Missing House Wrap

[Jon mackay]

Can anyone help me with some information on house wrap?

The house I inspected was built in 2000/2001 and there is no visible wrap under the vinyl siding. There are small stains coming up from the siding seams as if air leakage is present.

Is there a code that requires this wrapping? I am unsure how serious to make this issue.

Thank you

[Scott Patterson]

Can anyone help me with some information on house wrap?

The house I inspected was built in 2000/2001 and there is no visible wrap under the vinyl siding. There are small stains coming up from the siding seams as if air leakage is present.

Is there a code that requires this wrapping? I am unsure how serious to make this issue.

Thank you

It was not required in 2000 with vinyl siding. It was not addressed by the IRC till 2006. It can be found in Table R703.4

[Jon mackay]

OK, that is very helpful.
I will just not that it is not present and leave it at that..
Not much they can do about it so no point in making a big stink then..

[H.G. Watson, Sr.]

'cept that the IRC doesn't apply to NYS.

More than one sting on the same topic/same home

http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_inspection/building-envelope-home-inspection-commercial-inspection/17087-unidentified-staining.html

[Jerry Peck]

It was not required in 2000 with vinyl siding. It was not addressed by the IRC till 2006. It can be found in Table R703.4


I don't have the 2000 Vinyl Siding Institute installation instructions, only the 2002, 2004, and 2008 versions, however, the 2002 version clearly states:

(underlining and bold are mine)



Weather Barrier

Vinyl siding should be installed over a continuous weather-resistant barrier to stop the intrusion of incidental water. See your local building code official for requirements in your area.


Does anyone have older installation instructions from the Vinyl Siding Institute? If so, I would like to get a copy of them too, thanks.

[Jon mackay]

Thank you for the information on that Jerry.
I keep putting the delivery of this report off because I wasn't sure where to point my clients.

I am leaning toward just letting them know that the practice today is to install a vapor barrier to protect the sheathing from moisture and prevent air leakage.

[Jerry Peck]

I am leaning toward just letting them know that the practice today is to install a vapor barrier to protect the sheathing from moisture and prevent air leakage.


Jon,

I think there could be damage behind that siding, one simply does not know, so ... at the very least I would explain that damage 'may, or, may not' be behind that siding, and that without removing some of the siding there is no way to find out if there is sheathing (also not always installed in some areas) or WRB behind the vinyl siding.

That leaves it with your client having the knowledge (the reason they hire us) of what is and what could be, and most importantly ... what they can do to find out.

Without giving that knowledge to your client, YOU are making the decision for your client, but by giving that knowledge to your client you made your client knowledgeable enough to make the decision to: a) go further and find out; b) ignore it; c) walk away.

[Jon mackay]

Very good point.

I hate to have people left with an unknown item, but in this case there is not much else I can do.

Do you suppose a siding contractor would be in order to investigate?

[Jerry Peck]

Do you suppose a siding contractor would be in order to investigate?

That or a general contractor who also does siding as they would (should) have more knowledge than just siding, i.e., when they remove some siding they should know more of what to look for.

[Steven Turetsky]

How about recommending some moisture probe tests to determine the moisture content of the wood? You would need authorization, since this is "mildly" intrusive testing.