I know this discussion has been done to death, but what are everybody’s preferences these days? Tar paper seems much cheaper and its been around forever. I gotta cover up my house ASAP with all the rain we’ve been having in NY.
CRaig
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
The Fine Homebuilding Podcast team chats about how to prevent roof sheathing from rotting.
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
One half likes tar paper the other half likes tyvek.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
I prefer felt, but that doesn't make any other system wrong.
You forgot the other half that uses both!
I've had great success using tar paper for projects I knew would be left unsided fro awhile seems less likely to rip, snag, etc. Otherwise my preference would be a housewrap such as tyvek (lighter and faster install) if it's not left out in the open too long. Some have a problem with the heat absorbtion of the black asphalt paper.
gotta cover up my house ASAP with all the rain we've been having in NY
For me, I think a person (or a couple of people) can get to weather-tight faster with felt paper.
Now, whether you can get to vapor-tight with tyvek, that's an entirely different debate.
I just can't picture how stapling tyvek to sheathing is going to keep rain out. But, maybe I'm just an old dog about such new tricks (or only remember tyvek being marketed as a vapor barrier, not as a weather barrier).
From my experience Tyvek did keep the rain out for a few months, where as the felt curled up real fast. If I had been putting on the siding right away, I might have opted for the felt. Dupont claims Tyvek can sit uncovered for 3 months beforethe UV breaks it down.
But, maybe I'm just an old dog about such new tricks (or only remember tyvek being marketed as a vapor barrier, not as a weather barrier).
Tyvek was never marketed as a vapor barrier! In fact, it's whole marketing emphasis is that it will let water vapor pass "safely" outside from interior wall cavities.
Tyvek is marketed as an "air infiltration barrier"; .i.e., it's supposed to block wind and drafts from getting through walls. But water vapor is supposed to diffuse right through.
Craigabooey.
I used both.. City required tyvek but my application needed tar paper..
I use both, BUT, I use Typar rather than Housewrap. Typar will last longer exposed, it's not as slick (when you've got a ladder against it) and the muted gray color is one hell of a lot easier on the eyes than that white stuff.
I used the pink wrap once (at the customer's insistence) and found it to be flimsy and doesn't last very long at all exposed.
I use tarpaper if I'm going to cover right away...in my experience, it wrinkles and sags if left out very long without some lath or something to hold it in place.
Edited 8/28/2006 7:33 pm by Notchman
I think both the Tyvek and Typar folks make versions of their products which are designed for prolonged exposure. Of course, they'll cost more and be harder to find.At some point it might be best to just tack up some cheap exterior panelling or some such. (Or, after November, shingle the sides with political lawn signs.)
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
there's a product called jumbo tex out there and it seems to be the best of both worlds. 40"x 240sq.ft. on a roll about 6" in diameter. the paper is very tough like tyvek with an asphalt emulsion coating (I'm not a chemist). plus it's cheaper than 15# felt
I like felt because it is designed to shed water, and housewraps are not. They are designed to block wind, as another poster has already pointed out. But felt applied correctly will also block wind, so it gives you a double bang for your buck. Plus, it's less expensive to start with.
In addition, I've opened up walls on 75-year-old houses and found the felt in perfect condition. I don't think I'm gonna live long enough to find out if housewraps will meet that standard. The stuff is only about 15 or 20 years old now.
If you get your strapping on over the felt right away, it won't curl or blow off in high winds, and you can use an HT-65 to tack it in place which is very fast and easy.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
New construction near here - they used neither! Siding right up on sheathing!
Gotta find my camera for the FHB guys - they're building more...
Brooks
I bet that vinyl siding is slapped right over the 7/16 osb or worse yet tuff-r! On a similar note, I do recall seeing some real cheap vinyl siding basically melting when applied over the reflective type cardboard sheathing, the heat built up so much behind that siding it literally softened the vinyl to the point of melting.
I hope that this will end the discussion, right here. Some things in carpentry are just plain commonsense. Sometimes you get confused about materials and techniques, but the answer is straightforward and not that hard. So, in the battle of tyvek vs tar paper, tyvek wins. If I were to stand out in the rain, would I chose tyvek or tar paper to cover my body. I think Tyvek. Out in the sun: Tyvek again. And by the way, 25 year oud tar paper will look like new if there has been no water damage. It is no surprise that old tar paper looks new. By the way, tar paper turnsgrey left out in sun and rain. It is loosing it tar in the tar paper. On an inn, they were putting this Tyvek type material but much better, rain screen and then cement siding. Iknow that it will last for a very long time. Tyvek looks like plastic and I think that why some don't think it is insignificant. Ofcourse there is the debate of homes being airtight and not able to breathe. I think that is a legitimate discusion, may be.