Fall Projects and Home Improvement Oct. 2015

WSTribune • Oct. 17, 2015...Page 7

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Lots of new building code changes this year

A WORKER installs sheathing on a roof on a new home on JanuaryStreet. (Photo by Ken Francis.)

By Ken FrancisStaff Writer

This year has seen a bigchange in the way manyhomes are built in Min-nesota. Jan. 24, the state adoptedthe 2012 International Res-idential Code (IRC), whichbrought quite a few changesto the existing buildingcode that was last updatedin 2007 when Minnesotaadopted the 2006 IRC. Many of the new regula-tions were implemented tosave energy, says SherburneCounty Building OfficialRon Hackenmueller. Otherchanges are for safety rea-sons. One of the new require-ments is a blower door test,which checks air leakage inthe house. The test wasn’trequired before, but now airleakage in the house mustbe below three cubic feetper hour. It’s a way to re-duce energy consumption. For safety, now any win-dow six feet above grade

needs to have some type offall protection if the bottomof the window is below 36inches off the floor. Until this year, R-5 insu-lation was the requirementon basement walls. That’sbeen increased to R-15,with at least R-10 of that onthe outside of the walls. The R-value requirementhas also been increased onceilings from R-38 to R-49,and from R-19 to R-20 onwood frame walls. To prevent air filtration,solid metal duct returns arerequired in heating andcooling systems. “As far as the fresh air in-take, we used to be able touse the stud cavity,” saysHackenmueller. “Now itneeds to be enclosed andsealed.” And all heating ductworkmust be sealed to controlthe efficiency of the system. The required minimumcompressive strength ofconcrete footings has beenincreased from 2,500 to

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5,000. “It’s not about the size ofthe house. It has to do withmoisture control,” saysHackenmueller. “Theyfound at that compressivestrength, it controls thewicking of moisturethrough the footings andinto the house. It keep thebasement drier. For fire safety, drywall isnow required on basementceilings that use a floor trusssystem or wooden I-joistengineered framing. “They tend to burn a lotquicker than standard 2x10construction,” says Hacken-mueller. “And 90% ofhouses are built withtrusses.” Now, hot water pipesneed to be insulated with R-3 insulation. That wasn’t arequirement before. Under the new code,houses bigger than 4,500square feet were required tohave automatic sprinklersystems installed. But that requirement wasoverturned by the Min-nesota Court of Appeals thisweek after a challenge bythe Builders Association ofthe Twin Cities. That rule would haveadded about $9,000 to thecost of a new home. All radon pipes in uncon-ditioned space must now beinsulated with R-4 insula-tion. There was no require-ments before. Wireless smoke alarmsare now allowed. Before, allsmoke detectors had to behard-wired into the electri-cal system. “Now they feel comfort-able with them,” says Hack-enmueller. “They’re morereliable now.” On foundations, completewaterproofing is now re-quired. “You used to be able todamp-proof, depending onthe soil.” says Hacken-mueller. “That’s a lighterproduct, like Duraseal,that’s painted on.”Hackenmueller, who hasbeen a building inspectorfor almost 10 years, says

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this number of changes inone year is pretty unusual.almost 10 years. “Before, there were mod-ifications of different mate-rials you could use. But thisis probably the most intense

energy code change since2000,” he says. “The energycode is the driving force.” He says he’s spoken withcontractors. Many weren’tin favor of all the changes. “It’s been somewhat of a

struggle. Nobody likeschange. It adds cost. Butafter sifting though all thecodes, it’s a good thing forenergy savings,” he says,“and that’s the goal.”


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TiLE OUTLET ETC. iN ROGERS near Cabela’s, is owned by Mark and Colleen Sickmann of BigLake (far left), who work with family and five other employees. Also pictured is their son, Micah, andemployees Julie Herrmann and Joe Monahan. (Photo by Jennifer Edwards).

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Besides a coat of paint,nothing can make an impactwhen changing a home’s in-terior like replacing theflooring. There are many good op-tions available close tohome, beginning with Ray’sAbbey Carpet, located on205th Street in Big LakeTownship. Ray Sundstrom has beenin the business of sellingcarpet and flooring since1967. One of the things hesays he loves is pets. “Owning an animal canbe hard on a home,” he said.“But we do love our pets.One recent innovation ispet-proof carpeting. It has aspecial backing so nothingliquid can get through it.” Another thing Ray rec-ommends to homeownerswho have dogs is to chooselaminate wood flooring in-stead of hardwood floors. “Laminates dwindled inpopularity for a while butthey are making a come-back now,” he said. “Theyare better for dogs becausea dog’s claws can’t scratchinto laminate as easily asthey can hardwoods.” Another thing many peo-ple are looking for when itcomes to choosing carpet issomething that is very softto touch. “Most people want some-thing that is quite plush,”Sundstrom said. “We alsosell a lot of luxury vinyl tile.They are 16 inch squaresthat can be grouted or not.They are very popular.Vinyl planking that lookslike real wood is very pop-ular too.” The old style vinyl floor-ing which has to be glueddown is being used less andless all the time, Ray said. “It’s being replaced witha fiber-backed cushionedvinyl that is softer to walkon and more comfortable on

