies my cravings and I am less vulnerable to those button foods."

Francis, 52, is best known for her roles on the daytime dramas The Young and the Restless and General Hospital.

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'General Hospital' icon Genie Francis sheds 30 pounds

REGIONALWhile milder weather is in the forecast for the next several days, last weeks cold snap sent the frost line plummeting, and that could soon be putting water lines and septic systems at risk.

As of Wednesday, MnDOTs frost gauge near Orr reported frost at a depth of 62 inches. Thats well ahead of the average for this time of year, and is only eight inches short of frost levels last year at this time, when problems with water lines were already becoming widespread.

Last year, of course, it was city residents and businesses that bore the brunt of the problem, since city water lines and mains lie under plowed streets and sidewalks. Plentiful snow cover last year helped prevent such problems in rural areas, where septic systems, wells, and water lines are normally protected as long as theres adequate snow.

But with as little as six inches of the white stuff on the ground in some parts of the region, the risk to rural residents is rising. Its just starting, said Dan Rogers, who operates Northern Minnesota Services, an Eveleth company that specializes in thawing frozen water lines and pipes. While temperatures were colder last year, the abundant snowfall that came with those temperatures helped to protect water lines and septic systems at most rural residences.

But this year, theres little snow cover, said Rogers, who was working on a frozen water line when contacted by the Timberjay this week. People have to be aware of it.

That means residents should know where their water lines, septic systems, and drainfields are located and make sure that they provide adequate insulation. In a normal year, snow (which is an excellent insulator) will typically do the job. But in a dry winter, like this one, the available snow may not be sufficient to protect your water and sewer lines, especially if the snow is tramped down, or plowed away.

A lot of times, Im dealing with people who bought a four-wheeler with a plow. Then they plow their whole yard and wonder why their water line freezes.

While the situation is not yet extreme, theres still plenty of winter ahead, and this year has the potential to rival the winter of 2003-04, when the majority of rural septic systems in St. Louis County froze, creating widespread inconvenience for rural residents. At this same point in the winter of 2003-2004, the frost had only penetrated 48 inches, according to MnDOT data, and the frost never reached deeper than 72 inches the entire winter. That year, it was the lack of snow that created the widespread problems with freezing.

Rogers said 2003-04 was one of the worst years in memory for frozen water lines and septics. It was worse than last year, even, he said. I had four crews going around-the-clock, he said.

Whether this year equals 2003-04 in the end depends on temperatures and snowfall during the second half of the winter. Even average temperatures going forward could pose a serious problem without more snow, so residents will want to pay attention to the weather and take steps soon to try to head off potential problems.

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Frost line dropping in region

PITTSBURGH - Kate and Chris Eyerman didn't get a new dining room just for Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners, but it certainly helps when gatherings outgrow the granite-topped bar where they and their two daughters eat most meals.

"We usually have 12 people for holidays," Kate Eyerman said.

That doesn't feel like a crowd in this 18- by-15-foot space with a 15-foot cathedral ceiling, and there is plenty of elbow room at the nearly 10- by-4 1/2-foot table.

The cherry Arhaus table arrived just a few days before Christmas 2012, the final piece of a nearly four-month project that also included a kitchen expansion and the addition of a bathroom, bedroom and large mudroom.

But the biggest piece of eye candy was the dining room addition, whose exposed white oak timber frame extends outside to the new covered patio.

Atlantic Timber Frame created all of the room's oak trusses, which are decorative in the interior but structural on the outside. Sandstone used throughout the house, including a new fireplace mantel, came from the same Columbus, Ohio, quarry that supplied the home's original builders.

Where they previously had no back door, the Eyermans now have two French doors that bring in sunlight and views of their 2 1/4 acres of grass and apple and pear trees. As a bonus they now have an outdoor living space just steps away.

"We eat out there quite a bit, and we entertain there," Kate said.

Her husband agreed, saying that they hope to add an outdoor fireplace and extend the patio even more into the yard.

"It's like an outdoor living room," he said.

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Home expands with dramatic dining room

If reports are true, three-time father Scott Disick has resumed his old hard-partying ways. Just one month after Kourtney Kardashian gave birth to their son, Reign, Disick has reportedly trashed an Aspen, Colorado hotel room during a booze-filled weekend with friends.

The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star, 31 - father to Mason, 4, Penelope, 2, and Reign, 1 month - stayed at Hotel Jerome and wreaked havoc.

A source from the hotel told TMZ that one of Disicks friends stole a bottle of $400 alcohol from the lobby bar, which they were charged for. They also charged $840 worth of alcohol to their room and the next night $600 worth.

In addition to all the drinking, fellow guests at the hotel complained of a strong odor of marijuana coming from his room.

When he left with the group he was with, they were charged $500 for trashing the non-smoking room with empty bottles and cigarette butts everywhere.

Disick had a difficult summer while filming Kourtney & Khloe Take the Hamptons, where he was hospitalized for alcohol poisoning and checking into rehab soon after.

If this story is true, its not likely Kardashian will stay with him much longer.

image via INFphoto.com

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Scott Disick orders $1,400 worth of alcohol in Aspen, trashes room (Report)