High Performance Installation
In this blog series on high performance remodeling, we are looking at three areas: service, installation and product selection. These components work together to produce an enjoyable remodeling experience and a finished product that could last 100 years or more. These are both possible and should be normative. Unfortunately, the expectations of homeowners are for neither. This needs to change. Let’s take a look at the area of high performance installation and how it lends to an exceptional remodel.
One of the greatest encumbrances to quality installation is the mindset of, “This is how we’ve always done it”. The joke that men don’t like to ask for directions sadly extends to the construction field. To use a Biblical example, Jesus told His disciples that you can’t put new wine into old wineskins because the new wine will cause the old skins to burst, ruining both the skin and the wine. He said this because He brought a new and deeper teaching that wasn’t accepted by the old religious crowd. They’d always understood it one way and weren’t open to anything new, so many died in their rebellion.
You didn’t expect a Bible lesson, but it applies here quite well. Those who reject new methods and best practices because the way they’ve been doing it has worked just fine, may end up installing what could be an extremely durable product that will only fail in a few years. A high performance installer is one that is eager to learn new and better installation methods. He or she isn’t afraid to read the directions, to receive training and correction and is eager to learn from their mistakes.
The field of construction is continuing to advance. Industry groups, such as the Building Science Corporation, continue to spearhead better understanding and practices within the built environment. High performance installation is one that maximizes the useful potential of any installed product through the application of known best practices and adherence to manufacturer specification. “The way we’ve always done it” shouts, “I have decades of experience!” That may well be decades of experience in isolation. High performance installations are done in collaboration with a multitude of those more knowledgeable.