I’ve been watching a house near me being built since early this year, and I’m wondering about something. Progess went very quickly early on: from the foundation and cinderblock lower level the upper levels were framed out and the roof put on in only a few weeks. They finished shingling the roof and installing all the windows (after a major rainstrorm that must have completely soaked the insides) back in the spring.
I can’t tell if they’re doing interior work, but it doesn’t look like it. I’ve been wondering if the owner is having cash problems or perhaps a dispute with the contractor, because there’s been no visible progress for months.
Anyway, here’s my question. It’s been sitting there with no siding, just exposed Tyvek insulation sheets, for about six months. Is this going to cause problems when they finally put the siding on? Is Tyvek intended to be exposed to the elements for such a long time? Has it been damaged or lost some of its effectiveness? Can the Tyvek alone have protected the rest of the structure from the weather all this time?
I can’t help with all of it but I can help with some. Half my house was reconstructed this past year after a disaster. Issue number one is that contractors are one of the most screwed up and unreliable professions there is. They overbook jobs like doctors do except instead of getting stuck in a waiting room, you get stuck with half a house. There can be numerous problems with subcontractors and some general contractors get the urge to take a break for a while as soon as a big payment in hand. Before you think I am am accusing all contractors of this, I am not. Our general contractor was right on budget and on schedule for just about every single detail. I have given references for him since but every person has expressed skepticism about what I was saying.
Leave out the contractor for a moment. Framing and roofing are pretty quick work especially if there is a large, experienced crew. One week we stopped by to see the house and half of it was bulldozed. A week later we came back and it looked like a house again and we thought some miracle happened and we could move in soon. That was not the case. Throwing a shell up isn’t that hard but a house is much more than that. The electrical system, plumbing, cabinets, bathrooms, appliances and lots of other things take a lot of time and money. Whole house plumbing installations can take weeks on their own and electrical wiring also takes a while. Many of those things have dependencies so they can’t just get everyone working on everything at once. After our framing was up, it was another 3 months before we could move back in.
Some contactors like those hired by subdivision builders can throw up houses quick and dirty like nobodies business. The smaller ones usually aren’t like that. I don’t know what the problem is exactly but it may be roughly on schedule or the contractor could be raking your neighbor over the coals.
When I was a kid, there was a house on my schoolbus route which was being clad with stone. They apparently started in the back and did both sides, but when they got to the front, the work mysteriously stopped anout two feet from the ground. The facade was just shiny Tyvek. I always wondered why it was never finished. The stones were there, in a pile, waiting to be put up. Not another inch was ever completed while I rode the bus.
A couple of years ago, I happened to be on that same rural road and looked for that house. Sure enough, it was still incomplete, with the stones lying in the same spot as they had been. The Tyvek looked a bit worn, but I imagine the big tree in their front yard protected the house from a lot of weathering. I can’t be sure-- maybe they replaced the Tyvek at some point, but after all these years (at least 15) that house has had nothing but Tyvek seperating the dwellers from the elements.
I get that, but I can’t see why interior work like that would hold up finishing the exterior.
Of course, if there’s no significant harm in leaving the Tyvek exposed for long times, then maybe there’s no ruch to get to the siding. I just can’t imagine that being out so long does the stuff any good.
Sorry, but I don’t think so. I’m talking about a big new house at the upstream end of Wilde Lake. No horse farm anywhere near, and no stone facing.
Tyvek is a dandy vapor barrier and airleak stopper, so the house is probably snug and dry.
Now, what stopped everything? There could be a hundred answers, anywhere from the owner getting pissy or divorced to one of the principle players being in jail or in the hospital. The most common reason is somebody ran out of cash, because of poor planning.
The answer to the OP’s question is yes, there will be problems. As noted in this technical bulletin UV exposure will cause degradation of many housewraps. Call me old school-I still use 30# felt paper behind siding because it doesn’t fail.
This is the stage at which banks and builders call " lock up", where the owner or the builder receives a chunk of financing from the bank and building inspectors are called in for an approval.
Unless the owner or builder is sufficiently organized he is waiting for plumbers, electricians, telephone, security, vacuum, and cable sub contractors to complete rough installation prior to insullation.
Or he ran out of money
Tyvek isn’t used much anymore around here, because builders don’t like it . Gone back to tar paper. Wood structure building s need to breath and the introduction of tyvek seems to have coincided with the rash of “leaky condos”, read rotton condos, beginning in the late 80s.
I have no way of assessing the degree of degradation by sunlight on the tyvek for six months, but I’ve seen plently of homes waiting for years to get sided over tyvek or tar paper and even bare plywood without any apparent damage or concerns by professionals.
Dutchman, I don’t know where you live, but based on my entirely unscientific and subjective experience, Tyvek is practically ubiquitous around here.
danceswithcats, if your link from the makers of Typar can be believed, the owners of this house may be sorry they didn’t spec Typar instead of Tyvek. It says that after three or four months the Tyvek has lost most of its strength because of the UV exposure. (Of course, they don’t define exactly what they mean by “strength.”)
I spoke to a neighbor, who said the owner is having the electrical work done and expects to move in by December.
So the heart of my question becomes this: Is there some technical (as opposed to financial) reason why installation of the wiring, plumbing, and interior insulation would hold up the installation of exterior siding?
No reason at all. Getting the shell “dried in” is a significant goal. With the roof sheathed, papered, and shingled, and the wall sheathing installed, window/door openings flashed and sealed, and tar paper (or some substitute) installed, siding can proceed without delay.
That said, if I were the electrician on the job, I’d site my required exterior receptacles, HVAC exterior disconnect, and all outside lighting boxes-anything on the exterior planes of the structure-first, so the siding mechanics can work to/around the device boxes. Likewise for sillcocks, whole house vac connection points, and wall penetrations for direct venting appliances and power vent/sealed combustion high efficiency water and house heaters.