Roofing Felt Paper Behind Siding

Siding applied directly over tar paper creates a sandwich effect and can trap water between the siding material and the tar paper.

Roofing felt paper behind siding.

I have seen literally hundreds of houses stripped of asbestos siding that had 15 felt under it. Felt paper also commonly referred to as tar paper is an underlayment material applied to bare walls before siding is installed. 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. For stucco the standard is two layers of grade d building 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. The paper requirement is typically omitted for other types of siding when they re installed over rated structural sheathing. This is a good thing. Nowadays low cost 15 felt can weight as little as 8 to 12 pounds per square 100 sq.

Felt or building paper must be applied to walls properly to be effective. Tar paper does not offer this. I ve opened up houses built less than 5 years previous and the tyvek was shreaded like old newspaper. I ll stick with tried and true felt paper.

Many builders use standard 15 pound roofing felt. They also promote quick drying allowing air to get behind any siding. Install pieces in the correct order and make cuts carefully so any moisture can travel downward at all points without slipping under the wrap. Fiber cement siding covered the felt paper.

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. The siding contractor then covered the felt paper with certawrap a modern air barrier. They were built in the 1950s and 60s the felt was in perfect condition. The siding was improperly installed and was removed in early november of 2018.

Should any water get past the siding properly installed felt paper. Asphalt felt tar paper the standard requirement is type 1 felt meeting astm d 226 standards. 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. Felt labeled astm 15 meets specific standards and is the norm in many areas.

Our house was built about seven years ago. A paul fisette director of building materials and. I need to do some repairs under my siding from a window leak. If you want vertical drainage with tar paper you have to add treated lumber strips on top of the tar paper.