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fanfold insulation and tyvek

| Posted in Construction Techniques on August 3, 2002 01:01am

sorry guys – posted this a while back but didn;t get any hits. Installing new vinyl siding – I’d like to put up some 1/4″ fanfold insulation under it – if the edges and ovelaps are properly taped, does the insulation serve as housewrap or do you need Tyvek over or under it?

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  1. User avater
    BossHog | Aug 03, 2002 08:47pm | #1

    "posted this a while back but didn;t get any hits. "

    Yes you did:

    http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&msg=21980.1

    "If we are here to help others, what are the others here for?"

  2. 4Lorn1 | Aug 04, 2002 06:17am | #2

    Fanfold, at least all the stuff around here, has perforations in it. Every few inches there is a small hole. Looks to me to be about one 1/16" hole every 2" or so. I take this as an effort to prevent the Fanfold becoming a second vapor barrier and trapping moisture in the walls.

    It is still a good question. I may be installing some vinyl siding in the near future and was wondering if Fanfold would add anything to the installation. It is rated at R-2 if I remember  correctly. Considering the cost and the insulation currently installed on the house I will be working on, nada, it might pay for itself in a few years.

    1. jet | Aug 04, 2002 06:28am | #3

      The parents house in the eastern townships of Quebec had no insulation either. So we put 1" closed cell foam, tapped the joints, strapped, then sided. I must assume that if your job has no insulation then like us there was no vapor barrier either.

      1. 4Lorn1 | Aug 04, 2002 11:57am | #4

        Correct, no vapor barrier. It's an old grandmother cottage out back of a main house. No insulation. Ply siding and what looks like the remainder of asphalt roll roofing for siding. The interior has dilapidated paneling about 3/16" thick.

        We were thinking that the place could be done over a little at a time. Starting with the siding seemed reasonable to keep the weather out. Oddly the 5V roofing is still in good shape so the siding seemed the next concern.

        Once the siding is up it may stay at this stage for some time. My friend is thinking of it as shop space until the place becomes livable so we were thinking the Fanfold would give the shop just a bit of insulation. Eventually, in several years or as determined by the funds available, he may rent it out or allow one of his kids to move in when finished.

        After the siding he is pushing for me to rewire the place. Then, he was talking 5 years to completion, insulation (I was pushing R-19 FG with 3/4" foil faced iso board as added insulation and vapor barrier. He is talking R-19 and poly) and then drywall.

        1. jet | Aug 04, 2002 12:52pm | #5

          Ah, So your gonna rip the inside and do it up right. So yes the fan fold will keep the wind from blowing through and give a minor insulation factor.

           Beware of the zonolite!!!!!   If any previous owners poured that sh*t into the walls for insulation then it will be a pain in the a**. It was all over the house at my parents. The best was when we thought we had it all out we found that the stuff had run between the first and second floor/ceiling. Opened up the ceiling in the living room and showered ourselves with it. filled 15 contractor sized garbage bags full.

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