Windows and doors ready for installation

This week we will be installing the windows and doors. After that, we should be nice and dried-in. I'm particularly concerned with the way the windows and doors will be installed. If not done properly, water or air will surely find a way in. It's the most vulnerable part of the wall.

Basically, you have to make sure the housewrap, window seal tape, caulk, etc. are all applied in the proper order. I could take an hour to type it out here, but instead you can just go to a manufacturer's website and have them explain it better...with illustrations. The pertinent instructions are on page 4-7 for windows.

As you can see, there's a real method to the madness.

Although I'm using the Tyvek housewrap, I actually found another article in the NAHB Research Center that recommended 15# asphalt felt paper instead. This paper provides a high resistance to water driven into the wall from rain but allows little water vapor to escape from the inside. I'm a little concerned with this approach. If my air conditioner doesn't remove enough of the humidity in the house, I could be faced with a soggy exterior wall. At least that's my theory, so I'm sticking with the housewrap.

I realize this is the most boring blog entry to date, but an important one nonetheless. A green home is also a low maintenance home and ripping out the siding and windows to fix the problem a few years from now isn't good for anybody.

Speaking of low maintenance, I'm installing prepainted Hardie lap siding. It offers a 15 year warranty on the paint finish. It costs about twice as much but I'll save some money by not having to pay a painter to do the entire exterior of the house. Suprisingly, it still isn't being used a lot around here. Most people just use the primed Hardie siding and paint it to their specific color. I'll take a "factory finish" over a "sprayed-in-the-field" finish anyday.

Here's a sample of the "Soft Green" color that we will be using. They actually don't sell it here in the southeast for some reason so we had to go to the Hardie Rep and ask for some assistance getting it here.


(By the way, that's "Crazy Harry" in the picture above and, yes, it's my second reference in this blog to my favorite childhood show, The Muppets)