[Strawbale] Moisture sensor redux (was Re: cement stucco problems)

[Frank Tettemer]

Rob and Mark,

What I learned from Barbara this month around window placement certainly 
has strained my imagination.
Being a young strawbaler, (only 58 this year), I've been building with 
windows placed to the outside of the walls,
with integral upper and lower aluminum drip edge and under-sill 
flashing.  I've even fabricated entire under-sill flashing pans that 
take accumulated interior window condensation, and direct it outward, 
under the window.  I *thought* I was doing it right.
And for this climate, (Eastern Ontario), maybe I am.

After building a 'mock-up' of this 'Ontario-Building-Code-Acceptable' 
type of installation at the ISBBC, and then inviting all takers to 
criticize the bejeezus out of it, there was a lot to learn.  First, that 
Aussies, Californians, and Texans all do it differently.
But shockingly, the UK does this 'traditional' thing with wooden windows 
set quite a ways inward in the wall.
(And they use "Mastic" to seal things!).

Barbara explained that not all parts of the world have this love affair 
with modern, high-tech materials.
(Like polyurethane caulking, fiberglass windows, metal 'blood' lathe, 
and aluminum flashing.)
Instead, she uses an appropriate, long-lasting species of Wood, as an 
integral window exterior sill, carefully sloped on top, with a rebate 
sawn into the bottom as a drip inducer.  Just like our own old fashioned 
Ontario ways of making wooden windows.

The key word here is "Rebate".  All the wooden joints are created with a 
proper rebate to cause attempted moisture and rain penetration to spill 
outwards.

Quite frankly, it seemed nuts.  But after a couple weeks consideration, 
I tend to agree.  Oak, Tamarack, and "Larch" are far more durable and 
rot resistant than other woods. and with careful construction, a wooden 
exterior sill, designed to shed out and over the SB render is certainly 
as effective and surely more 'green' than my aluminum under-sill pans.

That's my take on window details.  I agree that much more monitoring 
needs to be done.
I would like to be more aware of these sensors and how to use them, 
Mark.  If they are affordable.
My Protimeter wood moisture meter has been serving me well, but the 
bulky plastic tubes do concern me.

Can you offer a source for purchase of these ceramic sensors, and 
further details around construction? I am a wood butcher at heart, and 
struggle to create simple electronic devices.  Need more input.

Frank Tettemer
Living Sol ~ Building & Design
www.livingsol.com