I am building a house and installed 1†rigid foam on the exterior of the OSB sheathing. The original intent was that the foil on the foam would be the weather barrier, as per Dow’s Tuff-R product specs. All joints are taped with Dow Weathermate construction tape, as specified.
The foam has gotten damaged here and there due to the usual things that go on at a construction site. I have decided to Tyvek the exterior, on top of the foam (after repairing the foam).
Question is, how do I install the Tyvek? With 3/8†staples normally used for fastening Tyvek, the Tyvek will blow off the foam before we get to installing the siding.
Suggestions on fastening the Tyvek on top of foam?
Replies
Just tack it with a minimal amount of 2" roofing nails.
We don't usually use Tyvek over foam unless it is the semi- permeable stuff used to remodel old houses with the interior wall intact.
Are you sure you even need the Tyvek?
Edited 2/1/2009 11:16 am ET by BoJangles
Can't say I'm sure, but am thinking of it.
Plasticap nails.
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Don't waste your money. Foil faced foam doesn't breath. I would however put up a rain screen like 'home slicker' so the siding can dry out.
http://www.umass.edu/bmatwt/publications/articles/housewraps_feltpaper_weather_penetration_barriers.html
http://www.buildernewsmag.com/viewnews.pl?id=21
I do understand about the foil face. However, it is damaged all over the place, so I am thinking of a belt and suspenders approach with Tyvek.
Second the plastic caps. The staple gun is cheaper than the plastic cap nail gun. How thick is the foam? Id make sure that the plastic cap nails/staples penetrate deep enough into the OSB. The caps have a better shear resistance (good for that high wind you were talking about), and they also bump out the siding to allow a little air movement (not as much as a rainscreen wall, but more than just t-50 staples).
"The staple gun is cheaper than the plastic cap nail gun."I doubt a one time DIY is going to need to buy a gun. He probably has a hammer that works just fine.
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So here is the conclusion of this episode:1. After some back and forth the idea of the house wrap has been abandoned. We'll just go with repairs to the foam.2. The cap nailer I had ordered from my framer's favorite line of nailers arrived. He took one look and pronounced it site unworthy (my words). The magazines for nails and caps are both plastic. He said one fall of the gun, and the nailer would be a write-off.
Another useful tool for a job like yours is a j-roller. Use it to smooth and firm down the tape over your seams. This will give you better results than you get from hand pressure alone.Amazon has them for $10 or $15. Using a circular saw and guide rail to cut the foam, I often can get very tight seams between the panels. Otherwise I try to achieve about a quarter inch gap and shoot in the minimally expanding foam to about half the depth of the seam, or a little more. Then tape over that.
Was that a Senco (grip rite) cap stapler? I bought one off eBay brand new for $26! No one seemed interested in bidding on it, they normally sell for a couple hundred.It's nice, but there is a lot of plastic, and the staples are only 7/8 inch long. If you pick it up wrong it will flip the staple magazine open and the staples fall out. I did have to order the staples and caps, the closest local supplier is about 27 miles from me.I ordered the staples from tool barn, they have awesome service, and some of the best prices.
It was a Hitachi NV50AP3. I bought it a decent price from Amazon. All the others were about +$100.
That is tough plastic, polycarbonate.
I know what you mean - but my framer had made up his mind and he was not going to be lead astray by facts.
Just put the good aluminum tape over the defects. I'm assuming they aren't huge, but if they are the bad sections could be cut out and replaced.
The rigid foam is 1" Dow Tuff-R. It is made up of a "closed-cell polyisocyanurate foam core", and foil facers. Besides the cost of material and labor to install, I wonder if there is a down-side to installing Tyvek over it.