Saskatchewan

The attic is often the most cost-effective place to add insulation. Usually, a contractor blows loose fill into and over the top of ceiling joists. For the do-it-yourselfer, batts laid sideways on existing insulation are an easy alternative.

• The air barrier at the ceiling line must be tight to ensure warm moist air from the house does not get into the cold attic and condense in the winter. Check ceiling light fixtures, the tops of interior walls and penetrations such as plumbing stacks for air leakage.
• Ensure that soffit venting is not blocked by added insulation; baffles may have to be installed.

The two most common wall types are wood-frame and solid brick. In a wood-frame wall, insulation (loose fill and some foams) is typically blown into the cavities through holes that have been drilled through the drywall or siding. In solid brick, the largest cavity is usually 25 mm (1 in.) wide, which is not enough for any significant increase in R value. The builder must create a cavity. Usually, a new cavity wall is built inside and insulated as a new wall, or board stock and new siding are applied to the exterior. When planning a cavity wall retrofit, remember the following:

• The cost of getting at and repairing the walls is a significant part of the work and cost of the project.
• Both air and vapour barriers are required. The interior painted drywall can be both an air and vapour barrier, but details at windows, electrical outlets, floors and other penetrations must be done carefully to reduce air movement through the wall as much as possible. Air movement can lead to mold growth and decay of the walls, as well as loss of insulation efficiency.
• An insulation must be selected that will completely fill the cavity and not settle. Some insulations, such as foams, can provide reasonable air barriers themselves.

Typically, this is a wood-frame wall with the potential for insulation in the stud cavity (batts or spray-applied) and on the exterior face of the studs (rigid insulation). See Figure 1. During planning and installation, note the following:

• The vapour retarder should be at or near the inside surface of the insulation and would most commonly be 6 mm (0.2 in.) polyethylene sheeting at the inside face of the studs or vapour-retardant paint on the finished drywall.
• The air barrier can be provided by the polyethylene vapour retarder, by the interior drywall or by air-barrier sheeting on the exterior face of the studs. In all cases, the air barrier must be carefully detailed to be continuous at all penetrations.
• Adding rigid (board-stock) insulation to the outside face of the studs minimizes thermal bridging. Spacing the studs at 610 mm (24 in.) rather than 406 mm (16 in.) where possible will also reduce thermal bridging.

Effective Insulation Systems

Effective insulation systems slow the movement of heat and deal with the movement of moisture at a reasonable cost. To do this, they have the following:

• An air barrier, which prevents the movement of interior or exterior air through the system.
• Carefully filled cavities, which leave no gaps in or around the insulation and which do not compress the insulation.
• A minimum of thermal bridges. These are parts of the wall that, with a lower R value, extend from the warm side to the cold side of the insulation, giving heat an easy escape. The structural members in the wall will often be thermal bridges.
• A vapour retarder, such as polyethylene sheeting, which prevents moisture from moving from warm interior spaces into a colder building envelope where it could condense.
• Drying potential, which is the ability of the insulated assembly to release

So, which team are they? Are they the Saskatchewan Roughriders who have won three of their last four games, including a pair of overtime thrusts that gave them the nickname, The Cardiac Kids. Or, are they the lameduck, lackadaisical, lackluster and disinterested group that never really woke up when the game kicked off in Hamilton last Saturday. Why, it may well have been the first time all season the Loyal Disorder of Rider Priders were able to comfortably take a nap at one in the afternoon, and not have to worry about missing anything.

For the longest of time, or at least since the overtime thrillers against Calgary in McMahon Stadium and against B.C. in Taylor Field, the Roughriders were being compared to the Roughriders of 1976. That, for the youngsters in the crowd, was the last time the Riders finished first in the Western Division of the Canadian Feetball League. It’s been 33 years since a Rider team has managed the feat, and after the debacle in Hamilton last Saturday, this might, after all, not be the year the drought ends.

That’s just the way things are in Saskatchewan. Why, just think about it. After a vicious winter, everybody looked forward to a fair spring and a hot summer. Never happened. We missed spring, and summer only winked wickedly at us as she blew by. So, then we figured we would get a great autumn. Well, there were those two weeks, but the euphoria of that was knocked aside by snow, rain, snow, wind, cold, and, well, you know.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…the farmers were quietly glowing over crops that would be the mother of all crops. They couldn’t wait to get on the fields. The two weeks of great weather in September sent the combines into feeding frenzy. But, as quickly as the crops were coming off, Mother Nature put up her hand, and brought the whole thing to a halt. As I write this, only about 70 per cent of the crops are off the fields, and that doesn’t pay all the bills.

And, then, fitting in with the theme of the year, the Riders got off to a so-so start, faltered here and there, and then suddenly seemed to blossom as one of the elite teams of the league. They scratched and clawed their way into the thick of the battle for first-place in the West, to the point where everybody was talking about the 1976 Roughriders, the last-gasp team of the glory years of Lancaster and Reed.

If indeed it is Miller Time in Saskatchewan, then the next three weeks will bring in the final verdict.

When Ken Miller took over from Kent Austin as head coach of the Riders in 2008, he had a huge pair of shoes to fill. In one year as head coach, Austin had made Kerry Joseph look like a Hall of Fame quarterback and the Riders won their third Grey Cup.

It’s a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what side of the wall you’re sitting on, but expectations now are much higher than they were when everybody was happy to just make the playoffs. Now, more is expected. Much more. The Loyal Disorder of Rider Priders has done their part. They lead the league in sellouts. Now, they don’t want to be sold out.

The Riders finish off the schedule against the Calgary Stampeders in Taylor Field in a twilight game on Saturday. They win, they finish first. They lose, they finish second. Finishing second isn’t good enough, unless they’re capable of pulling off a big upset in the semi-final and then in the final, just to get to the Grey Cup game. Don’t forget, if they are in the semi-final, then they are on a two-game losing streak. No longer, no more, are they considered favourites to do anything.

They are right back where they started. They have to prove just how good they really are. No more are the Loyal Disorder of Rider Priders sold on this bunch. There’s an old saying in sports, and it is so true. “You’re only as good as your last game.” And, in their last game, the Riders weren’t all that good.

What is scary is this. You expect at this time of the season, teams who are serious first-place contenders will play like they are just that, will show up at every game. That, the Riders did not do in Hamilton.

Now, it’s time for the real Roughriders to show up.

Or, they may be going home sooner than most expected a couple of weeks ago.