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The Fine Homebuilding Podcast

The Fine Homebuilding Podcast is all about answering YOUR construction, design, and building science questions. From foundation waterproofing to roof flashing, we take on your building, remodeling and design challenges with the know-how of North America’s most-trusted home building brand. -- Every Friday, we discuss listener questions and offer advice following best-practice building techniques and principles. We love hearing from you, so if you have a question or project you want us to dig into, please send an email to FHBpodcast@finehomebuilding.com or ask your question on social media. -- Want more from Fine Homebuilding? Check out our website, finehomebuilding.com. -- Instagram: @FineHomebuilding Facebook: @FineHomebuildingMagazine YouTube: @FineHomebuildingMagazine TikTok: @FineHomebuilding Pinterest: @FineHomebuilding -- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and rate us on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you prefer to listen.
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Archives
Now displaying: 2018
Dec 28, 2018

Are battery-powered miter saws tough enough? Can you glue solid oak to concrete? How can you install an outlet in a garage slab? Find answers to these questions and more.

In this week's show, Patrick, Matt, and Rob mull over questions from several readers, including one contractor who is stuck on how to replace some water-damaged flooring that's installed directly over crumbling gypcrete. The guys also discuss how to protect a flush-mounted plug in a shop floor, how to get fresh air into a well-insulated backyard workshop, and whether it's time to forget about corded power tools and go fully cordless.

Dec 21, 2018

This week the Fine Homebuilding editors discuss winter condensation, straw-bale homes, punky floor joists, rental-property remodels and more.

After getting feedback from a few listeners, Patrick, Matt, and Rob find themselves again discussing the pros and cons of whole-house fans and the process of finding a good contractor. They move on to helping some other folks determine how far to go when fixing up a rental house; how to deal with rotted joists in a drafty crawlspace; if wet windows means there is a serious ventilation problem; and what materials make suitable moisture barriers for sills in a straw-bale house.

Dec 14, 2018

The Fine Homebuilding staff gives their best advice for improving leaky board-and-batten walls, buying old houses, keeping HVAC systems within conditioned space, and safely venting gas appliances.

In addition to addressing several listeners' questions Patrick, Matt, and Rob, check in on a roof repair from a previous podcast where the owner of a hunting cabin in Vermont ignored their advice and decided to take the easy way out. The crew cut him some slack, acknowledging that sometimes you just have to get the job done and move on.

Dec 7, 2018

The Fine Homebuilding editors contemplate listener questions about cladding choices, sheathing layout, and wall-framing techniques.

After chatting about some of their own roofing and cabinetry projects, Patrick, Matt, and Rob compare their lists of tools they can't live without, discuss the best options for replacing old wood siding, and advise a future home builder on framing and sheathing best practices. Patrick also recounts his visit to a jobsite where the homebuilders were using an impressive new automated whole-house air-sealing system.

Nov 30, 2018

The Fine Homebuilding editors debate the pros and cons of stem walls, monolithic slabs, and pole barns to help a listener design a new outbuilding.

As usual, there are plenty of home-building and remodeling topics to cover in this week's podcast. After chatting about their own cabinetry and roofing projects, Patrick, Matt, and Rob do their best to help a few listeners find solutions for framing a garage, insulating and air sealing a cold bay window, and painting moldy exterior trim. Plus, Patrick alerts listeners to a recall of some dangerous water heaters.

Nov 23, 2018

Patrick, Rob, and Matt cover a wide range of topics in this week's podcast, including building wood sheds, wrangling missing contractors, choosing an air conditioner, sealing cracks in garage floors, and providing makeup air for boilers and water heaters.

Nov 16, 2018

When a listener asks what measures he should take to keep cellulose from falling through his exhaust fan when insulating and air-sealing his attic, the Fine Homebuilding Editors wonder if he should get rid of the fan altogether.

Nov 9, 2018

Justin Fink is back after a few weeks’ hiatus, and he teams up with Patrick and Matt to talk about cool new tools Patrick spied at the STAFDA tool-dealers show in Phoenix, to revisit the topic of building storm-resistant homes, and to investigate why a listener's red-oak flooring is cupping. The crew also digs into more listeners' emails about replacing rotting sheathing under a porch and stopping condensation near a concrete door sill.

Nov 2, 2018

The Fine Homebuilding editors discuss what to do if your house has an ancient electrical system, whether or not shoring up a steep hillside is a DIY project, and and how much of a gap you really need to leave when nailing up cedar shingles. Plus, they sneak in yet another wet-basement question. As usual, they also share stories about their own home-remodeling projects.

