Fine Homebuilding Magazine

America’s trusted resource for residential building, remodeling, and home improvement. Convenient digital delivery includes unique bonus features and enhancements: linkable and searchable content, techniques videos, slide shows, tutorials, new products, digital tools, and more.

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contributors • THE VOICES OF EXPERIENCE

Fine Homebuilding Magazine

letters • READER FEEDBACK

Elevate Your Mobility • Vuelift residential elevators give you the flexibility to grow with your home

tips&techniques

SMART, STURDY WORKTABLE • NEW AND NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS

High-quality work lights

Legit cordless roofing nailer

Insulating Glass Keeps Getting Better • Windows are still a weak link in a home’s thermal envelope, but innovative insulating glass units promise better performance in the future

Consider the glazing

WHERE DO YOU WANT THE LOW-E COATINGS?

TRIPLE PANES HAVE DOUBLE THE INSULATING GAS

SUSPENDED FILM LIGHTENS THE LOAD

VACUUM-INSULATED GLASS IS THIN, BUT COMPLEX

Old Walls Furred Flat • A fast, foolproof method for dealing with problematic framing or depth differences when remodeling

THE JAMBS SET THE DEPTH • Since new drywall will be thinner than the plaster and lath it’s replacing, and everything needs to flush out with the existing window and door jambs, the furring and flattening process starts at the jambs and works backward.

Making Sense of Minisplits • Find out if this energy-efficient system is right for your next project

ANATOMY OF A MINISPLIT HEAT PUMP

3 VERSATILE HVAC SOLUTIONS • Minisplits can be deployed in a number of ways, from single-zone systems to multizone systems that connect to a variety of head units.

Slow the Burn • Fireblocking requirements from the code and beyond

7 COMMON FIREBLOCKING LOCATIONS

CODE-APPROVED FIREBLOCKING MATERIALS

Dodge the draft

The Indispensable Rafter Square • Modern versions of this compact framing-layout tool strive to improve on the iconic original

A CENTURY IN THE MAKING

BUILDING ON THE ORIGINAL • While many builders have never needed more than the original Speed Square to get the job done, there are other squares available ranging in price from a few to a few hundred dollars. The reasons to choose one of these options include the ability to extend the length of the square, to make more precise marks, to find angles more easily, and to not sweat the damage a task might do to the tool.

Is There an Easier Approach to Air-Sealing? • Bring a house to code-required airtightness in just hours with AeroBarrier

PREP FOR A SEAL

TIME TO SEAL

Air-sealing by the numbers

Secrets of Slate Roofing • It’s hot, heavy, and hard work installing it, but few things look as good or last as long

Tools of the trade

Fasten with feeling

Stop sliding snow

HOUSES BY DESIGN • ARCHITECTURAL CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

SPEC • NEW AND NOTABLE PRODUCTS

ask the experts • YOUR QUES TIONS—PRO ANSWERS

Why we need building sensors • EMBRACING THE FUTURE, RESPECTING THE PAST

Keepcraftalive • CELEBRATING PASSION FOR BUILDING