If houses were bought like cars and vice versa

[Jerry Peck]

If cars were built like cars ...

https://youtu.be/YnIXcIQtHvc

[Gunnar Alquist]

Jerry,

That was humorous, and I understand the point. I, however, have concerns about many of the "engineered" homes that are being built today.

These systems are designed to function without human interference. The problem is that humans interfere.

For example:

I have been reading about unvented attics. Essentially relying on the walls as a vapor barrier and prevent moisture from migrating from the living space up into the attic.

The problem is that a homeowner is going to do something like poke a hole in the ceiling to add a recessed light fixture or hang a fern from a plant hanger, thereby creating a moisture problem.

Or, a homeowner (or contractor) is going to punch a hole through a "Strong-Wall" in order to install carriage lights at the front of the garage. Better yet, two holes for two lights, one on either side of the garage vehicle door opening.

The high R value of spray foam insulation is great, but roof leaks may not become apparent until significant structural damage has been done.

Most of us have learned that we cannot "hot-rod" our modern cars. Cannot chop the roof off of a sedan in order to create a convertible. But, most of us want to hot-rod our homes and, I suspect, the vast majority of remodel contractors out there are not sufficiently educated about this engineering to understand how to deal with these systems.

I mean, I regularly run into improperly wired multiwire branch circuits that were modified by general contractors as well as electricians. MWBCs have been around for a hundred years!

The engineered stuff will work nicely in office buildings, apartments, condominiums, etc. But, I believe we are going to continue to see a lot of problems in these newer single-family homes, partly because engineering cannot take into account the unforeseen... Us.

[Jerry Peck]

Gunnar,

I know what you are saying, but there is another aspect that needs to be considered: the space in an unvented sealed attic is conditioned space.

The air (temperature and humidity) basically acclimates to a similar temperature and humidity of the conditioned space below.

Originally, unvented attic space was referred to as "semi-conditioned space", it is now simply "conditioned space".

[Henry Brunson]

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