Adding Tyvek to 1 side of house - is this done?

[BMXKING]

My house suffered hail damage to the siding and the Ins. Co will replace the siding on the west side of the house. The house was built 5 years ago and did not have Tyvek house wrap. Code now calls for it. Does it makes sense to tyvek just 1 side of the house? I would have thought the whole house should be tyvek'd.

[Farmboy1]

Should be tyvek, but they are not going to do a complete tear off to put it there. Be happy you will have it on one wall.

[Tim Boomgarden]

I am with farmboy on this one. It should have been tyveked before they sided! It is just another barrier against the elements!

[Roofer]

Housewrap wasn't code a few years ago. Some type of housewrap is needed IMO, but there are many many houses out there without it.

I'm not sure how they plan to handle these situations in the future.

There are also underlayments that are code for roofing. If a storm damages only part of the roof, then that part is brought up to code when repaired. Then the homeowner has 24 months to bring the rest of the house up to code. I don't think this includes siding yet.

[solbes]

We had the same situation with the north side of our house re-sided. No Tyvek on the house before. So I now have one side of the house with it. BUT... Given the recent storm, it looks like we will soon have two sides of the house with Tyvek

Piggyback question. When they tear off the siding that was just done a year ago, should they also take off the existing Tyvek and reinstall new, or do they slap new siding over the old Tyvek? Wondering if the holes in the original Tyvek would defeat the purpose of it.

[Roofer]

Good question.

If the insurance pays for it, then I would do it. If they didn't, I would talk to them about doing it right. They could maybe get away with taping the holes, but tape is more expensive then the wrap. Since they started requiring most seams to be taped, it went up to almost $20 a roll.

It may be another thing though where it won't get done by most people anyways.

[11-87]

at $100-150 a roll, its not that darn expensive to put it on even if insurance don't cover it... do it yourself..

dumb question... did they put anything under the siding at all???

down here in rochester i don't know of job i sold in the last 15 yrs that didn't have it on.... even if they didn't use typar, they used a building paper, (not.. felt.)

[Roofer]

Ha, Typar is a Menards product. lol

He can't add it to the other sides because he would have to remove the siding first.

[Flatlander]

If siders would learn to flash correctly, we wouldn't need half this stuff. Those shotty siders are the reason we have to buy $150 rolls of house wrap and $20 rolls of tape. A properly flashed house will never leak, even without wrap.

Wow. First it was all the bad roofers running around, now the siders don't know what they're doing. Maybe I need to fire all my guys and sub everything out to you, Roofer.

And no, I'm not a storm trooper. I'm with a $6.5 million a year insurance restoration company that's been around for over 40 years.

[Roofer]

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[rtwills]

Tyvac is not for leaking, it is for air infiltration,yes it is waterproof paper and will help for water leakage within reason but it is made to let air from the house out and not let outside drafts in. The tape is made especially to adhere to the tyvac and not degrade over time.Roofer you may be good on roofs , but you need to learn more on the carpentry side.

In answer to the question at hand , no you do not have to tyvac 1 side,it is not going to help you .The reason you do not have to is because it is a "patch job". If you were to reside the whole house you would be required to do it.

[Roofer]

First off, Tyvek is a brand name made by Dupont. Why would you need to let air out if there was nothing on the wall? Yes, Tyvek claims to let moisture out and keep rain out. It's main purpose is that it keeps the wall dry. That's why, to this day you can use any material you want for housewrap, including tarpaper.

That is also why you tape only vertical overlaps on house wrap.

Yes, you do have to use house wrap on one side of the house if that is all that is being done at the time. The project needs to be up to code, no matter how small. Even a detached garage or shed is required to have house wrap and I&W shield.

[rtwills]

this is from the tyvek site

Tyvek® HomeWrap® is a weatherization membrane that provides a protective layer under a home's siding and over the sheathing. It is literally wrapped around a home over the wood or foam sheathing, cut out around windows and doors and taped at the seams.

