Just sheathed a wall

[CThomp]

I'm going to have some questions.

But first. The wall I sheathed was 29' long with a a gabled roof side. So we had a pretty tall wall to work with. We ripped off the old vinyl siding, ripped off the old cedar shiplap, and took out the two old windows. The walls had no insulation. We insulated with an encapsulated R-13, re-framed the window openings, installed the new windows, and resheathed the exterior walls in 1/2" play wood.

Now for the questions

Should I tyvek tape the seams where the plywood meets? Or should I do the tyvek house wrap first and then tape the tyvek seams? Or both? doesn't seam like it would hurt to do both.

[Tom R]

Just tape the Tyvek, - - I wouldn't tape the plywood, - - I think part of the problems (mold, moisture, stale air) with today's houses is they can't breathe enough.

[CThomp]

Oh, I think my house is probably porous as hell. I think it breathes ALOT. Its a 1950's Ranch style stick home.

[quentin]

Just tape the Tyvek, - - I wouldn't tape the plywood, - - I think part of the problems (mold, moisture, stale air) with today's houses is they can't breathe enough.

Absolutely! I bought a brand new house in 2001 that had a stucco facade. The houses they are building these days are so tight that they don't breathe, thereby increasing the chances that moisture, if it gets in, will sit there and rot away everything. 2 years after I bought the house, I had rotting issues. The stucco was stained and the wood underneath was rotting. Stay away from stucco on new homes unless you have a really good design for it and a great stucco guy.

[CThomp]

Good stuff. I'm not planning stucco. I had thought about it but thats alot of work. I'm going to use Full Back solid core vinyl siding. It has a R-5 value and greatly increases the homes impact resistance. Plus, vinyl siding is alot easier to install.