Hou$e Wrap

[Suzie-Q]

I'm preparing to replace some (wood/clapboard) siding and figured I'd need to replace the house wrap, too. It looks like whoever built the fireplace/chimney used tar paper (that stuff that goes on the roof under the shingles) as house wrap and didn't bother to overlap around the corners.

Yesterday I priced house wrap and the cheapest roll at Do It Best (9' x 100') costs $200!!!! Oh my!

Does that sound reasonable? It sounds expensive to me, but I've never gone shopping for house wrap before.

Is there something else I can use (like that tar paper stuff) that's less expensive?

I know some of you are going to say "get the good stuff and do it well the first time," but I'm unemployed and on a very strict budget. Best to fix it now so it's "satisfactory" and worry about "well" when I find a job.

Thanks in advance,

[David Martel]

Suzie,

I've never bought this stuff but looking on the net

that you should be able to find this for much less. Get on the phone and call around.

Good luck, Dave M.

[Art]

Actually just read a review that I found in

on housewrap that compared 30# felt to Tyvek to the pink perforated stuff and concluded felt might be the best. Of course if you think about it whatever you use gets thousands of nail holes put into it so it might not matter much. Tyvek came in second but was more expensive and he thought the perforated plastics were lousy since water passed right thru them in no time.

[Suzie-Q]

-> Suzie,

->

-> I've never bought this stuff but looking on the net

->

and=1

-> suggests that you should be able to find this for much less. Get on the

-> phone and call around.

Thanks, Dave. I will call around, as you recommend, since it's obvious from that website that there are lower prices out there.

Thanks again!

[shell]

Many of the old timers still use tar paper. I've torn down several older homes that had tar paper under the siding and never found water danage. Just be sure and overlap the edges 4 - 6 inches. The wrap is to allow the moisture from the inside of the home to get outside without letting cold outside air in, thats why some of the newer housewraps are perforated. Tar paper is creaper especially if you only need a small amount.

[Mark Leininger]

Use the felt paper. If someone tries to scare you about it being no good, tell them to go look at the university tests the Journal of Light Home Construction published about a year ago comparing all the major house wrap brands with felt paper.

shell wrote:

[Yep]

Do you have a link? That would be interesting reading.

[Mark Leininger]

Their web site is

I subscribe so I read the article in the magazine, but I think you can search their site for old articles, display the first part of the article and then pay to buy the rest. There were two articles, one simply measuring the permeativity when dry and when wet, the next measuring other performance in more real life tests. That set off months of letters to the editor wars about one wrap versus another, including some from the manufacturers.

Yep wrote:

[Tom Baker]

The Building Science Corporation web site would be useful too. TB