Rigid Foam inplace of Wood sheathing
I have always sheathed a house in ply or osb. Recently I’ve seen a lot of articles on using rigid foam inplace of the wood sheathing. Sounds great for the added R value and reduced lumber costs, but
– Does this method work with vinyl siding?
– Are you using diagional bracing to beef up the wall?
– Do you stud around the window, or nail the windows and doors through the foam into the wall studing?
– Any special things to take into consideration?
Replies
Greetings carloa007, Welcome to Breaktime.
This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again.
Perhaps it will catch someones attention that can help you with advice.
Cheers
'Nemo me impune lacesset'
No one will provoke me with impunity
We have a local builder who is using 1" foam and no sheathing. Then he comes in to order exterior doors and wants a 5" jamb. Not 5 1/4", not 6 9/16". Just 5". Told him how much it was for a custom sized door jamb and threshold and he gets pissed. Duh.
I think I would consider bringing the foam inside
under the sheetrock and sticking with osb/ply on the exterior
Don't come to Georgia. While I wouldn't mind you visiting, the local building folks around this place seem to think rigid foam-board as being God's gift to the construction industry, even though most crack builders selling $500-600K spec homes are using it.
Personally, foam board has purpose as a sheathing material is the postential for nail to strike it is at bay. I had to re-seal ~30-35 holes in my walkout basement because the folks that hung the Hardiplank missed the studs (not all their fault since the Latinos couldn't frame 'OC' in the first place) and the nails punched 1" holes in the foam. Nice for an slight wind.
While they claim their decision is one of insulation, I call Bull$hit. Its being used because it takes a lot less time for one monkey to cut it up and put it into place, and the builder saves over traditional sheathing materials (e.g. plywood and OSB). Spec builders don't give a rats ar$e about energy efficiency in the homes they are making. Their philosophy is "if I build it, they will buy it."
Curious, what is foamboard rated for in terms of projectile force (nails)? :)
You sound a little bitter <O>I really can't blame you, there is a lot of crap out thereand some awful prices to match. But until the John Q. Publicis educated this will continue to happen.<I had to re-seal ~30-35 holes in my walkout basement because the folks that hung the Hardiplank missed the studs>
I assume these were on unfinished walls so you could see the holesbut what about the ones you couldn't see in the rest of the house. Or where you there before sheetrock and were able to seal these also?
Bitter, and a bit of cynicism. :)
Yeah, its an unfinished basement and attic. I got to see a lot, but unfortunately that was after I had closed on the house. ANother life's lesson. As for the holes in the finished spaces I am pretty much screwed. I'm not about to take out the sheetrock or the hardi siding to re-sheath. I'd rather burn the place down.
So, answer me this if you don't mind: what did you pay per heated sq foot for the complete package and give me an estimate of the worth of the lot.
Edited 3/5/2006 8:03 pm ET by Matt
Matt, The house was purchased for $247,900. The builder's land value estimate differs from the insurance company's estimate. The builder says the lot is worth $30K, the insurance company says $22K at most. The builder claimed 2650 heated square-feet, which I think was the reported value on their building permit.
Nuke, you have got to have one of the worst cases of buyer's remorse that I've seen in a while. Jon, time is heals all things, until I'm reminded to go fix/hide things when considering selling this first house of mine.
I think some of you have not yet realized my rather dark demeanor. :) This same house sold for $300K two years ago. I think, though, I am willing to not make a profit when it comes time to sell it, but what it is costing me to make the property enticing to someone other than a 1st time buyer (with first-time buyer eyes) is going to be costly.
OK - you bought a house for roughly $85 a sq ft (excluding lot cost). Five years ago isn't that long - things haven't changed that much...
So, what do you think you should get for $85 a foot? And, you even got hardie plank? Don't get me wrong, even the most inexpensive house should have reasonable quality workmanship, but foam board - yea, you are gonna get that...
Take a look at his posting, and the ones around it that relate: http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=67972.435
It's the old "you get what you pay for".
Matt, it isn't what 'I' got for $85/SqFt, but what builders have chosen regardless of the sold price of the home. As I mentioned earlier, there are houses going for twice what I paid with 25% more SqFt and getting the same thing. I know a lot of people don't like to look at it in terms of $/SqFt (I'm not advocating or denouncing), which is why I didn't bother illustrating homes in the $150-175/SqFt getting foamed. :)
But then again I have to wonder how much more in material cost it would have been to OSB-sheath and offer it as an option. Considering that the local Latino crews quoted (around the time after my home was built) was $4.25/SqFt to frame (on basement, $3.25/SqFt on slab) this seemed independent of materials of choice in the labor-to-frame variable.
But it was buyer ignorance and lack of builder option(s) that results in a lot of heartache. And its the foundation of comments about my drafty house. Although I can say from my efforts in the basement thus far it is a lot more statically comfortable than the floors above it. The again, I didn't go shooting nails into foam. :)
Nuke, you have got to have one of the worst cases of buyer's remorse that I've seen in a while.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
And if there's disclosure laws down there in Lanta, he'd better burn the majority of his posts.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
I've seen that used up in Ontario in subdivision land. Was tellig a buddy of mine who just bought a house like that how easy it would be to bust a whole through his vinyl/foam/sheetrock wall. Kind of a three little pigs analogy. At some point you got wonder where you draw the line btw. energy efficiency and withstanding a hurricane.
OTOH there seems to be two schools of thought regarding the necessity of sheathing, letting in diagonal bracing is/was done alot on the west coast. I personally don't like to use anything less than plywood.
I've used 1" rigid insul. fixed to 1/2" OSB and then nailed vinyl through the rigid insulation into the OSB, no problem. It is common practice to do that here in Ont. as it reduces the size of studs from 6" to 4" as well as the thickness of batt insul. Trying to find the framing to nail without the OSB backing can be a challenge.
m
Foam board has been in use for exterior sheathing for close to 30 years that I know of.
As far as I know no foam has a structural rating, so all that I have seen installed required some type of metal bracing at the house corners, and possibly a structural panel every 25' of long straight walls depending on what local building codes say.
All: here is an idea: how about sheathing the house with 1" foam, and then 1/2" foam at the corners on the outside with a structural panel nailed directly to the studs?
Hi Carloa007,
Framed several homes at Habitat for Humanities in central Indiana. They osb the corners and 1/2 foam everything else. Windows and doors go right over the foam. It's a challange to find a stud at times for the vinyl siding and you wind up with lots of nail holes trying to find a stud. I have seen local builders cut a saw kerf at corners, put metal T bracing in the kerf and foam the entire house.
My house is foam and vinyl. You could break in with a utility knife. Live near some railroad tracks and it took several months to get used to it. You can hear the vinyl siding slapping on the foam when the wind blows hard enough.
JC
Useless things in aviation. 1. Altitude above you. 2 Runway behind you. 3 Fuel in the fuel truck.
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