Insulating in hot humid wood panel finish wall
Hello I have slowly been remolding a small sized home in New Orleans and am finally at the point of insulating and putting up wall covering. My walls from the outside in are :
1. Cypress siding primed on all six sides
2. 1/4 vertical plywood strapping
3. 30 # tar paper
4. Osb
now I am thinking about installing
5. Rouxul bats
6. Some type of air barrier (any thoughts on something like delta vent s stapled onto studs with seams taped in lieu of drywall?
7. 1/2 Reclaimed heart pine wood sheathing original to the house with a Shiplap joint.
im getting tripped up on the air barrier! I really don’t want to install drywall under the wood paneling as I have seen so much moldy drywall down here!
Thanks so much for any advice! It’s been a learning process.
frankie
Replies
You most definitely need an air barrier. What about paperless drywall? I wrote it up in the magazine close to 20 years ago, but here's a more recent piece on it.
https://www.finehomebuilding.com/2010/03/11/fight-mold-with-paperless-drywall
a ha! Thats a good thought. I didn't know that paperless drywall existed. thanks for the insight.
I'm still a little nervous about any sort of drywall though in this environment. Do you think some sort of vapor permeable yet airtight membrane would work? Or maybe plywood with seams taped?
A membrane seems fragile without backing. And OSB or plywood contains a lot more mold food than does paperless drywall. Mold needs organic material to feed on, as well as water, air, and warm temperatures. Remove any one of those things and mold can't grow.