Oct 26, 2018

After following up with a professional inspector's response to last week's discussion on home inspections, Patrick, Matt, and Rob share their findings on what makes some houses more stormproof than others, and where homeowners can go for help when rebuilding after a hurricane. They also take a stab at suggesting the best practices for insulating and air-sealing  a floor that separates living space above from an unheated garage below.

Oct 19, 2018

Patrick McCombe, Rob Wotzak, and Colin Russel kick off the podcast with a discussion about water-resistive barriers (the materials under your siding that protect the walls from moisture intrusion) before answering listener questions about prolonging the life of a water heater, dealing with humidity and rot in an old stone basement, providing makeup air for a fireplace, and finishing clear-cedar wainscoting.

Oct 12, 2018

Editors Patrick McCombe and Matt Millham welcome Fine Homebuilding’s new Digital Brand Manager, Rob Wotzak, to the podcast this week. The team discusses topics ranging from how far to dig into an old wall to get the weatherproofing details right when re-siding, what steps are essential when tying in a new roof to an old one, and what types of replacement windows make the most sense.

Oct 5, 2018

Justin and Patrick roll up their sleeves and wade into the flood waters to help Matt figure out what to do about his wet basement. This, plus code interpretations when it comes to deck footings, and some help for a listener with rotten walls.

Oct 2, 2018

Join Justin for the second episode of a two-part series in which he interviews friend, Fine Homebuilding ambassador, and building-industry business consultant Shawn Van Dyke. 

Sep 28, 2018

Justin and Matt welcome video director Colin Russell to the podcast round table, where the day’s discussions range from Justin regretting his advice on I-joist roof rafters, the perks and scary downsides of DIY spray foam, sheathing replacement, and what to do with cupped floor boards.

Sep 25, 2018

Join Justin for the first episode of a two-part series in which he interviews friend, Fine Homebuilding ambassador, and building-industry business consultant Shawn Van Dyke. 

Sep 21, 2018

Justin, Matt, and Patrick field a follow up question on a particularly frightening rotunda framing job, and discuss options for building a round structure from straight joists. Other topics include preferred shower waterproofing systems and strategies for widening a concrete stoop to support the columns of a new portico roof.

Sep 14, 2018

The guys take a deep dive into the options for updating outdated kitchen cabinets before turning to questions on scratched tile and foundation options for a shed on a sloped lot.

Sep 7, 2018

GreenBuildingAdvisor.com editor Martin Holladay returns to the show to tackle tough building science questions like heat-pump efficiency at different altitudes, radiant barriers and heat transfer through a roof, and ways to retrofit insulation.

Aug 31, 2018

Justin, Patrick, and Matt discuss how power tool preferences differ from one coast to the other, consider less expensive alternatives to cedar, and do a deep dive on troubleshooting a problematic attached garage.

Aug 24, 2018

Justin, Patrick, and Matt discuss solutions to concrete piers that fall below grade, how to diagnose and deal with pooling water on a deck, and troubleshooting a tongue-and-groove cathedral ceiling installation.

Aug 17, 2018

The guys work through the best way to tie new construction into old, out-of-whack structures. Other topics include roof rafters, job-site tool transport and storage, and whether to paint trim before installation or after.

Aug 10, 2018

Justin, Matt, and Patrick dive right into some listener questions about a worst-case repair situation (termite damage to an inaccessible rim joist), radon pumps and their affect on sump pumps, high-efficiency vs. standard boilers (are the fancy ones worth the cost?), and insulating an unconditioned space.

Aug 3, 2018

Justin, Rob, and Brian discuss the "drastic" changes to the cover of Fine Homebuilding magazine, and tease some new future magazine content. Rob follows up on the fit of the face frame for his bathroom vanity (spoiler: he only scraped up the wall a little). The guys debate: Should bathroom vanities have a full back? They answer listener questions, and tell some "Stories From the Road" about the worst photo shoots they’ve ever been on.

Jul 27, 2018

Siding, patios, load-bearing walls, and beams are on the menu for this episode of the FHB Podcast, with our regulars Justin Fink, Rob Yagid, and Brian Pontolilo. The guys talk about the state of residential construction in California, and specifically San Francisco. Also in this episode ... gable roofs, painting, scribing, Victorian homes, and Shaker style.

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