insulation without stone wall being built

[Gerry Wang]

Hi,

I am building a house with three sides stucco and front side stone. As the temperature in Jan will be around -5C degree here, I most likely will leave stucco finishing coat to the Spring and put forms for now to protect the house. Now the same question comes to stone. Should I leave stone work to the Spring (cover outside with plastic and insulate inside if city inspector let me), or do I have to complete stone in order to insulate interior?

If I leave stone work to the Spring/April, I can get better job quality and save a bit on heating for stone work. but I may have to pay a bit more for indoor heating. If I have to do stone work in Winter then I will need to heat it up for 10 days or so with a bit risk of not heating well.

Any suggestion is appreciated!

Gerry

[Dom D'Agostino]

Freezing temps and stucco or mortar work do not mix.

Certainly your builder should be able to answer these questions, as they must have plans and a timetable drawn up.

[John Kogel]

You need to ask some Ontario contractors how they get the job done, or drive around the burbs and observe. We are mostly inspectors here, many with building backgrounds, but from a wide variety of climates.

I would install the housewrap over the sheathing and then wait for warmer weather. You might get lucky. A heated tent can be an option but you've already mentioned that.

In my climate, we can go ahead on the insulation as long as there is housewrap or building paper. But the drywall would be best left until the siding is on.

[Mike Kleisch]

You really need to talk to the local inspector, as some will not allow insulation to be installed until after an all weather exterior is installed. Some will not allow house wrap as an exterior covering, and some house wraps have a limit on the amount of exposure it can endure. I'm thinking the plastic on the exterior will not fly, I would not do it, as this could trap moisture inside the wall, vs. a house wrap which allows moisture to pass through.