[Dixon12]

Greetings all!

I'm fairly new to this, so trying to do a fair bit of research before attempting to rebuild/remodel anything. I got a 100 year old house in below average shape and would like to do sheathing/siding on it. As it is now, the sidings are original wood over studs, no sheathing or insulation.

I plan to rip out the old siding and put up sheathing/wrap/new siding. What I'm not sure about is how to deal with the bottom part of exterior walls where sheathing meets the foundation walls. Do I tape it up with some sealant tape? Put in a z-channel? Flashing? Just extend the house wrap and siding a few inches lower than where foundation wall ends and framing begins? The foundation walls are brick.

Any suggestions?

 

[woodworkbykirk]

if your sheathing hangs down past where the framing starts over the foundation nothing is needed.. just run your house wrap flush with hte bottom.. any run off will just run down the wall and off

 

[Dixon12]

Thanks! What if it ends up being flush or slightly behind? Also how far down should I run it over where the framing starts?

 

[joecaption]

The sheathing needs to run about 1/2 below the bottom plate (which in your case may be a 4 X 6 beam) over the foundation or your going to have an air gap where wind can blow under the house.
With that wall stripped is the time to also upgrade that old wiring, add outlets, and add the required fire blocking at the bottom and tops of the walls.

 

[Dixon12]

I believe it's actually a 6x6 beam, but may be wrong! So should I fur/shim the sheathing so it runs a bit over the foundation if necessary? And for the fire blocking, would that be fire-retardant sheathing board at top and bottom? Fire-retardant insulation foam of some sort?

 

[carpdad]

Sheathing is not a drainage board, and as such it doesn't matter where it ends up. But you may want to skip the sheathing and go with insulation boards. I am assuming it is braced frame house.

 

[joecaption]

Here's a good read on fire blocking.
http://ncdoi.com/OSFM/Engineering_and_Codes/Documents/whitepaper/Fireblocking vs Firestopping_.pdf

 

[Dixon12]

Sheathing is not a drainage board, and as such it doesn't matter where it ends up. But you may want to skip the sheathing and go with insulation boards. I am assuming it is braced frame house.

I plan to use drainage wrap over 3/4 in sheathing. Already picked up some Block-it brand stuff at a local store. It's a new product, so there isn't much about it online aside from ads, but specs seem similar to Typar, and it got drainage channels. And it was a bit cheaper than Typar or Tyvek. I did a water test -- cut a piece off the roll, put it over paper towel, and poured water over it. The towel was dry after a couple hours, so seems like a good product, at least for my purpose. Btw, I'm not advertising or endorsing it--if anything other brand names have longer histories on the market, so I hope this is not gonna be a bust.


I considered insulation board but it's more complex and $$ than sheathing, and I feel just adding insulation to the walls will be sufficient. Its a small house and well positioned relative to the wind direction, so going with prime insulation isn't really cost effective for me.

 

[carpdad]

Synthetic barriers (tyvex, etc) are popular but misleading. People are mislead to believing sheets taped to the house structures will become 100+ yrs barrier to weather, esp the wind. Wind is the biggest reason for losing insulation capacity. Tape will not adhere that well nor last that long.
Acrylic tape on insulation boards may be better, but I still would caulk/can foam the joint.
Plywood, osb or foam panels, i leave gaps in the joint and fill with caulk or foam.
My house is almost 100 yrs. It's sided with 1x10 t&g boards and already has r11 fiberglass. It's leaky and draft can be felt through the floor and the outlets. Siding is rough cedar shake panels on fiberboards. I plan to add 1" xps sheets, 1/4 joints, foam the joints, 2 layers 15 lb tar paper (wrinkles so better drainage) then vinyl side. Top, bottom, sides and all window, door or other openings and some flashing points will need 1x5 furring strips for nails.

