The Times from Munster, Indiana • 32

SAIUHSa; FEBRUARY 12,2000 HOP HQMEFROhT DREAM HOME 1 BUILDER By Tim Carter Airtight houses susceptible to condensation woes 2 "V- 00 'Hartford 1 is a grand home because this mixing no longor takes place. Even though the windows may lx? lop quality, the temperature of the innor ine of insulated glass may still reach the dew jxiiit of your interior air. But I think the worst of your condensation problem is being caused by the vent-free fireplace. These energy-efficient devices keep all the heat inside, since they don't require a chimney, but they also pump vast quantities of water vapor into your home as they burn. Water is a byproduct of the combustion of nat Q.I recently had siding and new insulated glass windows installed.

The place looks great, but now I have mildew growing on my new windows and the ceilings above several of them. I have electric baseboard heat, which is very dry. We also installed a vent-free fireplace to niinimize our use of electric heat. There is more condensation now than ever before. I thought I had it all figured out, but now I'm crazy with frustration.

Are the windows of poor quality? What's the problem? Times Staff Report Landmark i A ural or propane gas. For every 100,000 BlUs of gas burned, approximately 1.5 gallons of water is created and added to the inside air. If you stop using the fireplace for several days, the condensation problem should lessen considerably. Keep in mind that if the outside temperature rises during this test period, you may be lulled into a false sense of security. Remember, as the outside temperature rises, so does the surface temperature of the glass, wall and ceiling surfaces adjacent to outside walls.

The water vapor causing the condensation may also be coming from a crawl space. Crawl space soil needs to be completely covered with high performance vapor barriers. Even though the soil inside a A. Don admit yourself to the funny farm just yet The excessive condensation may be traced to several problem areas. Your recent improvements have drastically altered the dynamics of air movement in and out of the house.

In addition, the vent-free fireplace is adding more than heat to the house. You should be able to stop the condensation on the windows, but the solution may be painful. Condensation can appear on new windows just about anywhere. If beads of water will form on a cold can of soda in your house, they can form on your windows as welL Homeowners who live in the South and Southwest can create conden- sation on the exterior surface of liEll GREAT ROOM Itnj S3 18OX1J0 I li 127X15-3 JLk MASTER SWIt OSEPIl imxi4 ir7gnp-ip 1 "i SECOND FLOOR PLAN KJ DEN pST Btfti 1 GARAGE BE02 fPl DETAILS Send for Builder Bulletin No. 296, listing certified replacement window manufacturers, sources of high performance vapor barriers and tips on lowering indoor humidity.

Send $3 and your name and address to Tim Carter, co The Times, P.O. Box 36352 Cincinnati, Ohio 45236-0352. .1 a 1 1 i FIRST FLOOR PLAN a1 Ill mssms The "Hartford 1" is a massively solid appearing home with symmetrical exterior. The large windows are decorative and functional. The arched front pdrch provides a look of grandeur, as; does the large brick fireplace chimney.

The garage for this home is on the right side with the doors facing the side. The window in'the end of the garage matches arjd compliments the windows of the main home. The entry to the "Hartford 1" is tiled from the front door to the stairs. A formal dining room with a goffered ceiling and large window is across the hall from a cozy den with a fireplace. The den is vaulted and has French doors to main part of the home and a sliding door into the master suite.

The main suite area of the master bedroom is also vaulted and has French doors into the entry area. Through a hall with a walk-in closet on one side and a wall closet on the other is master bath. It has a raised corner spa tub, divided sinks, two linen closets, and a private toilet area. There is a diamond shaped shower in the center of the room. A door in the rear opens onto a covered verandah decorated with large transoms.

More transoms decorate the rear of the home off the vaulted great room. It also has a see-through fireplace on the right side. Through French doors, the hearthnook area is brightened wijh three skylights. The nook is angled with windows all around. The kitchen has an island eat- 1 i iirt i (-T8 I crawl space appears dry, it is releasing water vapor into your home 24 hours a day.

High performance vapor barriers are made with two cross-laminated sheets of high grade virgin polyethylene. They work much better than the standard polyethylene vapor barriers sold at most hardware stores and home centers. The windows you purchased may also be part of the problem. Not all windows are made the same. Those least susceptible to condensation at a given dew point are the ones that pass voluntary manufacturing standards implemented by various organizations and associations.

Top quality window manufacturers that submit their products to these independent tests use high performance glass and materials. Look for widows that have certification labels from either AAMA, NFRC or Energy Star. Call Tim toll free any Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 1 a.m. at (888) 737-1450 or visit Ask the Builder on the Web at httpyAvww.askthebuilder.com widows if they set their air-condi-tioning too low.

Condensation occurs when the temperature of a surface glass, metal or any other material reaches the dew point of the surrounding air. Condensation, or dew, forms when the surface chills the adjacent humid air and the water vapor in that air changes back to liquid. To make matters worse, the dew point can fluctuate up or down. In very cold climates, the interior glass, metal or plaster surface can get so cold the condensation turns into ice or frost. The new siding and windows have probably helped stop the infiltration of air into your home.

