Home Slicker^® in the Press

Endorsements

• Wausau Supply Company
• Northwest Wall & Ceiling Bureau
• Churchill Coatings Corporation
• Bois Aisé
• WindsorOne
• Maibec
• Mews Long-Term Moisture Indicator

Awards

• Building Products MVP Awards
• Pro Sales Editor's Choice Award

Article Reprints

• May 2002 issue of Remodeling
• July 2002 issue of Journal of Light Construction
• May/June 2002 issue of Custom Home

Rainscreen Quotes:
Exterior Walls and Moisture in the Media

“Moisture engineering is an important area of near-term research that has already attracted a number of industry and government research efforts. Water damage is the predominant cause of building deterioration…A better understanding of moisture movement in buildings is likely to result in new products such as ‘self-drying’ wall and roof designs. The need for these designs follow from the recent acceptance of a new paradigm for moisture control: water cannot be kept out of buildings forever, therefore designs should stress removing moisture rather than keeping it out.”

“Future Building Envelope Research,” Architectural Specifier, May/June, 2000, p. 6.

“No one builds a perfect exterior wall. That’s why other correctly built cladding systems…incorporate basic water management principles such as a drainage plane, flashing, and weeping. As long as water has a way out of a cladding system, it won’t degrade framing, insulation, and other water-sensitive elements.”

Jim Reicherts, “Getting it Straight on Substrates,” Architectural Specifier, May/June, 2000, p. 45.

“Creating an air space behind wood siding is the best way to prevent rot, mold, cupping, and paint failure…The air space not only equalizes pressure behind the siding, which prevents penetration of wind-driven rain, but also allows any moisture that makes it way behind the siding to escape.”

Henri de Marne “Rain Screen Siding Retrofit,” Journal of Light Construction, April, 1998, p. 53.

“A study last year by …. the University of Massachusetts at Amherst found that cedar contains surfactants that, if they leach out, can compromise the water resistance of building papers and housewraps…(Joe) Lstiburek recommends using 15lb. or 30lb. building paper and furring out clapboards at least 1/4 in…This ‘vented drainage plane’ (also called a ‘rainscreen’) is an old idea gaining new popularity, especially in Canada. There are many ways to build a rainscreen, but the idea is to let water and vapor escape before they do any damage. It also means that the siding, if it does get wet, cannot leave surfactants on the wall.”

Zachary Gaulkin, “Back-prime or Beware: Cedar Siding Can Strike Back,” Fine Homebuilding, August/September, 1998, p. 48.

“Wood-frame construction employs the rainscreen concept with a variety of cladding systems. It is routinely used in combination with brick veneer claddings, and metal, vinyl, wood, or stucco finishes would also benefit from this type of construction. In addition to reducing penetration, the rainscreen allows siding to dry faster, and allows moisture escaping the building by diffusion or air leakage to dissipate better.”

Canadian Wood Council, “Wood Building Technology,” Wood Text Series, p. 263.

“A limited amount of experimental data indicates that ventilating the siding results in lower moisture levels in the siding. The Moisture Control Handbook, published by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oakridge, TN) describes the rainscreen design…as a way to reduce the amount of rainwater entering into the walls. In summary, ventilating horizontal lap siding may improve its service life…(It) is also reasonably inexpensive and easy to execute.”

“…We expect that installation of wood-based siding applied over furring strips accelerates drying of rain-wetted siding, particularly when installed over foam sheathing.”

Mark Knaebe and Charles Carll, “Before You Install Exterior Wood-Based Siding,” The Finish Line – A Forest Products Laboratory finishing factsheet, December, 1995.

“There is a reasonable consensus that we need to be draining behind all cladding systems,” (building scientist Mark) LaLiberte says. “With a housewrap that is a fairly flat product and doesn’t swell like building paper, I think there are concerns.”

Greg Brooks, “Safe House,” Pro Sales, July, 2000, p. 53.

“…Water trapped between siding and housewrap may gradually break down the housewrap’s resistance to liquid water, allowing bulk water to begin reaching the sheathing and framing. (University of Massachusetts professor Paul Fisette) put his students to work testing the water-repellency of different housewrap brands, as well as standard 15-pound felt paper. They discovered that many housewraps don’t resist standing water very well. They also found that even the better-performing housewraps and building paper lost their water resistance if exposed to surfactants or extractives (tannins and other substances that leach out of woods like cedar and redwood).”

Ted Cushman, “Can Moisture Beat Housewrap? Researchers Probe Wall System Failures,” The Journal of Light Construction, June, 1997, p. 9.

“The homeowners complained of wet carpet…They saw mold on the subfloor…Holes were cut in the drywall to inspect the framing, and there was a quarter inch of standing water in the bottom of the stud cavities.”

“We believe that wind-driven rain is the source of the moisture,” says Timothy Sullivan, an attorney at Taft, Stettinius and Hollister. “The brick is either installed flat against the sheathing, or the air space is filled with mortar.”

“Mold & Moisture Bankrupt Big Builder,” The Journal of Light Construction, September 2001, p. 11.