Sheri: The Aluminet stretches in one direction only, so when you order it, make sure you have the fabric cut to stretch in the direction it will hang from top to bottom. When the sales rep from IGC (where I ordered mine) told me the vents would open under the fabric, I was a bit doubious, but she was right. The key is to mount the fabric without stretching it tightly. My husband was concerned that the corners of the vent windows might punch holes in the aluminet fabric and wrapped rags around them. So far, even with the vents opened full and pulling the fabric, no holes, but I'm looking for a more elegant solution. Fat, self adheseive foam bumpers come to mind. But I didn't suggest that you use the aluminet AS a screen, only that when it's draped over the ROOF vents, it serves as one, which I found ironic, because we made screens for the roof vents, that will soon serve as storm panels for winter, as we can use them to hold bubble wrap in place under the vents. For your intake vents, use standard screening material, in a frame. To screen the powered intake vents on my GH, we used white vinyl house trim materials to create a box frame, 5- 1/2" deep, to allow the vents to open out, then just made screens using the screen channels, corners & spline sold in any home center. The box is made of 1 x 6 vinyl trim board, (actually 3/4 X 5- 1/2) so the edge facing out is wide enough to accomodate the screen frame, that is mounted to the box face with screws. To give a surface to mount the box to the GH, we used vinyl brickmould. The box sits inside brickmould, attached with small screws. The brickmould was fitted tightly around and to the fan frame, sealed with silicone. Once we fiddled the design, they were pretty easy to make and give me the ability to both remove the screens for cleaning, and in late fall, when we seal up the GH for winter, we can seal the vents by placing insulation in the boxes, then use the screens to hold it in place. My inspiration was shadowboxes, which, when you look at them, are no more than a picture frame with a second frame inside of it that projects out, with another frame on it's face, to hold the glass. From the craft shop to the GH. LOL!

We, too, did the rain screen/air gap design as well. One thing we did in our installation in addition to vertical furr strips/strapping was to run strips of cor-a-vent in key locations (such as at window heads and at the watertable). Coravent provides both ventilation and a bug screen in a single design. You can read more about the cor-a-vent design at their website at coravent.com (I believe). In regards to cost all said, additional plywood for furring, coravent, and rigid foam all added about $2-$3K to our job. Oh, and we put felt paper on the furring strips at the joints. As to the strapping, this design is referred to many as a rain screen design. The air gap creates a ventilation gap that specifically allows any moisture that does get in the ability to dry. This design is thought to extend longevity of the siding and its paint. And yes, all the details can get pretty tricky if not well thought out. For more on rain screen design, Fine Homebuilding's Exterior Siding book has a whole article that walks through the design (with a clapboard installation I recall). Also, another resource you might find is to do a search on the Delores House done by Rollie ? who steps in here now and then. He details step by step in a photo journal how he constructed a house with a rain screen design. I think if you google delores house you may find it.

that is the correct foam to use. Assume expansion of roughly 1:10, so you do not need very much at all. However if you can not fit it in there, then for your climate I might recommend simply installing a foam backer rod and caulking the joint instead. Air tight drywall is just that...creating an interior air barrier to prevent conditioned air movement from inside or outside of the gyp layer. Basically concepts use rubber gaskets or a layer of caulk around the edges of each sheet prior to being screwed on. Gyp is caulk too and around electrical boxes/lights. For can lights, I actually prefer building a plywood box in the attic around the can light fixture and simply taping the edges of the box and caulking it to the gyp. This creates a tight seal around the fixture since it is hard to seal up the fixture to the gyp alone. Basically any and all penetrations through your ceiling needs to be sealed. Think of it just as that..."air tight". Google "air tight drywall" for more information. Assuming you use r5-10 insulated duct and blow the cellulose completely over them, they should be ok in your climate. Remember you MUST seal the duct work to prevent air leakage as well. This includes sealing the ductwork to the registers and the registers box surrounds to the sheetrock. Caulking and air sealing is the single most important part of efficient and tight construction. It happens to be also the cheapest way to drastically change the performance of the house. It is more important than u values, etc. On that topic, it is also important for the rest of your house as well. The more caulking/air sealing you can do the better. On the EMHE, I assume you are asking about my house. It airs first of January I think.

sloneby - It hasn't been my experience that the dispensers have broken. My current dispenser is a multiply-resused/recycled Bath and Body one and I've been using the same one where I've refilled it for over two years now. The one in the bath has been at use longer than that and is used much more than the one in the kitchen. It's been my experience that the soap doesn't separate out at all - it stays and even dilution without a problem. It may be worth noting that I don't use an anti-bac soap with the little beads nor do I use a creamy based liquid to make my dilution. The one I've been using the most often has been Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap (Pure Castile Soap with organic oils). It's avaiable scented or unscented (then you can add your own essential oils if you prefer). I've also used other soaps as well when I was out of Dr. Bronner's and needed to mix up a batch. Every once in a while, I need to rinse off the nozzle if it starts to clog up a bit, but I would say that happens maybe once in between a refill, if even that much. In the meantime, I bought one of these. Unfortunately, it's not satin nickle, but it works okay. I get one that matches the color of the room the best and then just use the sleeve over it. Not perfect, but better. I've been thinking of checking into getting some spray paint to see if I can paint over it in a satin finish. Here is a link that might be useful: Bath & Body cover