Replies

1. 
   PHILLK | Dec 21, 2004 05:58pm | #1

   I let mine sit for over a year as I finished Both Phases. If you're gonna go this rout, leave the lettering facing in ( It's more appealing ) see what I mean in pic.
   Siding can go on right after Tyvek, Just make sure your wall sheathing is dry before you Tyvek.

1. 
   blue_eyed_devil | Dec 24, 2004 05:14am | #5

   PhillK, it was my understanding that Tyvek has an exterior face, and an interior face. Tyvek allows moisture though one way, but not the other way.

   If that is true, you've created a moisture trap.

   I hope I'm wrong.

   blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!

1. 
   BillBrennen | Dec 24, 2004 09:36am | #6

   Blue,I am not 100% certain of it, but I don't think he has created a moisture trap by hanging the Tyvek backwards. I had it backwards on my house for about 120 days, and it was waterproof at the end of that time. Then I covered it with tarpaper and stucco job. The Tyvek is sort of like Gore-Tex, in that it has pores that are too small to admit water droplets, but plenty big to pass vapor molecules.The only reason I used the Tyvek was to serve as an attractive, tear-resistant temporary siding during a lengthy remodel. From 20' away it was hard to distinguish from a stucco wall. My stucco guy gave me good-natured grief about the letters on the inside, until I explained the rationale.Bill

2. 
   PHILLK | Dec 24, 2004 06:28pm | #7

   I was told by a reliable source that Tyvek in fact breathes both ways. Having the "Tyvec" side out makes for good advertising, of course. Besides if you roll and staple it up on the walls like they recommend the "tyvek" faces out. I prefer to pull it out on a flat ground surface, cut it to length, and then apply it to the walls. If you look at the labeling on the rolls there is no mention of orientation. Besides it looks better if it's going to be un-sided for any long duration. And it does'nt look bad if someone hangs it upside down.

3. 
   DanH | Dec 28, 2004 05:42am | #8

   There's no "inside" and "outside" to Tyvek, according to the manufacturer. Tyvek will allow water VAPOR through either way, but will not allow LIQUID water to pass.

1. 
   UncleDunc | Dec 28, 2004 05:58am | #9

   Last time I checked, Tyvek was not marketed or guaranteed as a water barrier. It is a vapor permeable air barrier. Fresh, new Tyvek may be waterproof, but time and contact with some common building material, such as cedar, may degrade that capability. You can't depend on Tyvek to shed liquid water over the long term.

1. 
   DanH | Dec 28, 2004 06:07am | #10

   True. But even when degraded it doesn't absorb or wick moisture, so it will shed liquid water pretty well.

2. 
   moltenmetal | Dec 29, 2004 04:13pm | #13

   Tyvek's like poor-man's GoreTex, right?  Sheds water but breathable to moisture?  I thought so too, until I put it to the test one day.  It was raining buckets and I put on a pair of Tyvek coveralls (you know, the ones the spray painters use) before I got on my bicycle.  By the time I got where I was going, I wished I hadn't- I was totally soaked.  Tyvek may shed water when it's in the vertical, but it sure as hell isn't waterproof...

3. 
   DanH | Dec 29, 2004 08:33pm | #14

   The problem with Tyvek is that once water gets inside it'll stay there. And it can get in at the sewn seams and any place where the material has become frayed. Unfrayed Tyvek with no seams is pretty much perfectly waterproof, even more so than GoreTex. (I've tested it.)

2. 
   dano1 | Dec 21, 2004 08:19pm | #2

   Tyvek is only UV safe for 60 to 90 days.  after that, you should replace the tyvek and then side it. we get a lot of people in our area that leave it exposed for years, figuring its cheap siding. 

1. 
   Ragnar17 | Dec 29, 2004 05:48am | #11

   a lot of people in our area that leave it exposed for years, figuring its cheap siding. 

   I'm waiting for the day when there will be "designer" Tyvek.  I can hear the advertisements now: "The look of brick or horizontal siding for a fraction of the cost!"  :)

1. 
   Pierre1 | Dec 29, 2004 06:26am | #12

   You're onto a great product idea there...

2. 
   aimless | Dec 29, 2004 09:42pm | #15

   Once upon a time when I was little my aunt and uncle bought a fixer upper that had been sided with heavy tarpaper (not quite shingles, but then maybe it started out thicker). The tarpaper had pictures of bricks painted onto it.

1. 
   DanH | Dec 29, 2004 09:58pm | #16

   I remember seeing hundreds (if not thousands) of homes with this stuff on them, back when I was a kid.

1. 
   MikeSmith | Dec 29, 2004 10:13pm | #17

   i can still show you houses with the asphalt brick siding on themMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

2. 
   JeffBuck | Dec 29, 2004 11:33pm | #18

   Insulbrick?

    

   Jeff  Buck Construction 

      Artistry in Carpentry

           Pgh, PA

3. 
   DanH | Dec 21, 2004 11:01pm | #3

   I think the Tyvek people say 90 days. There's probably a lot of variation in practice, depending on exposure (the less sun the better) and how well it's fastened down (the wind can wear it thin if it flaps too much). Likely the 90 days is just the range for them to still guarantee the properties of the stuff.

   It will hold up for years, but will lose much of its water resistance.

4. 
   DThompson | Dec 21, 2004 11:36pm | #4

   My limit of Tyvek with no siding was as long as I could tolerate the piece that came loose, flapping in the wind and activating my motion detector outdoor lights. It was a back yard light so I didn't think it was so bad, but when the wife had her bags packed and was headed out the door I finally fixed it. How did I know she was serious.