Any Issue Buying This House?

[larry4406]

He may know what he's doing, and it's "standard practice" in the building trades, but that doesn't make it right. Better scheduling should occur to keep a house from sitting all winter without siding.

Not sure if this was aimed at me or the OP's situation. As I had said, I can't defend the OP's situation.

In my case, trade rough-in is typically around 30 days and the Tyvek winds up being exposed for somewhere around 30-45 days. You simply cannot stuff HVAC, plumbing, line voltage, low voltage, fire stop and air sealing, etc all on top of each other plus framers building bulkheads etc to achieve "better scheduling". A 30-day period of rough trades is normal and orderly.

The OP's case for being exposed for so long could be the result of poor scheduling, could be cold weather that is not favorable to vinyl siding installation, possibly the home is a "spec" unit that the builder has left idle to allow purchaser options to be installed, or some combination of all of the above. Who knows.

OP - ask the builder why the hell he/they let the house sit for an entire winter without siding. Then write your contract with an inspection clause and hire someone competent to assist you and to alleviate/confirm your fears, then proceed to close or walk away.

 

[matt_i]

If you look at the latest water-resistant barriers either fall into one of two categories...traditional housewrap with a bunch of drainage bumps on the inside, or an adhered system like Zip or paintable flashing. I think JLC or FHB did a large article on this within the last year. The takeaway for me was they had about 6 competitive products that fit within the "drainage bumps traditional wrap" category. The other takeaway was that its the water that gets trapped behind housewrap due to poor installation that does the damage; the bumps just promote water dropping to the bottom and out rather than staying via surface tension or puddling.

My own experience was with Tyvek which was exposed when I joined one building to another. The original wrap on the "original side" was exposed for the better part of a year. The markings fade away some and its not as smooth and slick as brand new, but its still completely viable as far as its water resistance. What I did to help myself sleep better was to Tyvek-tape every penetration of nails from the original vinyl siding. I reflashed a window due to some poor practices and so I used some new screws to replace the siding that created their own new holes.

Its good to be particular when buying a new house but unless you're paying for really good lawyers the builder's not going to change it because they left it open for 6 months. Personally, I would keep looking for detailed issues that would cause more functional problems.

 

[HoosierMark]

I understand your question and also understand I am not answering it. But if you are concerned now, if you are like me I would wonder about it as long I owned it. I would walk away. I personally think it will be fine but it is more of a mental thing. Secondly if I am thinking of a shop before buying, I would start fresh, have the utilities run to the future building site and the drive designed for it as well. Plan it all out now. You may want to incorporate the space in the existing house rather then a separate building. It would allow you multiple options. For example, no cold rainy walk to the building, the attached space could be turned into a variety of uses down the road if desired. Think in law suite, large game room, etc. I just see so many potential benefits from making it part of the existing structure. A separate building has benefits but on a snowy cold day I like to walk to my play area. I have a workshop/extra garage in my basement and love it. When it snows, when she is baking, etc., it is so handy to be in the same building.

 

[volleyball]

I've been biting my tongue on posting something and then came to yours. First one in the whole thread that is actually by someone that knows what they are doing. Tyvek here will last six months easily, and that's at 6000 ft of elevation. That wrap looks like it's done properly. There do not seem to be any seams coming apart or tape coming up. The brain trust here is pretty amusing at times.

Your comment amuses me.
Do you live near the OP? If not then what works for you does not apply across the country. The same for most comments. We know what works where we live.
Nobody can tell by the pictures the condition of the wood underneath.
Since EVERY post is basically a guess no matter how much experience you have, the OP has to decide how he wants it.
Some would go low cost and let it ride, some would want the very best materials and some of those would actually pony up the money to do it.

 

[WIHD]

only read page 1 but it looks like the fascia has just been exposed wood all winter? photos look that way at least. ??

 

[walrus]

In rural Maine tyvek is the siding