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The Holistic Homes PodcastAuthor: Christine Cimabue Holistic Construction Consultant
Welcome to The Holistic Homes Podcast, the place for homeowners who are considering a new build or renovation and are ready to take the power of their homes health into their own hands. Building failures are happening everyday, Yes! even in new construction. I dont want that for you, so Im here as your holistic construction resource to guide you thru it all. Im your host Christine Cimabue, and Im a licensed contractor and holistic construction consultant. Everyday I hear stories about people moving into their dream home, only to realize months later that faulty construction is negatively effecting their health. This situation breaks my heart and I believe in empowering people to speak up in every step of the process. This podcast is where real, confident and stress free healthy home building begins! Best of all, you dont have to learn how to be contractor to effectively communicate your healthy home vision to your contractor or design team. Ill show you how! Join us as we chat about everything from mold prevention to the effects of different lighting on your health. What should you be asking your contractor? What's the best performing building materials? and how to spot red flags during construction? Were walking through it all together. So whether you're interested in understanding the health risks in modern builds, creating a healthy bathroom, or finding the right contractor for your holistic home build, Ive got you covered. It's time to create a safe and healthy home that aligns with your vision. Tune in to the Holistic Homes Podcast and start your journey towards your dream healthy home. Language: en Genres: Alternative Health, Education, Health & Fitness, How To Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Why Building Code Isn’t Enough: The Case for Third-Party Testing | Ep. 16
Episode 16
Wednesday, 21 January, 2026
If you think passing building code means your home is protected, you may be trusting a system that was never designed to safeguard your health. I’ve seen brand-new homes with leaking windows, trapped moisture, and failures that cost families tens — sometimes hundreds — of thousands of dollars to fix after move-in.Today, I’m sharing exactly why third-party testing is the most important step you can take when building or renovating a truly healthy home — and why it rarely happens unless you demand it.In 2025 alone, I’ve consulted on residential projects across California, Texas, and the East Coast, many with 30–40+ windows per home. Time and time again, I’ve watched projects rely solely on 30-minute city inspections — inspections that are designed to check boxes, not detect water intrusion, flashing failures, or enclosure defects. Even with modern materials and premium windows, failures are common when no independent testing is performed.I walk you through two real projects that illustrate the stakes. In one, we coordinated third-party leak testing at the mock-up stage — testing the first few windows as soon as they were installed. When issues showed up, the team corrected them immediately before the remaining 40 windows went in, saving months of delay and enormous cost.In another project, testing was postponed until after all windows were installed. Within minutes, the first two windows failed. Water entered the home, revealing incompatible sealants and missing flashing details. The result? Every window had to be corrected, construction paused, and difficult accountability conversations followed — all of which could have been avoided.I also explain what proper testing actually looks like: controlled, standards-based testing (ASTM / AAMA), not garden hoses and guesswork. This process stress-tests your home under pressure, revealing failures before drywall, stucco, or brick locks problems in place. It’s proactive quality control — not reactive remediation.In today's episode, we're talking about:Why building code is the bare minimum, not a quality benchmarkWhat third-party testing actually is (and what it isn’t)When leak testing should happen during constructionReal-world examples of window failures and how they were caughtHow to budget and plan for testing without derailing your projectConnect with me: Instagram
