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Tyvek installed in “wet” area

BUSTER | Posted in Construction Techniques on June 14, 2012 01:33am

Hi again, I have another problem with the house I purchased along Washington coast: I went to replace the brick moulding on my 6 yr old house…finding a very sad surprise:  the Tyvek evidently was installed after the door(not somthing I would EVER do), the OSB sheathing was saturated!!

The siding is Hardi-Board lap siding. My wife is thinking I need to remove the siding/sheathing! I have since found that other houses around the area which had the Tyvek installed was being removed. I also have spoken to contractors familiar with building along the coast.

They ALL say Tyvek is crap since it does not “breath”…holding moisture in.

Now, my delima: what do I do now? Does anyone know of a suit against this product? Is the contractor liable at all?

 

Thanks much!

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Replies

  1. calvin | Jun 14, 2012 06:41am | #1

    Buster

    I think you'll find that the installation techniques used for the tyvek, the windows / doors / other penetrations, to be at fault.

    That water found it's way behind the house wrap is the culprit.  It's hard for things to dry out in a wet climate when the source of entry isn't taken care of.

    I don't know of any class action suits but would be surprised if the payout would even come close to solving your problem.  I would think you'd have to prove product failure (remove all the siding and show that proper housewrap install was done) beyond any doubt and then what would they give you?   another roll?

    Best of luck in this-a different course of action might be to go after the builder.

    1. BUSTER | Jun 14, 2012 09:30am | #2

      Thanks! People not from around this area do not realize when you are on the coast line, rain rarely falls vertcally! The beach house is planned to be our retirement location w-in the next decade(bought the house last fall via an online auction!). I am amazed the previous owners evidently just lived with this problem! But i agree with you about the need to seals the penetrations. As for the contr: he folded. Not sure if there was a way to go for his bond/insurance, but oh well. I guess pulling the windows/doors will give me something to do when I go up there. I Oregon where I reside full-time, you can't legally install the "old-style" Tyvek, because it was not permitting water getting behind the siding from draining. The "new/improved Tyvek" supposedly provides this drainage.

      1. Hokuto | Jun 14, 2012 09:47am | #3

        I doubt the Tyvek is the problem

        The real problem is likely the application of Hardiplank directly against the WRB (Tyvek) in a climate where you're guaranteed to get large amounts of water behind the cladding. Water gets behind the siding, but has no way to get out. The water (or something else) may have also added surfactants that destroyed the Tyvek's ability to shed water.

        I just finished (well, a year ago) ripping off the rotting LP Innerseal siding from our house and installing prepainted Hardiplank--but I made it a rain-screen installation instead of the conventional one we had before.

        Fine Homebuilding had an article about this a decade back; check out this URL:

        https://www.finehomebuilding.com/how-to/articles/siding-with-rain-screen-walls.aspx?ac=ts&ra=fp

        If you can't access the article directly, it's been reprinted online elsewhere; try googling for it. More recent articles and bits about rainscreen walls can be found on FHB and the JLC website.

  2. User avater
    xxPaulCPxx | Jun 14, 2012 01:38pm | #4

    Tyvek does breath, but it will also let water in like EVERY OTHER PRODUCT YOU DON'T INSTALL CORRECTLY!  I hate it when people blame the product for the installation.

    As mentioned before, a rainscreen is what you need, along with tyvec tape and bitumen sealing tape, after to correct the wet OSB details.

    Yes, you may have to pull it all off to correct the problem.  It's not just at your door, it's at all your windows as well.

  3. User avater
    evujevich | Jun 14, 2012 07:14pm | #5

    Easy Compodre,

    It cant be Tyveks fault seeing as how there's millions and millions of homes out there using the product..  There are hundreds of building products out there, and it is up to the contractors to figure out how to apply them in their region.  Marine, coastal, dry, cold climates will all have to do something different then the next guy.  As for "my advice" (by the way tyvek is permeable, meaning it breathes and will resist great mount of moisture at the same time.  Like a windbreaker jacket for example), my advice in a wet region would be to; yes take the hardyboard off, install 2x2's (pressure treated, treat it yourself, or buy 2x6 and rip them down, w/e.) and strap over the current tyvek along the studs from your exterior walls.  Then re-install the hardyboard overtop.  Reasoning? Called a controlled rainscreen. Install a J channel underneath.. which will collect the moisture that penetrates past the hardyboard.. this way the moisture can run off, plus the walls will breathe even more, alowing the tyvek to do ITS job, and thats to dryout..  Problem was entrapment.  Depending on the size of the house, this would be a fun weekend job if you ask me... Besides this would be a perfect opportunity to tuck tape any seams, windows, or around the door for that matter... Oh and, the contractor that installed the siding, and tyvek is not liable, because the method I just explained is quite new, and is not code on residential homes.  However u ever notice commercial buildings with the clading before the clading goes up?  Funny them buildings last quite a long time.  And no not just because they use blueskin..  as matter of fact its not recomeded to blueskin in cold environments for example because then your traping air between the poly on the warm side, and the blueskin which also traps air, and condensation occurs due to thermal bridging causing what? mold... so theres a fine line between traping /sealing and controlling how your hourse breathes.. dont tread water upstream...

  4. User avater
    evujevich | Jun 14, 2012 07:33pm | #6

    Last Post was to Buster

    like xxPaulCPxx mentioned tho, it could very well be shaudy work, or simply that enough moisture diluted the glues, or whatever, im not blaming. Just agreeing with what needs to be done with everyone else.  Might just rip down my siding now just cus of all this talk, and put it back up for fun... see whats underneath u know..

  5. BUSTER | Jun 16, 2012 12:42am | #7

    Thanks much for your explaining what you & others believe to be the problem. I think it may be worth my time to pull the window trim, reseal the windows, see how things go from there. Sounds like fun!

    1. Hokuto | Jun 16, 2012 09:49am | #8

      I don't think you mentioned it, but if you've had any problem with the trim's holding paint, be sure to take the opportunity of having the trim off to back-prime it if hasn't been done before--heck, even if it has been done before, back-prime it again!

        IMHO, The best (read: ideal) solution, as several of us have hinted,would naturally be to remove the siding/trim, check out the entire Tyvek installation, let the OSB dry out, install more Tyvek and seal it properly with Tyvek tape (over edges of Tyvek-Tyvek laps) and butyl rubber tape (over Tyvek-nailing fin joints), then do a rain screen installation of new siding. Cost a lot? Definitely. But unless you're able to sort out where the water problem is, and how extensive, you'll just be delaying the inevitable, and at greater cost later.

      PS: This is an amateur speaking, but I consider myself a quick study, and I've read most of what's available on the web regarding rain screen walls; in my opinion, it's a no-brainer, if you can at all afford the marginal extra in materials, labor, and time.

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