Saturday, May 14, 2011

Bloody wind.

Our neighbour Mary sent me this photo. I was aghast.

The nasty wind on Thursday really wreaked some havoc at the Beverly Heights house. Our vigilant neighbour Mary sent me a photo to the left from her house. I was at work at the time- and couldn't get out of meetings. I tried to get our taper/mudder on site to tack back the tyvek, but he wasn't sure what to do, and how to climb a very tall ladder in high winds We ending up taking the un-attached part of tyvek down.

Lesson learned: only put up the air barrier when you know you will not encounter a wind storm, and do it shortly before the exterior cladding goes on!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Shafraaz.
    Tough luck. We also had high winds a couple of weeks ago.
    I agree with your observation about either delaying the installation of the air barrier, or installing the siding soon after the barrier has been installed. On one of our jobs, we delayed installing the air barrier for a couple of days. Without the air barrier, the wind pressure drove the insulation out of the wall cavities. However, without the barrier, wind driven rain can infiltrate via the cracks between sheathing. (The Z strips you installed might prevent this problem.)
    Another factor to consider if the barrier is exposed for several months - the sun UV deteriorates the air barrier over time.
    I agree with your contractor. It is very unsafe to erect tall ladders in the wind, especially in an open location like yours. With the air barrier flapping like a loose sail, a worker could be flung from his perch very easily. It is not worth risking life and limb to save $100.00 of material.
    Good luck. Jim

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  2. Over here at "the Tyvek house" I've had some of it flapping in the wind as well. One thing that works quite well is to screw scraps of 2x4 or plywood at the corners and along edges to hold the Tyvek firn against the sheathing. Much less chance of it coming loose that way.

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