Guides A-Z

Guide describing methods for installing pest-resistant ground cover around foundations to resist borrowing rodents and other pests.

Guide describing how to provide a continuous load path with appropriate connectors to improve the wind resistance of attached porches, carports, and decks during high-wind events.

Guide describing how to correctly vent a clothes dryer.

Guide describing proper installation of high-MERV furnace and air-handler filters.

Guide describing how to install a radon mitigation fan with various types of house foundations.

Guide describing ways builders can block off entry points and otherwise make homes inhospitable to all manner of pests.

Guide describing how to install energy efficient refrigerators in new and exisitng homes.

Guide describing removal of construction debris from flex ducts and protection of ducts and HVAC equipment during construction to keep them free of dust and debris.

Guide describing different options for providing seismic and thermal resistance for homes with 'cripple' wall crawlspace foundations, which are known for their instability.

Guide describing ways to retrofit an existing roof to increase its resistance to damage during hurricanes, high winds, and earthquakes.

A guide for choosing, installing, and flashing roof anchoring systems for solar panels.

Guide describing requirements for sheathing and sealing the roof decking in accordance with the requirements of the IBHS Fortified Home Program's Hurricane and High Wind Standards, and other roofing considerations to increase the roof's disaster resistance.

Guide describing how to apply heavy membranes at eaves in cold climates to help guard against ice dams.

Guide describing designs and construction retrofits for roof assemblies to resist pressures at roof edges during high-wind events.

Guide describing options for providing access to the roof via openable skylights, dormer windows, or roof hatches, for occupants of homes in areas prone to severe flooding.

Guide describing design for shelter-in-place spaces during windstorm storm events.

Guide describing steps to keep birds, rodents, and other pests out of vent openings and other locations in new and existing homes.

Guide describing how to air seal and insulate fiber board ducts.

Guide describing how to air seal and insulate flex ducts.

Guide describing how to air seal and insulate metal ducts.

Guide describing how to air seal around duct shafts and flues installed through ceilings, walls and flooring in new and existing homes.

Guide describing how to construct and retrofit homes built on slab-on-grade foundations in earthquake-prone areas to withstand seismic forces by properly installing wall to foundation connections.

Guide describing service water pressure requirements for EPA's WaterSense Program.