Marcus Golding
Boothbay Home Builders, Boothbay, Maine
The coast of Maine is a perfect testing ground for weatherproofing technology. “We’re building almost exclusively right on the water,” says Marcus Golding, construction manager at Boothbay Home Builders, “so we’re dealing with a lot of wind-driven rain.” Under extreme conditions, cedar shingles only slow down the water, so “we’re conscious of what we’re using as control layers,” he says. “We’re really having a lot of success with the Home Slicker/Typar combination.” The rainscreen and building wrap composite lets water that infiltrates the siding drain out of the wall, allowing the siding to dry out quickly. “It doesn’t compress,” Golding says. “It really holds up well under the shingles.” Because the material is only about ¼ inch thick, “we’re not having to pack out trim.” Most importantly, “It significantly increases the longevity of the siding material.” His success with Home Slicker led Golding to try Benjamin Obdyke’s Flex Wrap preformed window flashing. “It just goes around the windows seamlessly.”—B.D.S.
Typar. 800.284.2780. www.typar.com.
Matt Risinger
Risinger Homes, Austin, Texas
For Matt Risinger, building resource-efficient houses has meant becoming a product tester. Toto’s new Aquia dual-flush toilet looked good on paper, Risinger says, but before installing one for a client, “I thought I better try this in my own house.” The toilet has two flushing modes—a .9-gallon flush for liquids and a 1.6-gallon flush for solids. The unit earned Risinger’s stamp of approval, not just for saving water, but also for easy installation.
Risinger’s approach to venting moisture from the bathroom is simple and effective. He uses Panasonic ventilation fans in combination with a Leviton preset timer switch. To prevent the “super quiet” fan from running all day, Risinger instructs clients to “hit 60 minutes on that little $25 Leviton timer.” Switching to compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, also reduces a house’s electrical demand, and here too, Risinger has a favorite: the Premium MiniBulb by MaxLite. “It’s a 60-watt equivalent,” he says, “but it’s a 13-watt bulb.”—B.D.S.
Panasonic. 800.405.0652. www2.panasonic.com.
Leviton. 800.824.3005. www.leviton.com.
MaxLite. 800.555.5629. www.maxlite.com.
