Welcome to Lakeside Building Systems
Our focus is on energy efficient building products and systems that are of great value to homeowners and contractors
Featured Products
As an affiliate company of a Certified Passive House Builder, an Environments for Living Master Contractor and a Certified Blow-In Blanket installer, we have found and identified some building products that will make any home project better at a good value.
We are constantly looking for innovative products to add to our company profile to pass on to our customers. For now, we have four products to offer:
Made in Wisconsin, Wasco Windows are a great value in building products. Wasco makes European and American style windows and doors, which actually covers many different products. Wasco makes tilt and turn European windows up to R-7, French windows, sliders and double hung, casement and awnings along with other types of sliding windows. You can get double or triple glazing depending on desire and window type. Everyone needs one! They also make patio and French doors, tilt and slide doors, European balcony and terrace doors, and all types of American style entry doors.
We also install Blow-in-Blanket system (BIB), which is dense-packed fiberglass. All insulation systems are compared to fiberglass, but none are compared to BIBs. BIBs is done by licensed, trained installers and is the only installation system job site tested on every job. It is tested for weight to get the right density for the right R-value and ensure there is no settling. In a 2x6 wall the R-value is R-23. BIBs fits any shape cavity and we have installed it in cavities up to R-27. Another good value.
Tstuds are an entirely new product made to replace traditional 2x6 lumber. Tstuds are thermally broken, R-20.2 framing members that are twice as strong as 2x6, reduce sound transmission, are excellent in fire tests, and have passed all seismic tests and hurricane tested up to 212 mph. And they are made in the USA. Tstuds are a revolution in framing components. Best of all they are cost effective.
Another product we are promoting is EPS and GPS rigid foam board. EPS is Expanded Polystyrene, and GPS is EPS with graphite in it to increase R-value. These types of foam board have 100% R-value warranty, come in any thickness/R-value you would need and can be ordered in sheets up to 4' by 18' in size. You can also get custom shapes and coding cut to order. Again, these products are great value. EPS and GPS do not absorb water like other foam boards and are much more environmentally friendly. Also made in the USA.
Everyone Wants an Energy Efficient Home
The big problem is who do you get to help you and what do you use.
Lakeside Building Systems can help!
Always, the best money you can spend is in the shell of the home.
Insulation, air sealing, and the right windows are the least expensive heating and cooling you can get.
And then if those components are a good value, you can save money for years after cost effectively.
The first step is making the building strong and durable.
It starts with the foundation, which also has to be insulated. EPS and GPS rigid foam boards are the type of foam used by the Passive House crowd. Passive House people are not using the green, pink, blue and yellow XPS foam board commonly sold at all building supply outlets. There are a number of reasons for this. All insulation is required to have an R-value warranty. Here are some differences between XPS and EPS/GPS
XPS
The warranty for XPS is 90% right out the door. That means R-5, which is what they claim,
is now R-4.5.
XPS can absorb up to 19% water, which certainly doesn’t help R-value. In talking to many contractors who have dug up XPS, they have all found it to be much heavier than it went in.
XPS has less flexibility available for different densities, sizes and shapes to meet job requirements not
EPS/GPS
EPS is at R-4.3 and GPS is at R-5, and the warranty is 100%.
EPS is at 4%, GPS even less and the small water amounts do not degrade the R-value.
You can get EPS/GPS in many
different densities, sizes, and shapes to
meet the job requirements.
Then there is cost. EPS is about 20% cheaper than XPS. GPS is about 5% less than XPS, depending on where you get the XPS. That is what makes these types of foam a great value, saving you heat with better products.
There are many other reasons to choose EPS/GPS but that will be in another article.
Moving up from the foundation, the next thing is the walls.
Tstuds are a huge step forward here. One of the biggest problems with building a good wall is thermal bridging. A thermal bridge is a solid member in a wall that transmits heat or cold.
A 2x6 in a wall has an R-value of about 5.5. That means no matter what insulation you use, the framing lowers the total wall R-value significantly.
The Tstud is strong. It is about twice the strength of a 2x6.
Tstuds are seismic and hurricane tested up to 212mph.
Tstuds reduce sound by having the foam in the middle and have shown to be better than a 2x6 in burn testing.
Everyone needs these in their walls!
More on Tstuds later.
Moving on, the next thing is what to use for insulation. There are some options here.
We like the Blow In Blanket System, BIBS. BIBS is dense packed fiberglass, blown in behind a fabric. All homeowners watching it installed in their walls think it is pretty cool.
- It is the only job site tested insulation, tested on every job.
- BIBS is R-23 in a 2x6 cavity, can’t settle, doesn’t absorb water, isn’t affected by bugs.
- The glass used in BIBS is up to 60% recycled glass. There is nothing else in it, no chemicals, just glass.
- R-value warranty is 100%
- Being blown in, it fills cavities as well as you can get and is installed by trained contractors.
If the fabric used doesn’t say BIBS on it, it is an imitation.
Call us for pricing.
Now that the wall has insulation in it, what do you put in the holes for windows and doors?
We can help! We handle Wasco windows and doors. This is a company in Milwaukee that makes American and European style windows and doors.
- You can get all types of American windows that perform. We advocate triple glazed windows but they make double glazed windows also.
- The hardware used in all products is very good stuff. The frame material comes from Germany and so does most of the hardware.
- The European windows are favorites for everyone who uses them. The are up to R-7, U- .14., have triple seals, and leakage rates are very low.
These can be tilt and turn, hopper, awning or fixed pane.
Wasco also makes doors of many types.
They make an R-10 swinging entry door that no one in the country can touch on price, European type tilt and slide, French and terrace doors and can get you what you need.
Wasco Windows and Doors are a great value.
Let us know what you need.
Learn More
Comparing Insulation Systems
Fiberglass Batts Fiberglass batts are the insulation system that all other insulation systems compare their insulation to. Fiberglass was developed in[...]
Energy Efficient Retrofit Case Study
Disaster With a Happy Ending We got a call from some people that a pipe in their cabin froze enough[...]
Energy Savings On Home Insulation
How much energy can you save in your home by adding insulation? This is an often asked question by people who[...]