What is Housewrap?
One of the main materials you will see our siding installers from Sunshine Contracting using on your home is a material called housewrap. This is a common practice with all contractors. VA homes need this material as part of the full installation process because it provides insulation so that moisture from precipitation and wind will not be able to penetrate the structural materials and cause severe and costly damage. The main purpose is to block any water from getting through to the walls of the house.
Housewrap is part of the package for siding that you purchase when you choose Sunshine Contracting. We make sure that we have enough material to completely wrap the house because we know how much we need through the measurements of the siding. The same is true of most other contractors. VA homeowners do prefer our services though because we sell the materials as well as do the installation. Some companies, though, only provide installation services, which means you would still come to us to make the purchase.
Other protecting features of housewrap
Housewrap doesn’t offer complete insulation that would cause the wood structure to rot at some point in the future. It has the following properties to offer you full protection:
- The material is woven so that it is breathable. Air can get through to dry up any moisture that accumulates on the exterior walls. This helps to prevent mold and mildew from developing.
- Even though it is breathable, housewrap provides an effective barrier against air leaving the home. In this way it helps to keep the heat in during the winter and the cool air in during the summer when you have the air-conditioning turned on. Thus it saves you money on your electricity costs.
How to install housewrap
When you look at a house that has been done in houeswrap, contractors, VA know that you think they simply wrapped the material around the house without cutting any of the material because this is how it appears. It does come in a large roll but our Sunshine Contracting installers install it in strips. The rolls come in 100 foot rolls and in two different sizes – 3 feet wide or 9 feet wide.
For installation we measure the length we need to completely cover all visible boards and then staple it in place. They use Tuck tape to keep it place around windows and doors as well as seams where they join the strips. This is a waterproof tape that prevents water seeping through in the places where the strips of housewrap meet.