Tar Paper Under Vinyl Siding

Use tyvek over building felt under siding.

Tar paper under vinyl siding.

This column was inspired by a phone consultation i did with a homeowner whose house was covered with tar paper in 2012 when it was built. Its primary purpose is to prevent air and water leaks that may have seeped past the vinyl exterior. I want to replace the tar paper but i can t find it at homedepot or lowes. What are some of the negatives of using black paper opposed to tyvek under vinyl siding.

Felt paper also commonly referred to as tar paper is an underlayment material applied to bare walls before siding is installed. Installing foam board insulation under vinyl siding today. 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 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.

The standard weather barrier used traditionally under wood vinyl and other siding materials is 15 pound felt. Vinyl siding allows for lots of air movement because of the manner in which the siding is designed and installed. Faq s acronym s terminology to tyvek or not to tyvek that is the question. If you want vertical drainage with tar paper you have to add treated lumber strips on top of the tar paper.

Basically putting tar paper or approved housewrap on the exterior walls before siding is installed is the first step to build an effective redundant barrier system. I saw a new house with felt paper under the siding rather than tyvek. This is a time intensive process and requires all sorts of skill. 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.

To sum it up house wrap is a lightweight paper like material that is most often used to completely cover the house directly on top of the sheathing and behind the vinyl siding. Felt paper under house siding. The topics covered on this site include activities in which there exists the potential for serious injury or death. Nowadays low cost 15 felt can weight as little as 8 to 12 pounds per square 100 sq.

The irc 2000 code and our building dept. Proper installation is required to make this system work. Tar paper does not offer this.