 

[Mingledtrash]

the above detail is for stucco but for siding you would just use your z-flashing instead of weep screed. also your sheathing may hang out past the foundation or be flush it is still the same principle. install your base flashing/weep screed first then wrap the house overlapping flashing.

another thing is:

I plan to use drainage wrap over 3/4 in sheathing.

If your engineer has not called out 3/4 in. sheathing your just throwing money down the drain, 1/2 cat. should be fine. your talking about 5-8$ more per sheet.

 

[Dixon12]

Mingledtrash, thanks! Just what I was looking for! Regarding the sheathing, I actually plan to use a combo of 3/4 and 1/2. Some parts of house will be getting vertical sheathing--the board and batten style vinyl, and the install instructions call for 3/4 in nail penetration.

 

[Mingledtrash]

Mingledtrash, thanks! Just what I was looking for! Regarding the sheathing, I actually plan to use a combo of 3/4 and 1/2. Some parts of house will be getting vertical sheathing--the board and batten style vinyl, and the install instructions call for 3/4 in nail penetration.

I have never installed siding but i would bet that there is an alternative solution to using 3/4 sheathing. i have never seen someone decide to use 3/4 sheathing because the instruction book for the siding said it needed 3/4 nail penetration you should have studs every 16 in. or 24" i would think you could nail the siding at the studs and be fine, if not i bet they use 1x2 firing strips they are extremely cheap and could be used as battens ontop of the plywood.

anywho if you post up the particular brand of siding maybe someone here has installed it and will chime in.

 

[Dixon12]

The siding I decided on is ABTCO brand vinyl board and batten style. It's 7 inches wide and is nailed vertically, so you need either 3/4 plywood/OSB or have to use horizontal furring strips. I'd rather just use 3/4 OSB and 3/4 plywood on the bottom and under windows. I don't like the idea of horizontal furring strips because they'd collect water, and will likely rot. Plus nailing them is just extra work. On the part of the house I'll be siding with horizontal vinyl, I plan to use 1/2 sheathing and nail to the studs.

Here's a link to the siding info: http://www.abtco.com/global/en/products/siding/timbercrest-board-and-batten

 

[Gary in WA]

Welcome to the forums!

As the concrete foundation wall is porous, any water ingress will wick to any raw edge of sheathing touching it, leave a 1/4" gap at the bottom. If you run it down past the sill beam/plate, tape the beam (and caulk under) before sheathing installation to keep the backside dry.

No idea where house is located; with vinyl siding- it is hung on the side to allow for product expansion which in turn lets the water drain down the WRB, no "enhanced" one is required; http://www.energy.ca.gov/2007public...achment_14_Impact_of_Title_24_Residential.pdf

If in a cold climate with poly on inside, you need something more vapor open than just 15 perms (your listed WRB) with 4 times more open (Tyvek 58 perms) to let incidental moisture/water get out- as it could only dry one way; http://www.benjaminobdyke.com/uploa..._Moisture_in_Low-Rise_Building_Enclosures.pdf

May have switched my links... http://www.kcprofessional.com/media/106758684/technical-data.pdf

If using the WRB as an air barrier, fold/reverse fold the laps/vert. joints rather than rely on tape alone. You don't want/need that OSB getting wet, leave 1/8" gaps at perimeter as designed- as it will acclimate to the seasonal RH.

Gary

 

[Dixon12]

Gary, thanks for the advice. Haven't thought of folding over the overlapping housewrap. About house location, it's in Central Indiana--not too cold, not too humid. What I see used on houses here is Tyvek or Typar. As I understand Typar has same perm rating as the Block-it wrap but not as high as Tyvek. Guess I could return the few rolls of Block-it I bought on sale and just buy Tyvek instead.

For taping the beam/plate on the bottom, what type of product would I use? Butyl flashing tape or similar?

 

[Gary in WA]

Tyvek tape for Tyvek, IMO... the folds can be large so as not to cause a bump that could show through the siding, or hold it off the wall more than other nearby courses esp. with sun/shadow line.

Gary