Portions of the house have had house wrap for a while, far longer than it’s meant to be exposed. Because I started out buying the small three-foot rolls, before graduating to the larger 9′ rolls, and because we’ve done it a bit at a time using different types and brands, our house wrap job has a definite patchwork quilt vibe going on. There are some lessons learned, to be sure. First, I wish I’d known how much better Typar was when I started. I never would have bought all that Tyvek. Second, taping is critical, especially vertical seams, to keep the house wrap from leaking and ripping off in the wind. Third, house wrap is always a pain in the ass, but it’s far worse when you’re doing it by yourself.
Fortunately, last Saturday I had some help in the form of Rob, Dylan, Aaron, and Kelsey. Rob helped me get the first course of house wrap on the narrow North side of the house. I was up on the ladder while he held the roll up on a long wooden pole. For the second and third courses, I was further up the ladder while Dylan was holding the roll on a second ladder. Every time we needed to move the ladders, I’d hold the roll while he moved, then he’d hold it while I moved. It took most of the day, but we got the whole side done. I didn’t get any in-progress shots of this process, so you’ll have to use your imagination. As with the South wall, we left the bottom edge un-stapled to allow for the drip edge install. That proved an annoyance as we could hear it flapping in the wind all night.
That left only two sections still to wrap: the back attic gable wall and the corner of the South wall behind the electrical service. I took off a week of work and Monday Aaron, Dylan, and Kelsey came back to assist. Before we could put house wrap on the back gable, I needed to remove the rest of the gable trim and the rake, as well as frame the back attic door opening. Due to fire code requirements, we need a second form of egress from the attic, meaning a back door and stairs on the currently nonexistent back deck.
The first step was getting the pump jack into position. Unfortunately, it really couldn’t get high enough to reach everything. I started removing the friezes, but I realized it would be easier to reach everything if I cut the door opening. so there was some cutting, some prying, and some cursing, but eventually I got the trim removed. I’d positioned a piece of OSB in the attic where the floor will eventually be, so I knew where the bottom of the door would go, from there, I just measured the rough opening and started cutting. I managed to cut out the center stud from the wall and re-purpose it to the side of the door to get everything exactly where it needed to be, along with a 2×4 header. With the door framed and the trim removed, we were basically done for the day.
The week I took off proved to be rainy, which made working outside a challenge. I got the drip edge installed around the bottom edge of the wall all the way around the house. This directs water away from the foundation and will protect the rigid foam from damage or bugs. I caulked it down the entire length and attached it with nails before taping down the edge of the housewrap. I’ve become paranoid about allowing a path for water to drain out, even at the expense of air sealing. There are too many ways for water to get behind the house wrap for me to tape any bottom edges.
I worked my way up the South corner behind the electrical, which meant removing and reattaching one bracket at a time and cutting out slots and holes in the wrap to position it behind the electrical service. I used a lot of tape to get everything solid. Finally, today I got the top corner in and started on the back gable. I cut each side separately because of the awkwardness and the angles. The best part was disconnecting and reconnecting the pump jack brackets from the wall while I was standing on the platform, one at a time, so I could get the house wrap behind them.
With the sides and the section under the door done, I just had the top of the peak above the door opening left. I couldn’t reach all the way to the peak from the doorway and the pump jack was even lower, so I ended up putting a ladder inside, leaning against the inside of the wall with it’s feet against a rafter so it couldn’t move, then hanging on that out of the house to get the last few staples in. I’m happy to report my ongoing efforts to get things done on the house while not dying have continued to be successful.
House wrap done
The house wrap is up, but I have some taping and flashing left, and I need to add the jamb extension for the attic door, plus the new rake. I also need to install ledgers for the back deck. We’ve been reaching out to contractors about siding, and we’re hoping that’s not too far around the corner. Finding someone willing to tackle the rigid foam and furring strips is non-trivial. I can put up the rigid foam myself if I have to, but it would be a hell of a lot faster to hire it out. We bought most of the foam we need on sale and we have a nine-foot tall pile of it in the first floor now. Sadly, we’re no strangers to giant piles of on-sale insulation littering up the house. Hopefully we make use of this one sooner than the other one.