the feet and knees,” he said.“You can feel the cushion. Italso helps reduce noise.” While Sundstrom sells alot of wood flooring, carpetis the bread and butter of hisbusiness and one of thethings he enjoys the most ishelping people find whatthey are looking for whilestaying within their budget. “People can buy what-ever they like,” he said.“But if you can stay withintheir budget, they feel bet-ter. Money is hard to comeby.” Sundstrom encourageshis customers to take a fewsamples home to look at. “Things look different inyour own home,” he said.“You can get more of a feelfor the color and the textureof a piece when it is in yourown house. It’s important.” Even though he has beenin the carpet business fornearly 50 years, Sundstromsays he still enjoys it. “Every home and everyperson is different,” he said.“It’s fun to talk to peopleand figure out what theylike.” Ray’s store is open from9:30-5:50 p.m. unless he isout measuring a house. Herecommends people call(763) 263-2058 before driv-ing out there to make suresomeone is around. Theyare also open evenings andweekends by appointment. “It’s an interesting busi-ness,” he said. “I still likeit.”

Tile and Ceramics While Ray’s Abbey Car-pet sells some ceramics andRay is without a doubt thecarpet king, when it comesto tile the experts are Markand Colleen Sickmann ofBig Lake. The Sickmann’s own theTile Outlet Etc. in Rogers,next to Cabela’s. Initiallythey only sold wholesale,but since moving to theirnew location, their show-

rooms are now open to thepublic. “Whether you want twofeet of tile or 2,000 feet,you will get the same serv-ice here,” said Mark, whohas brought his son Micahinto the business with him. “Between my parents andmy uncle, we have over 100years of experience in ce-ramics right here,” saidMicah. Colleen Sickmann has anartists flair and relisheshelping customers createdesigns they won’t find inany big box store. They alsohave a huge selection ofproduct. “We carry everything ex-cept carpet and granite,”Micah said. “Soon we willhave a glass tile with awood grain.” All the glass tile productsare heavy duty, and can beused for floors or walls.They are made from 99.9%recycled glass material. They also carry naturalstone tiles, some of whichare imported from allaround the world, like natu-ral stone from the beachesof Indonesia. “We are not selling sec-onds or close out products,”said Mark. “Things we sellcan be reordered. We im-port tile and stone from allover the world. We can helpyou solve problems youmay be having or find thatspecial stone you are look-ing for. We work with de-signers and builders fromall over.”

Examples of their workcan be seen locally in sev-eral places, including River-side Church at theintersection of Co. Rd. 14and Hwy. 25, and at theRogers Food Shelf, knownas The Cross. The Sick-manns donated the tile andlabor there and they are al-ways looking for opportuni-ties to help others locally. “We have exceptional tal-ent for ideas,” said Mark.“And personalized help soyou can do what it is youwant to do in your home.We also have very competi-tive pricing.”

This week Tile OutletEtc. is having an outdoortent sale, although there ismuch to choose from insidetheir showroom, includingglow in the dark tile, pebbletile, cut stone and ceramics.They also stock wood andvinyl flooring. Customers get good ad-vice, such as clean tile witha pH neutral solution. “People want to cleantheir tile with vinegar andwater,” said Mark. “It doesa great job but it cleans bydestruction. Every time youuse it you wipe off a layerof grout. Over time, the

grout gets destroyed.” “People get so stressedout shopping, trying to findstuff,” he said. “Here youcan get the help you wantand find the product youwant for the right price. Wewant our customers to beexcited about putting ourproducts in their homes.” The Tile Outlet Etc. isopen from 8:30 a.m. to 8p.m. seven days per week.They plan to offer mosaicclasses in about six weeks. “We also welcome localmosaic artists to displaytheir work and maybe teacha class,” said Mark.

SAMPLES OF TiLE and what can be done with them can be found atTile Outlet Etc.

