Zip vs Tyvek/insulation type?
rmverb
9 years ago
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energy_rater_la
9 years agoworthy
9 years agoRelated Discussions
ZIP insulation board or foil board?
Comments (15)ODB or plywood have been the standard exterior wall sheathing materials for more years than you or I have been on this earth! They are the simplest and best way to resist seismic and wind shear forces in framed walls (when constructed with proper connections). In Oklahoma, tornados can create a lot of uplift forces and, thus, you will want a foundation, wall and roof design and connection that are resistant to thise forces. That means continuous rigid sheathing such as OSB or plywood. important. If it was my house I would use: 1) 2X6 studs with dense pack cellouse insulation; 2) house wrap; 3) minimum of 1" XPS rigid insulation with taped joints (or 2-1" insulation panels with overlapping joints; 4) brick and masonry ties; 5) drainage space; 6) brick or stone masonry finish materials. Proper sealing at all plate lines, corners and openings is essential. Your footing will need to have a brick ledge formed in it to receive and carry the brick/stone masonry. There's lot of good details on how to do this, such as: http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/profiles/etw-charlotte-profile?topic=doctypes/enclosures-that-work/etw-building-profiles This is an article from "Enclosures That Work" from buildingscience.com which is a good resource to bookmark and study. Good luck with your project....See MoreExterior house sheathing-what is this stuff called 'zip-tye'?
Comments (11)Waterproof breathable liquid-applied air/weather barrier coatings on plywood or OSB sheathing have been used on commercial projects for a long time ("GoldCoat" by STO, "Perm-A-Barrier VP" by WR Grace, and "Air Bloc 31" by Henry Co.), but home builders have, for some reason, ignored these systems, preferring to wrestle with plastic housewraps that are difficult to seal well enough to perform as intended both as an air barrier and a weather barrier. (Most builders don't even bother to seal the horizontal joints.) Huber has finally applied one of these coatings to their OSB sheathing board at the factory (ZIP SYSTEM). But because the joints must be taped in the field it is a poor substitute for the commercial systems that use mesh reinforcing tape at the joints and rough openings before the liquid membrane is applied by sprayer or roller. A continuous liquid applied membrane that wraps into all openings is the ultimate weather and air barrier because there are no joints to fail and there is no space behind it for water to invade. Some people claim these systems are only available from licensed installers but that is not true. I called the STO distributer and he said he would sell it to anyone and that it wasn't any more difficult to install than any other acrylic coating, in other words, it's like paint. I am certain these systems will someday be the standard for all home construction. In the meantime we will struggle with housewraps and Huber's ZIP System. Here is a link that might be useful: Huber...See Moreplease help with insulation questions
Comments (17)note that all my comments are on common practices and materials I see in my 10+ years in the efficiency business. this is not to say one product is superior over another, just itrw here in La. concerning flash & batt: I've never seen anyone do flash and batt. to get the foam company to apply such a small amount turns companies statewide off. instead they talk the homeowner into full depth..or close approximation in 2x4 walls. also note that I've never recommended foam sprayed walls, and if they go that route..foam has to completely fill the stud bay..overfill with open cell & shave flat with stud faces. never seen flash and batt on attic side of ceilings either. If you could get a company to flash & batt walls it would entail a second trip to do again a minimal cost job to do attic floor. here we don't do fiberous insulations against rooflines so flash & BIBS wouldn't be installed. I wonder why would a foam company make multiple trips to the same site where they are making mininal dollars? even if they did foam & batts or blown..it is usually different crews. so you would have multiple trips and tie up two crews. now if it was for a bulider with several projects a year..that would work. but for a homeowner with one house at most every several years..just don't see it happening. maybe in Austin Texas. I try to be that bridge that brings homeowners and trades people together. so that is my pov in all this. people in my trade are unbiased and only sell efficiency so although we don't have a material dog in the fight its the efficiency that we fight for. Davd cary & lzerarc Yes builders do use tyvek & foam sheathing. because they don't understand clearly what the end goal is. if a builder has upgraded from felt to housewrap..that to them is a big step. and now you want them to skip the housewrap?? land of mercy!! you tryin to put them out of business? LOL! here we have hurricanes. solid sheated walls with osb & cdx is the norm. putting 1" polyisocyanurate foam sheathing over the solid sheated walls and taping all the seams..tape has to adhere to CLEAN and DRY surfaces.. sealing any holes mades by trades people before then installing cladding has been our most cost effective wall to date. follow with conventional insulation on interiorr of walls and air tight drywall. you've got high performance wall. R-7 foam sheathing..R-13 to R-15 insulation..not bad for a 2x4 wall. of course air sealing also includes sealing sole plates to slabs or subfloors, proper flashing & sealing of windows and doors. Air sealing ceilings..that is a whole other post. we do walls well..but ceilings! recessed lights that aren't ICAT holes for supply boxes returns..bath vent fans..stove vents.. speakers.. and wire and plumbing penetrations. the air sealing is in the details. but it pays back in comfort, smaller tonnage hvac, better indoor air quality. another post would be fresh air requirements & how exactly do do it. here is a link to my utility co-op's energy efficiency design for new homes. while it isn't as comprehensive as I pushed for it does show lots of good information. pay special attention to the exterior wall composition. you'll see that since so many builders INSIST on housewraps that they specify that it be next to studs and sheathing over tyvek. in general: designers/architects really let us down in that they don't design with hvac & ductwraps in the conditioned space. or incorperate accurate load calcs into the house when it is in design stages. maybe some do..but I've had several architects incorperate my spec sheet word for word onto thier plans. MY spec sheets. hell, they went to college for years, IMO they should have a clue...but just my angst there! trades people should seal holes they make as they make them. hvac should be comperhensively sized..not just rule of thumb. insulators should learn where to put the foam and educate themselves in thermal boundry locations. in a perfect world. continuing education for everyone! LOL! best of luck....See MoreTyvek "DrainWrap vs. Tyvek "HomeWrap" with James Hardie Lap Siding
Comments (7)Ditto Worthy and JDS, Best would be 3/8-3/4" strapping with coravent or crafted insect screen at top and bottom. Any flat non-woven housewrap like 15# felt, standard tyvek or typar would be fine in that application if not using a WRB integrated structural sheathing like Huber Zip. If installers aren't comfortable with a true rainscreen strapping, then homeslicker would be next best followed by drainable housewraps. We've used 3d mesh like homeslicker behind shingles but not lap siding as I've read it can become wavy. Good job researching best siding practices. I don't think any siding should be installed flat against structural sheathing with standard housewraps in any climates except very dry. Non-insulated vinyl being an exception as it creates it's own rainscreen. Check out Matt Risinger's video to see a performance experiment between regular tyvek and stuccowrap. Speaking of which, I hope you are including exterior foam or similar performing wall details....See Morermverb
9 years agoenergy_rater_la
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9 years agoBrianKnight
9 years agoshifrbv
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9 years agormverb
8 years agoPrateek Shah
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoPrateek Shah
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoPrateek Shah
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoJustin McCullough
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8 years ago
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