How To Look At A House
McGarry and Madsen's home inspection blog for buyers of
site-built, mobile/manufactured and modular homes
Is vinyl siding waterproof?
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Vinyl siding is not designed to be waterproof. According to the Vinyl Siding Institute, a national trade organization, “vinyl siding, insulated siding, and polypropylene siding are exterior claddings, not water-resistive barriers, and are designed to allow the material underneath to breathe. This factor provides a supplemental rainscreen that reduces the amount of water that reaches an underlying water-resistive barrier.” The water-resistive barrier is typically housewrap. But sloppy siding installation means that more than a little water will get behind the “supplemental rainscreen” and, if the house wrap is also poorly installed, eventually cause a problem.
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Here’s links to some of our other blog posts about HOUSE SIDING:
• Can vinyl lap siding be installed diagonally?
• What are the pros and cons of vinyl siding?
• What causes warped, buckled vinyl siding?
• What is the average life expectancy of vinyl siding?
• How can I tell if vinyl siding is installed correctly?
• Can vinyl siding be painted?
• Can termites eat through siding?
• What do you look for when inspecting vinyl siding?
• What causes vertical cracks in fiber cement siding planks?
• What are the vertical butt joint requirements for fiber-cement (Hardiplank) lap siding?
• What is the difference between Acrocrete and EIFS?
• Do stucco walls mean a house is concrete block?
• How long does exterior house siding last?
• What is board and batten siding?
• The house has asbestos siding. What should I do?
• What are the pros and cons of aluminum siding?
• Should I be suspicious about a concrete block house covered with siding?
• What is engineered wood siding?
• What is the average life expectancy of wood siding?
• What is the average life expectancy of plywood siding?
• What is the average life expectancy of stucco?
• Should I buy a house with asbestos siding?
• What is the difference between "composite" and regular wood siding?
• How can I tell if a crack in a stucco wall is a structural problem and what is causing it?
• How long does exterior siding last?
Visit our EXTERIOR WALLS AND STRUCTURE page for other related blog posts on this subject, or go to the INDEX for a complete listing of all our articles.
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