By StatePoint MediaDetermining how muchelectricity your appliancesand home electronics usecan help you understandhow much money you arespending to use them. It canalso help you decidewhether to invest in a moreenergy-efficient appliance

or electronic device.According to the U.S. De-partment of Energy (DOE),there are several ways youcan estimate how muchelectricity your appliancesand home electronics use:Review the EnergyGuidelabel. The label provides anestimate of the average en-

ergy consumption and costto operate the specificmodel of the appliance youare using. Note that not allappliances or home elec-tronics are required to havean EnergyGuide label.Use an electricity usagemonitor to get readings of Energy Cont. On Page 11

Knowing the energy use and when to replace them


coast and it is a place I hadvisited several times as achild with my father. Onthat trip, I took my sonthere. The castle fell into ruinlong ago and the enterpris-ing people of the townclearly took advantage ofthe tumble down ruins as asource of material to buildtheir homes and businesses. On this particular day, avolunteer was busy hard atwork among the stones ofthe old castle, attempting torestore it, not to it’s formergrandeur, but to a ruin. Itjust seemed like a waste oftime to me. Pine trees are very nostal-gic for most people. Thereis their association withChristmas and the scent ofthem. Nor are pine trees arenot the only trees theforesters plan to do awaywith in their effort to turnback the clock. The truth is that what wasis in the past. Thingschange with time. It is aspointless and impossible to

try to restore the area to apre-European settlementstate as it is to try to restorea ruin to a ruin. The likelihood is that thearea would have changedover time. Mother Natureherself would have intro-duced new species in theways she always does,through wind and water dis-persal of seeds, animals andbird droppings and naturalchanges in the conditions ofthe land. The foresters are hard-seton their course to destroythe pine forests the humananimals who inhabit the

area created. Perhaps they are right. But they are wrong tothink they can turn back theclock. The great herds ofbuffalo and the elk, whichwould have had their placein the eco-system, are gone. That ship has alreadysailed. The castle has col-lapsed. Things will never bethe way they were before, ifwe even knew for sure whatthat was. And even if wedid, things would havechanged over time sincethen. Nothing on this earthstays the same forever.

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how much electricity an ap-pliance is using. Monitors canbe purchased for $25-$50 atmost hardware stores.Calculate annual energyconsumption and costs usingspecific formulas.Install a whole house energymonitoring system.Read more from DOE onhow to apply these ways toestimate energy consumption.

Older, less-efficient appli-ances may require three tofour times more energy to runthan the high-efficient EN-ERGY STAR® appliances. For instance, a 20-year-oldrefrigerator could be using1,700 kWh of electricityevery year—compared withabout 450 kWh for a similarlysized newer ENERGY STARmodel. At an electrical cost of

11 cents per kWh, it costsabout $187 per year to run theolder refrigerator vs. $50 peryear for the ENERGY STARmodel. That represents a po-tential savings of $137 peryear, meaning you could payfor a new ENERGY STARfridge with energy savings inabout 7-9 years.

ing and asked to be put towork.” The day started off with a5K pumpkin run in themorning. Among the ven-dors at the park at noonwere the Gideons, givingaway pocket sized New Tes-taments to anyone whowanted one. Rocket Concessions,owned by Joe and TerrieEngel, is a new business inBig Lake. They hope to beat the Farmers Market nextyear. Their wares includedmini donuts and pretzels. Retired tool and diemaker Neal E. James livesin Meadowvale. Living Wa-ters Church is built on thesite of his old home place.James worked for HoffmanEngineering for 30 years.Now he is retired and buildssmall engines to scale in hishome work shop. “I even have to make myown spark plugs,” He said.

Neal said he had alwaysbeen interested in machin-ery and started by workingwith his dad, who was ablacksmith. He built hisfirst small engine in 1983and won a blue ribbon withit at the state fair. Now 86 years old, he hasworked on one or two en-gines each year. He hasbeen offered money forthem but won’t part withthem. “I am kind of proud ofthem,” he said. “I won’t sellthem. They are a part of me.They will be keepsakes forthe kids.” Models are what he reallylikes, James says. “Guys like the big en-gines until they get olderand then they sell them be-cause they are heavy andthey move to the smallstuff,” he said. “Even then,they are heavy.” He has been working on

his favorite engine for 18months now and says it isstill not complete. “It needs a radiator,” hesaid. Pumpkin carving drewmany and everyone whobought a $10 ticket wasguaranteed a pumpkin totake home. There were pony ridesand a petting zoo, a train toride and pumpkins to roll. A bigger, better trebuchethurled pumpkins throughthe air like basketballs andan old car was the target forpumpkins aimed by cata-pults. Other events included thetraditional pumpkin pie eat-ing contest, the chili cook-off and toastingmarshmallows over a bon-fire. The annual event raisesfunds for the Big LakeFood Shelf.

Pumpkin Continued From Page 2_____________________________Energy Continued From Page 8________________________________

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Fall Projects and Home Improvement Oct. 2015