E D , Erectile Dysfunction.................................An OMG File. Not what you were expecting?  Well neither was I. I was inspecting the roof with the black shingles, sighting down the soffit for gutter slope when I did a double take on this chimney. O.M. G. indeed. It took a few moments to realize how this got to be that way. It's obvious that maintenance repointing has been done. And it's equally obvious that it was a DIY mason, likely the home owner. And this erectile dysfunction came about as the homeowner DIY mason has a well developed respect for heights (read fear of heights). Either that or a ladder that only gave him access to the roof. This curve took some time to develop from multiple repointing repairs over time. The more easily accessible from the roof side got better... 06/02/2011

  Curses.. Foiled again! The foibles of faulty .... what is it?..... The gold brownish colour that you see is not true. That's a reflection of the wood paneling colouring. You can see the true colour in the section by the floor and if your guess was aluminum foil insulation / vapour barrier you would be right. This home building product was used in the seventies in new construction and renos. It only resembles aluminium foil, but is much thicker with an internal layer of a tar waterproofing.  It was designed to be used as a vapour barrier and an additional layer of insulation at the same time. But it had to be installed correctly to work well. It was stapled across building framing on the warm side of the insulation like any other vapour barrier. However, for the insulation properties ... 03/10/2011

Conditions in the Canadian housing market remain “favorable,” with overall prices rising and few signs of excess supply, Sheryl Kennedy, deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, said in a speech on Monday. “The moderation in activity and price increases that we have seen in recent months is both expected and welcome,” Kennedy told an investment industry conference in Banff, Alberta. House prices play a big role in the nation’s economy, she said: they can directly affect inflation, consumption, and decision-making in “the real economy” if a bubble inflates or pops. Policy makers at the Bank of Canada consider those implications when setting interest rates, Kennedy said. The central bank surprised financial market watchers earlier this month when it refrained from cutting interest rates, c... 07/13/2008