I’ve got to ask this question regarding structural sheetgoods as plywood and osb on the walls of a building.
How much moisture is going to be able to be dispersed thru the sheet and around a seam when nailed with an 8 inch pattern into a 2x stud?
Can moisture from an enclosed casket created in those stud bays filled with insulation be able to readily find it’s way out?
Would small holes drilled in the top plate vented to an attic or cold roof vent space assist the mechanism without imparting more moisture into the play?
It just seems a vapor barrier on the inside and the perm rating of tight sheet goods is going to hold too much moisture that gets in there.
Replies
It is Halloween eve. Open that enclosed casket and let out whatever is inside!
Are you trying to figure out how long it will take for the body to dry out and stop smelling.
Roar! No, an entrapped mouse body is in worse shape in that it rests below 1/2 celotex foil backed insulation that was cut tight to fit between the rafters of the cold roof and caulked. Followed by layers of Dow blueboard.
It's been two weeks and I fear it will be more like two months since the smell, tho' lessened in intensity, is still noticeable.
I was really wondering about the sheet goods question without meaning to lead to anything by the casket comment.
Must be a subconscious thought surfacing from halloween capers.
Edited 10/31/2004 7:24 pm ET by rez
rez - it'll take quite a bit of time (on the human scale, not the cosmic scale) for things to equalize...on the other hand, what goes faster than time?
quit worryin' about the mouse - it'll go away - set up camp in another room for a while - - sure it's a mouse, and not something bigger?
"there's enough for everyone"
Sure hope it's a mouse. Took out the rest of the family on peanutbutter bait, heh heh
be a Mutsu
Nothing specifically on OSB in here, but I'd bet it's at least in the vicinity of 1/2" ply considering all the paraffin and glue in the stuff.
Ya, so placing 6mil poly under the drywall could be like creating a double vaporbarrier?
"Ya, so placing 6mil poly under the drywall could be like creating a double
vapor barrier?"
Yup. But who doesn't do this these days in typical house construction?
House will be sheathed in either ply, OSB and/or XPS. 4 or 6 mil on interior side. Consequently there's potential for problems……if…….moisture finds its way inside and can't get out. That's why appropriate materials and sound detailing practices are critical to prevent water/moisture entry. Old houses like this one sheathed in solid wood but having no plastic vapor barriers, have a built-in natural way of wicking any moisture that makes its way into the wall cavity back to the exterior side……...providing someone didn't screw that up along the way with the addition of foam sheeting under vinyl or aluminum siding.
Moisture can enter wall cavities via 4 basic ways. Liquid water leaks in shell or roof, bulk air entry, vapor diffusion thru the materials or moisture can be present at time of sealing from wet building materials. If no excess water moisture is present and none enters, you won't have a terrarium. Better to keep it out than try to get it out after the fact with today's common building materials and techniques.
FHB April/May 1994 had a pretty good article. Air And Vapor Barriers.
I wouldn't personally go drilling any holes in the top plate in attempts to vent the wall cavities. It'll let bulk air in, too. And it won't probably work worth a hoot anyway….even if you devised a one-way valve for the holes. It's a long way from the top plate to the bottom of the stud bay. The holes would however, offer mice a way into the wall cavities.
Ever smell one of those things when they die in the wall? The odor can be disturbing until it eventually dissipates. That can take a year or more sometimes. ;-)
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
oh gawd.
I should just quit this and build new from ground up.
Don't worry about the dead mouse deal. It'll soon be a faint memory.
If you wanna smell something foul, you shoulda been along with us years ago when we were called in to do some remodeling in an old farmhouse. Guy wanted it fixed up so it could once again become rental property.
Ballon-framed 2"x6" stud bays open-ended in the attic. Momma coon crawled down a bay, gave birth to four and then about six weeks later got hit on the road out in front of the place.
A bad odor appeared about a week later. Real bad. Gag ya when you walked in the door bad. Followed our noses to the likely source on ground floor, grabbed a sawzall and tried to cut a hole in there just above the odor source. We succeeded, too. Reached down in to a pool of jellied carcasses.
Ooops. Shoulda asked first.
You aren't eating right now, are you?
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Edited 11/1/2004 12:08 pm ET by GOLDHILLER
""Ya, so placing 6mil poly under the drywall could be like creating a double
vapor barrier?"
Yup. But who doesn't do this these days in typical house construction? "
That is why Buildingscience is getting away from recommending poly except in the extreme cold climates.
If he'd just go ahead and cremate the little sucker and be done with it...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!