Expert: Dave Johnson - 1/22/2009

Question
Good morning Dave!
Here is a bit of background info before the question :-)
    Our house is 11 years old. The master bath shower collapsed from what we thought was faulty grout. Behind the tile, we noted that the builders used normal drywall and that there was black mold between the drywall, through the blown insulation to the plywood.
    The contractors building our new shower do not believe the problem was the grout. They noted rather large "gaps" around the framing where they could see clear to the siding on the outside. They noted the track of water from the the siding's "J track" to a nail behind the shower wall and the drain point into the lower part of the shower wall. There is no house wrap on the house, or any barrier. The contractors went ahead and sealed with insulation and caulk as many of the gaps on the inside that they could see, they feel that we should do something or the same thing will happen again, perhaps in another part of the house.
   So the questions: What do we need to do to prevent this from happening again? House wrap? Vapor Barrier? Something else? The siding on the house appears to be fine. Can the siding be removed, house wrap , vapor barrier, or whatever, be placed, and then the siding put back on? Do we need to do this for the entire house, or only portions (certain directional facing or around windows/doors only?). Is there a web site that discusses the different products available and has reviews or recommendations for manufacturer?

Thanks for any guidance! I did not even know what "house wrap" was until this happened!

Heather

Answer
And good morning to you too, Heather,

The builders are right, they have done what they could from inside, but the actual problem remains (they entry of moisture through the gaps to their caulking)
it would probably be some time before the mess occurs again, but it will. So, if you're going to remove any siding at all you may as well do it right and complete the job.
Remove siding, apply ice and water shield around windows and doors, cover with house wrap and re-apply siding. I realize this is an
expensive solution, but it beats the alternative....

Best of luck!

Dave

P.S. If you live in a colder climate, you may want to consider a foil faced rigid foam before siding INSTEAD of the wrap. It comes in thicknesses from 1/2" to 2".