Tyvek® Protects Insulation R-Value -- R-Value ratings for insulation are only maintained as long as the air within the insulation stays still and dry. The Department of Energy estimates that nearly 40% of a home's energy loss is the result of air infiltration caused by wind driven pressures from the outside. The opposing forces of pressure between inside and outside walls cause heat and air conditioning to be virtually sucked from a home-- through walls, ceilings, sill plates, sheathing joints, top plates, electrical outlets and every inch of the estimated half-mile of cracks in newly constructed homes. As air infiltrates, it causes changes in temperature that require heaters or air conditioners to work harder. Constant temperature fluctuations also reduce comfort levels. Occupants feel too cold or too warm. Reducing air infiltration, increases a home's comfort factor

your house needs to breathe because of teh warm interior and cold exterior.If it does not breathe it will conensate and rot the studs.I have been building houses for national builders for the last 22 years,every house we do has an air leakage test run on it.I am not saying it doesnt help as a water barrier ,but it's main purpose is a vapor barrier.Also the vertical seams are taped for both water and air leakage, i guess electrical outlets on interior are taped for water too??The reason it breathes out is so you do not have a double vapor barrier with the plastic on the interior.

[Roofer]

Whoa, I did not argue that point. It is very true. My point was that your house can breathe if it has Tyvek on it or has nothing on it. The Tyvek doesn't pull moisture out.

FWIW, we use Pro Build's (formerly UBC) blue paper for wrap when we don't have Tyvek. The blue paper is much tougher, cuts better, and is thicker.

I have seen many houses just lately that have Tyvek or the like, but still have leaks around windows, doors, etc. because they were not flashed correctly.

[Roofer]

Interior outlets are taped or caulked so moisture doesn't get IN the wall.

If you have OSB on your walls.....you don't have to worry about it. The moisture will sit on the OSB and not go through it anyhow.

Now they are going to OSB on the corners and builders board, that actually breathes, in the field.

I would like to see how moisture can get out of your wall when you have OSB on the outside. It doesn't.

[rtwills]

I agree 100% your useing the foamy stuff with the perforations in it?

That is what K-Hovannian went to and Centex used to use it .I agree it is a better product + the tape sticks to it better .I just used tyvek as a general housewrap name since it is so well known . I am just used to calling all housewrap tyvek (alot less confusing in the field).

[rtwills]

actually they are caulked and taped for drafts. where are you going to get water in your walls from the inside?

[Roofer]

Well, I'm no carpenter (as already noted), but moisture is in your home no matter what you do. Warm air for one, people for another. Every time you open the door, every time the furnace comes on, every source of heat has moisture.

That is why the code is "hoping" to seal up the walls completely because once it is wet, it cannot come out. Also doing the same in basements. Poly on the floor, poly on both sides of the block. We are living in a bubble people, haha.

I think some of it is a bit over-board, but then again I am not one of the "experts" creating the codes. I just follow them and try to understand them.

I'm sorry if my posts seem blunt. I know you are also a Contractor [YouNeedAuthorization], and I hope we can learn from each other in the future.

[Pooh]

i dont have alot of experiance in this field cause ive only been doing it for 4 years but i see alot of points that are true. yes flashing a wall is as big of a deal as a roof, and roofer is right if everything is flashed 100% correctly tyvek isnt needed. the house will still breathe without it but i think its a fairly cheap insurance against water like roofing tar that home owners use religously and i got nothing against tar.

I got a good one for you to think about. with stained wood siding, and tyvek on the house, does it push the stain out off the wood?

[rtwills]

LOL no problem roofer, I like blunt and yes houses are becomming too closed up due to the energy codes. and not enough fresh air is being allowed in.