Cold air holds much less water vapor than warm air. Before you changed your windows, cool, dry air used to leak into your home and mix with the warmer, more humid inside air, lowering the overall relative humidity. Your new windows and siding have actually caused the humidity level to rise in your home ing bar, with a garden window over the sink, and a pantry adjacent. The kitchen is long and open with another storage close at the other end. The utility runs adjacent to the garage and contains the washerdryer, a sink, and the freezer.

Easy access between the garage and the kitchen is through a door at one of the utility. The upstairs area of this brick home contains 848 square feet and has three other bedrooms and two baths. All of the bedrooms have square walk-in closets and a direct access to bathrooms. Bedroom 2 is vaulted with transom window overlooking the front of the home. Bedroom 3 has a window seat window facing the rear of the home.

Bedroom 4 has a smaller window seat with built-in bookshelves. 4 The "Hartford 1" has room for a large family to have space and privacy. The main floor is 2,084 square feet, contains two fireplaces, and has rooms surrounding that the family can be' close yet not interfere in each others' space. For a study kit of the "Hartford 1" (D2458) send $24.95 to Landmark Designs, 33127 Saginaw Road Cottage Grove, OR 97424 (specify plan name and number for kit). For a collection of plan books, send $20 or save by ordering the kit and collection together for $34.95.

For faster processing, call (800) 562-1151 or visit our web site at httpyAvww.landmarkdesigiis.com. i 1 1 CONTEMPORARY COLLECTIBLES Vintage valentines reflect colorful history A REAL FAMILY ROOM Tho rnr-nrxnlntf tr Hi j-- 1 hcj; rMrgT embraced in the late '80s and '90s isn't coming to an end In the new millennium, judging from the latest home-design trends. Family rooms are becoming more inviting than ever, with larger-screen TV sets, improved surround-sound systems, and remote controls for everything from ceiling fans to gas fireplaces. ASSOCIATED PRESS Buster Brown in some of his cards. He bought out several other companies, including the aforementioned New England Valentine Co.

The period from 1835 to 1860 was known as the Golden Age of paper-lace cards, those that seem to personify the Victorian era. Other elements were embossed paper, embossed lithographs and wood cuts, with early examples again being hand-colored. The renowned British firm of Raphael Tuck Sons was an im- portant producer of colorful die-cut embossed valentines, many with movable mechanical elements, and some showy stand-up types. The period from 1907 to 1914 saw great popularity of the postcard form, a prof usion of -comic penny cards with mildly insulting verses. A boom in chil-; dren's valentines was accelerated by the custom of kids exchanging cards homemade or bought -with numbers of their classmates.

A great variety of juvenile cards was produced by more than 150 different companies, usually brightly colored, sometimes with simple movable parts, many featuring some innocent pun. In addition to their being at -tractive and entertaining, vintage valentines have a special bonus: Many of them still can be found for not much more money than the cost of modern mass-produced ones. Linda Rosenkrantz edited Auction magazine and authored nine books, including "My Life as a List" tinued to be made by hand, containing carefully hand-written poetic expressions of affection and hand-colored drawings. In fact, in 1797, a British publisher issued "The Young Man's Valentine Writer" to help the less inspired or less poetically gifted swain. Soon printers were producing "mechanical valentines," their success propelled by the lowering of postal rates, and it was also during this period that the practice of sending cards anonymously developed.

It wasn't until 1840 that mass production of machine-printed cards featuring chromo-litho-graphed images originated. A few years later, a woman named Esther Howland started a cottage industry in her Worcester, home specifically for the making of elaborate (and expensive up to $30 apiece) valentines decorated with paper lace imported from England. Howland was responsible for several innovations: the first painting on silk, the first raised valentines and the first lace patterns in America. Today, these highly collectible examples can be identified by the small red stamped in the top left corner of the back page. The company later became The New England Valentine identified by the initials NEVC.

Another important character in this story was George Whitney, who founded a card company after the Civil War, also in Worcester, that would dominate the market for 50 years, using comic-strip characters such as Happy Hooligan and BY LINDA ROSENKRANTZ Copley News Service If you're a sentimental sort and like the idea of extending the romantic feelings of Feb. 14 throughout the whole year, you might consider starting to collect Valentine's Day greeting cards. The holiday itself has an interesting history and pre-history, dating back to the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, honoring the gods Juno and Pan, held in mid-February, when young men drew the names of eligible girls from an urn and proceed to court them. This pagan ritual later evolved into a Christian one, and Feb. 14 was established as the day for declaring one's love, with both gifts and hand-written expressions of affection, in the name of St.

Valentine, who happened to have been beheaded on Feb. 14. Another version of the story is that it was named for a Christian bishop called Valentine who was martyred for refusing to obey Emperor Claudius TPs ban on marrying young lovers. The British Museum contains the earliest extant valentine, which was sent in 1415 by Charles, due d'Orleans, to his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. It depicts a blindfolded Cupid shooting arrows dipped in a love potion, which became a popular valentine image.

In the first half of the 18th century, puzzle or cryptogram cards became popular, often featuring rebuses. Cards con Your Your TIMES. Custom Homes from $299, 900 C7 On Crawford Ave. just North of Volt 'mer Rd. in Flossmoor.

Noon to 4pm, or by appointment. -Homefvojrt- 'if.