Should I use house wrap in addition to the “home slicker” woven material under the clapboards in our new construction?
Thanks for the input.
Geo Ryan
Should I use house wrap in addition to the “home slicker” woven material under the clapboards in our new construction?
Thanks for the input.
Geo Ryan
Source control, ventilation, and filtration are the keys to healthy indoor air quality. Dehumidification is important too.
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Replies
Normally for a rainscreen you would have (inside going out), sheathing, wrap (tyvek or felt or...) space, siding. The home slicker just fills the space saving you the trouble of furring out that wall.
It's pretty pricey, though, isn't it? $0.50/sf of wall space or so?
I'd use felt paper for a water jacket as Tyvek breaks down after a while. Then put the woven breather material over that.
"I'd use felt paper for a water jacket as Tyvek breaks down after a while. Then put the woven breather material over that."
Can you provide references to this as being a conditon greater than the breakdown of felt?
Yes, but they would be my own experiences, remodeling homes for 20 years. First, the reference to felt paper, I've pulled the original clapboard siding off lots of houses around 100 years old where the the felt was still in decent shape- still protecting the sheathing boards beneath. However I've pulled siding off houses that were Tyvek wrapped maybe 8-10 years earlier where you could see the water marked Tyvek just crumble to the touch. This was on white cedar sided wall, where the siding was properly installed, aprox. 5" exposure clears. Even reading the guide lines Tyvek puts out, I believe it's not rated to withstand more than 30 days exposed- that's a pretty good indication it's not going to last as a water jacket for a lifetime protecting your house.
Bottom line for me is sometimes the old ways of doing things are still the best. Also, I've heard some guys say the felt paper will form a double vapor barrior if a poly vapor barrier is used on the inside of the stud wall. This is proved untrue to me everytime I get back to a roof job that I've felt papered first thing in the AM when it's quite obvious the dew is absorbed then quickly given off as the sun gets on it, returning the paper back to it's undistorted shape. Another thing about felt paper is that you always find it's nicely sealed from the heat being on it- proving it's effectiveness as an air infiltration barrior.
regarding tyvek: there is a new condo/apartment building, low rise but probably high end pricewise, that has had its tyvek exposed for several months of winter here in washington D C area. At one time the tyvek was all wind wipped and tore up, big sections of it, then for a couple of days, carpenters were in there, patching it all back in. That was early March, its April now and they still, haven't put the siding on. Judging by what I have seen, it will probably be vinyl .
I was in the local building supply and noticed that Home Slicker @ can now be purchased with Typar housewrap bonded to the drainage plane. It is more expensive though.
Geo, it's been pretty well documented that the tannins in cedar will break down the resin in Tyvek, so if you're going to put cedar directly on housewrap then felt is best. With the Homeslicker the cedar won't be in direct contact, so Tyvek should be fine. I think.
Mike