[Greg D]

I am planning to replace the siding on the front of my house with fiber cement siding (Certainteed Random Square Shingles). Both Certainteed and James Hardie recommend using a Tyvek type house wrap. My preference would be to use 30# felt paper instead of the housewrap. Are there any potential problems or issues with using felt paper instead of house wrap?

Thanks in advance.

Greg~

 

[kwikfishron]

#30 felt is what I use.:thumbsup:

 

[RickyBobby]

We always used housewrap but put pieces of felt paper behind any seams just in case of any shrinkage you wouldn't see any of the housewrap peeking through.

 

[Stephen Hill]

Felt is cheaper, and if water does get behind the siding then there will be mold that follows because the paper does not breath as well as the house wrap. You are putting a cement siding on, which is a premium product, and it will last for many years. Do you really want to put a cheaper underlayment on and take the chance of having to tear off all your siding in the future because the felt wouldn't breath right. Spend the extra money on the house wrap. It is more efficient at breathing and holding water away from your framing. Always overlap your housewrap 4 -6 inches and use the tape for housewrap and tape EVERY seam. I hope this was helpful and if it wasn't, let me know...

http://www.handymanhill.com

 

[Stephen Hill]

There shouldn't be any shrinkage in fiber cement boards, minimal if any...

http://www.handymanhill.com

 

[Greg D]

Felt is cheaper, and if water does get behind the siding then there will be mold that follows because the paper does not breath as well as the house wrap. You are putting a cement siding on, which is a premium product, and it will last for many years. Do you really want to put a cheaper underlayment on and take the chance of having to tear off all your siding in the future because the felt wouldn't breath right. Spend the extra money on the house wrap. It is more efficient at breathing and holding water away from your framing. Always overlap your housewrap 4 -6 inches and use the tape for housewrap and tape EVERY seam. I hope this was helpful and if it wasn't, let me know...

http://www.handymanhill.com

Thanks for your reply Stephen. My consideration of using felt paper is not because it is less expensive but because I believe it would do a better job of keeping water out. If I were to use the housewrap I would tape all of the seams but what about all the holes created by attaching the wrap and nailing the siding? I would think that water could seep right through those holes to the sheathing, whereas with the felt they would be sealed up. That being said, one of the good things about the shingle panels is that there won't be any exposed butt joints like with lap siding so potential water penetration points on the area that I am re-siding is pretty much limited to where the panels will butt up to the corner trim and window trim.

Thanks again.

Greg~

 

[Ron6519]

Thanks for your reply Stephen. My consideration of using felt paper is not because it is less expensive but because I believe it would do a better job of keeping water out. If I were to use the housewrap I would tape all of the seams but what about all the holes created by attaching the wrap and nailing the siding? I would think that water could seep right through those holes to the sheathing, whereas with the felt they would be sealed up. That being said, one of the good things about the shingle panels is that there won't be any exposed butt joints like with lap siding so potential water penetration points on the area that I am re-siding is pretty much limited to where the panels will butt up to the corner trim and window trim.

Thanks again.

Greg~

The same thing will happen with the felt paper. That's not why you would pick one product over the other.
Felt paper has been used under stucco, brick veneer and stone forever without an issue.

 

[Stephen Hill]

75 percent of jobs I have uncovered with a paper have had surface mold. I have uncovered it under stucco, under brick, and under hardwood floors and in most cases there was surface mold do to moisture. Water is always going to get back there, if not water then it will be moisture, the house wrap breathes and will drive the moisture out the felt paper will not. As for nail holes, I always blind nail siding so that there is no nails showing if you do face nail you can caulk the nails. In my experience home owners use felt paper and professionals use house wrap. Ask Mike Holmes. I hope this was helpful.

HTTP://WWW.HandymanHill.com

 

[Tom Struble]

with new energy codes coming up,it's eventually going to be necessary to tape all seams in the wrb,felt to my knowledge can't be [unless somebody now has a compatible seam tape

Hardie now has their own wrap that is engineered to the climate zone you live in

i don't argue wrb type,just make sure it's a non perforated one and is installed correctly

 

[Ron6519]

75 percent of jobs I have uncovered with a paper have had surface mold. I have uncovered it under stucco, under brick, and under hardwood floors and in most cases there was surface mold do to moisture. Water is always going to get back there, if not water then it will be moisture, the house wrap breathes and will drive the moisture out the felt paper will not. As for nail holes, I always blind nail siding so that there is no nails showing if you do face nail you can caulk the nails. In my experience home owners use felt paper and professionals use house wrap. Ask Mike Holmes. I hope this was helpful.

HTTP://WWW.HandymanHill.com

Quoting Mike Holmes? Really?
Have you seen some of the crap he's done?

 

[Stephen Hill]

with new energy codes coming up,it's eventually going to be necessary to tape all seams in the wrb,felt to my knowledge can't be [unless somebody now has a compatible seam tape

Hardie now has their own wrap that is engineered to the climate zone you live in

i don't argue wrb type,just make sure it's a non perforated one and is installed correctly

I agree whole heartedly. I have just found the house wrap to be a better product in my opinion that's all I was trying to say.

 

[kwikfishron]

75 percent of jobs I have uncovered with a paper have had surface mold. ]

75% of how many jobs?:whistling2:

In my experience home owners use felt paper and professionals use house wrap. Ask Mike Holmes.

Mike's your hero...huh.

 

[Stephen Hill]

Quoting Mike Holmes? Really?
Have you seen some of the crap he's done?

I actually have not seen some of the crap he has done. If you would please send me a link to some of it. Not that I don't believe you but I have to see things for myself. I just graduated college a few years back and started a company with my brother and have seen a lot and done a lot, but I also realized I don't know everything. I just tell people what I have found in my experience. I hope we are not on bad terms...

 

[Tom Struble]

i think your wrong:thumbup:

 

[Stephen Hill]

i think your wrong:thumbup:

That's cool. So, felt paper and house wrap are equall or is felt the better application?

 

[kwikfishron]

[

For Gods sake Kwikfish, he's graduated college a few years ago.
Nuff said!

I see he didn’t complete his resume until after my post. :yawn:

I’ll behave. :jester:

 

[Stephen Hill]

[

I see he didn’t complete his resume until after my post. :yawn:

I’ll behave. :jester:

Do I just need not write in this forum? And what do you mean complete his resume? You guys must run off a lot of people because they rub you wrong.

 

[kwikfishron]

Do I just need not write in this forum? And what do you mean complete his resume? You guys must run off a lot of people because they rub you wrong.

You haven’t rubbed me wrong, :no: you can post to this forum all you want but misguided post are kind of like contact cement, if you don’t apply to both surfaces they won’t stick. :laughing:

 

[Stephen Hill]

You haven’t rubbed me wrong, :no: you can post to this forum all you want but misguided post are kind of like contact cement, if you don’t apply to both surfaces they won’t stick. :laughing:

:laughing: I get it. You need to understand people don't know what they don't know, and you shouldn't chastise them for it.

 

[Ron6519]

I shall linger then... I'm open to being corrected, respectfully please. There is obviously alot I can learn on this site and in this industry, but don't think I'm without skill.

Welcome to the forum.