Do I Need Felt Paper Under Siding

In fact many builders disagree on the effectiveness of house wraps altogether and while some builders will only install 15 pound asphalt saturated felt paper underneath exterior siding others swear by plastic fabric house wraps such as typar or tyvek.

Do i need felt paper under siding.

Felt labeled astm 15 meets specific standards and is the norm in many areas. Over the years house wrap materials have advanced providing far more protection. This is a time intensive process and requires all sorts of skill. But because the vinyl siding covers the felt paper it is shielded from the sun and never gets hotter than the temperature of the siding from solar gain.

Tar paper does not offer this. Install pieces in the correct order and make cuts carefully so any moisture can travel downward at all points without slipping under the wrap. Many builders use standard 15 pound roofing felt. Before delving into why you should have house wrap under your vinyl it is essential to understand what exactly house wrap is.

They were built in the 1950s and 60s the felt was in perfect condition. Should any water get past the siding properly installed felt paper. Basically all model codes agree on the need for a weather resistant barrier paper usually specified as 15 felt or grade d kraft paper behind stucco brick stone and other porous veneers. I have seen literally hundreds of houses stripped of asbestos siding that had 15 felt under it.

I ve opened up houses built less than 5 years previous and the tyvek was shreaded like old newspaper. The short answer is that felt paper is fine as a weather resistant barrier behind vinyl siding and will not cause a problem if the siding is installed correctly. The old practice of running felt strips under siding casing joints may actually be creating an environment more prone to rot by concentrating more moisture. Decades ago the original form of house wrap used was asphalt coated felt paper.

If you want vertical drainage with tar paper you have to add treated lumber strips on top of the tar paper. That s because i believe that under certain circumstances felt outperforms housewrap. I ll stick with tried and true felt paper. Felt paper also commonly referred to as tar paper is an underlayment material applied to bare walls before siding is installed.