Replies

1. 
   Sphere | Jun 02, 2005 04:21am | #1

   If it is vinyl, yes..it needs weep holes ( alum. too).

   Wood? No. Some one is yanking a chain.

     Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

   The Morphine    s eems  to do no good at all..I'd run all the way if I would not fall...

    

2. 
   hammer1 | Jun 03, 2005 05:11pm | #2

   You are right, that venting wood clapboards is a step to correct paint adhesion problems. I haven't seen it in quite a few years. The idea was to allow the backs of the siding to breathe and let the moisture escape. Poorly insulated homes with no interior vapor barrier, would allow interior moisture to migrate through the walls and cause the exterior paint to lift. This was a big problem when older buildings had good central heating systems installed and drafty windows and doors tightened up. The costs of painting these places led to the proliferation of vinyl and other replacement siding materials.

   I can't say whether the vents worked particularly well. The cost of buying the paint was often as much as having the house re-sided, so most folks around here went that route. Some people forget that exterior maintenance played a role in the development of todays building methods, energy conservation was not the only driving factor. Interior vapor barriers, back priming exterior materials and paint chemistry all play a part in mitigating the old peeling paint problems. Adding wedge vents to the clapboards was one attempt along the way.

   I think there are always additional factors that come into play with paint adhesion problems. Climate, exposure, wood species, landscaping, type of paint and degree of preparation are all important issues and can play as big a part as vents. I think I would look at the current paint problems to determine if the vents should be reopened. The vents would not have been original when the siding was installed. They would have been a later addition. It's likely that the paint was not lasting very long and it was coming off in blisters and bubbles. Therefore the vents were added.

   If the existing paint is blistering, opening the vents could help. Why the last painter caulked them is a mystery. It could have been due to ignorance or it may have been an attempt to correct another problem, (bugs, drafts, water). Knowing the history of the house's paint would be a big help. Sorry, I don't have any history with the vents to know if they work or not.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match