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Up here in the great white north of Wisconsin, we build our houses pretty tight. Not much air infiltration in the winter (or summer if you use central AC) and a lot of moisture buildup inside the house. Everyone uses vapor barriers, of course, but vapor barriers get penetrated and, let’s face it, water vapor makes it inside the walls. This said, are we building wooden time bombs? OSB and plywood walls don’t breath well, house wraps decrease flow even more, and I don’t think those weep holes in the vinyl are really doing all that much to assist air flow. And what about foam sheathing? Is it doiing us a service by keeping the dew point in the foam, or is it just an even stronger vapor barrier than OSB? I have only been in this business about five years, but already I have seen a lot of rotten walls in remodel and addition work on houses that aren’t that old.
The big questions seem to be:
What is the best wall construction method?
Does a truly tight, efficient, rot-resistant method of untreated wood framing even exist right now?
If all the houses built since the late sixties are rotting from the inside out, who will be responsible when they start falling down?
…or am I just pulling a Chicken Little act?
I’m interested in the input of experienced builders and especially remodelers who see the insides of the walls built with modern methods. I’d love to see a comprehensive article in FH on the subject as well.
Replies
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Up here in the great white north of Wisconsin, we build our houses pretty tight. Not much air infiltration in the winter (or summer if you use central AC) and a lot of moisture buildup inside the house. Everyone uses vapor barriers, of course, but vapor barriers get penetrated and, let's face it, water vapor makes it inside the walls. This said, are we building wooden time bombs? OSB and plywood walls don't breath well, house wraps decrease flow even more, and I don't think those weep holes in the vinyl are really doing all that much to assist air flow. And what about foam sheathing? Is it doiing us a service by keeping the dew point in the foam, or is it just an even stronger vapor barrier than OSB? I have only been in this business about five years, but already I have seen a lot of rotten walls in remodel and addition work on houses that aren't that old.
The big questions seem to be:
What is the best wall construction method?
Does a truly tight, efficient, rot-resistant method of untreated wood framing even exist right now?
If all the houses built since the late sixties are rotting from the inside out, who will be responsible when they start falling down?
...or am I just pulling a Chicken Little act?
I'm interested in the input of experienced builders and especially remodelers who see the insides of the walls built with modern methods. I'd love to see a comprehensive article in FH on the subject as well.