When I went to price housewrap yesterday, I also saw some "housewrap tape." Apparently this is used to tape seams. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) Is this tape necessary if the housewrap overlaps as it's supposed to?
Thanks in advance,
Use the tape, but Packing tape is the same at 1/4 the price
I recently saw the price of the wrap and the tape and was flabbergasted at the price of the tape. If you use the wrap correctly, i.e., overlaps on studs or other wood, the overlaps will be sealed during addition of the siding and very little taping will be needed. Any good tape that will bond well to the Tyvek could be used. I'll bet caulk would do the job also. If you have typical construction workers, it won't really make any difference whether they use tape or not because there will be lots of tears and holes that never get fixed. If you are doing it (or overseeing it), then make sure that every hole and tear is well sealed before the siding is put on. The tape is the easiest but the most expensive.
I did a house for an architect that was very anal about this (the architect was anal, not the house). When I asked him (I was joking) what he wanted to do about the holes from the siding nails, he got a worried look on his face and told me to hold up on the siding until he could figure out what to do!!
The next day he had an approved change order to install a strip of Miradri (ice and water shield, which is self sealing) on each stud, so that the nails would be sealed by the Miradri. This cost him an extra 780 bucks which he was happy to pay.
It takes all kinds....
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