The only reason I was saying air infiltration is because Centex made us go to a class over this based on their results from air pressure tests done in the homes.Our goal on the houses (approx. 2500 s.f.) was to have a max infiltration rate equivelant of a 10" hole or less throughout the whole house, including all window and door gaps.(never gonna happen)

I appreciate reading your posts on here and have leared a few things when I come do do my roof here real soon.I know some people take me as being too "blunt" also, I guess if i never challenged anything id never get any smarter.

[Flatlander]

Sooo, what are you saying? I hope your installers do good work.

There are good and bad of everything. Unfortunately in this business, you see more bad than good. If you were in the field, you would know that.

I guess 14 years of swinging a hammer doesn't qualify me as being "in the field". Sad thing is, I actually agree with a lot of things you are saying, but you come off a little to me, I have a tough time reading all of your posts. This one is really going to shock you. Not only am I clueless what goes on in the field, I adjust for 4 insurance companies on top of it. Next time I have to explain something to an insured, I'll show them what the ol' Haag engineering book says. After all, that manual is only the standard amongst 90% of the insurance companies out there.

If I sound too BLUNT, I apologize.

[Flatlander]

We are getting off topic. For that I apologize. I just don't have a handle on your animosity towards seemingly every contractor out there. Yes, there are crooks, but there are a lot more that aren't. And no, they aren't able to run down and become a contractor overnight anymore. The state has cracked down on that immensly. If this helps you to understand what kind of place I work for, our license number is only 4 digits. Take a look at yours. Twelve years ago, the numbers had a heck of a lot more digits than that.

Plain and simple- I grew up in a town of 300 people in northern WI. I worked for my dad's buddy building huge shacks for rich Chicago people (I forgot to add those years into my hammer swinging total). I got out of the Army and moved to the cities. I realized, I had the personality and character to sell jobs, and it paid a heck of a lot better than swinging that hammer. I'm honest with homeowners and wait, get this, actually visit my job sites and speak with the homeowners as they are being completed. I don't have the company name on my truck, nor do we even put job signs in yards. That is me in a nutshell, and I wouldn't change my business practices one tiny bit.

It's been a long day, I'm tired and I'm leaving the office to go home and drink a beer.

[BoxMN]

When you say "our" license means you are probably an employee of a company hiring out to subs illegally (roofing) under one license.

...wow!!! Speaking of off topic...

To get back to the question, sort of, in addition to tyvek, what do you guys think of the foam underlayment/insulation that can go under vinyl siding? Is the 3/8" good, or is the form-fit stuff worth it?

[Surface Tension]

As already said, they are fixing the side where there was hail damage. In this case replacing the siding and a house wrap(air infiltration barrier) When they do that it has to be up to code. Since the other walls weren't damaged then your not and they're not obligated to replace anything. Not having house wrap on the other walls isn't a code violation, because it wasn't code when the work was done.

Yes there'll be a benefit to just having one wall wrapped. Thing is its being done after windows and doors are already in place. So your not getting that wrap around the rough openings.

Those areas will need to be sealed.

With reference to the fan fold. Wait a minute, lets back up. An exterior wall is part of a system. The house wraps purpose is to reduce air infiltration. That would be outside air getting in. Yes its breathable and will let moist inside out as well.

That system not only includes how the wall is made up but the internal environment in the home. A tight house will have to have an air exchange and some sort of moister control. Exhaust vents need to be accounted for. What air you push out has to come from somewhere.

Primary concern here is air infiltration, that is the purpose for the house wrap. Fan Fold will do that and add a little bit of R Value too. Sounds good but your adding it to the outside. Not where it should be. Theres is a debate if the fanfold is trapping moister. That won't be settled here. At any rate the added R Value is not really the reason to choose a fan fold. Its main purpose is to give a smooth nailing surface for siding. That could be if your siding over old siding or the exterior sheeting is uneven. I wouldn't consider using it for any other reason. If you use it you'll have to address your trim. Sunken in trim will make an expensive siding job look like, well like a remodel that doesn't fit so you might have to plan on firring out and re-cladding all trim.