I am redoing a bedroom on the 2nd floor…after gutting it I noticed that the sheathing was rotted away around the window. I also noticed a fair amount of dead carpenter ants in that area too. So one thing leads to the next and I wound up putting in new windows for that room and the family room below it. As a result, I had to put in new sheathing for a good portion of that wall along with Tyvek.
It is in the rear of the house, facing North. I don’t have time to reside and would like to wait till spring and do the whole house with new siding.
Will exposed Tyvek hold up over the winter? If I put fanfold insulation, will that help?
Thanks.
Replies
The Tyvek will survive the winter, if reasonably well secured. The question is whether it'll still be in good shape after that.
If you're going to be putting fanfold over the Tyvek anyway (though I don't know why you'd want to), I would think it would hold up well enough through the winter (secure well and tape the seams), and would protect the Tyvek from sun/wind sufficiently.
Get some good exterior stain/paint. Do a good job and seal the edges and then put Tyvek on and secure it and when you think you have it taped and nailed good enough go back and put some more fastners in.
Find out from Dupont how long the Tyvek will last exposed to the elements.
Runnerguy
Tyvek will hold up, physicaly, through the winter if taped and secured correctly. The performance of Tyvek as a vapor diffusing membrane will not survive the winter. It will act as a weather and wind barrier only after about 90 days of exposure.
I did exactly the same thing last winter, but replaced the Tyvek before installing the siding. My northern exposure walls looked better than the other three, but I replaced it anyway. The walls that were exposed to more direct sun light did not look bad, but the tyvek had pulled taut (It looked better than any install I have ever seen - no wrinckles anywhere, and I didn't install it wrinckle free). A sure sign that something was going on physically with the product.
A quick experiment with a scrap of Tyvek will show you what happens.
Lay a small sheet of Tyvek on a flat surface. Mark the perimeter of the sheet with a pencil. Use low heat on a hair dryer to blow on it for 5 or 10 min. The Tyvek will get smaller the longer you heat it.
The same thing happens on your house even in the winter. At some point durring that process the Tyvek looses the ability to diffuse moisture from behind it. Then you have the dreaded douple vp thing going on if you already have one inside the wall, or you just have a vp on the cold side of the assembly. Neither of which is a good thing.
Just replace it next spring and you will be fine.
Dave
Actually, Tyvek will pull taut the first time it gets wet.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Try the hair dryer thing. Set it on high heat and make a post card out of an 8x11 piece of Tyvek.
Artist are using it for all manner of things.
Dave
Couldn't you nail up some plywood for temporary siding? Or even T-1-11 (if you can find it). Nail it up with duplex nails so it's easy to remove in spring. Maybe cost is prohibitive?
Too bad it's not an election year -- old corrugated plastic lawn signs would work well.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
DANH
NOT MINE!
I PULLED UP ALL MINE AND WILL REUSE THEM THE NEXT TIME I RUN! <G>
I used mine as insulation baffles in the attic.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Use Typar. Last forever outside. I believe the warrantee says 4 years out side. Same price as tyvek but sun will not break it down.
Good luck