No siding for the winter?

[davidfite1978]

I am in the middle of remodeling my shop and am probably going to run out of money before it gets complete. I should have everything done on the outside (roof, doors, windows, fascia/soffits, OSB, housewrap) except the siding. Probably going with vinyl but that's still up for debate. I've been told I can leave it housewrapped until spring and it should be fine, barring any major storm damage. What do you guys think? It's the regular Lowe's housewrap. Only thing I don't feel good about is I used a hammer-stapler and everywhere I hit, it pretty much put a little hole/tear in the paper. Not much but it wasn't nearly as clean as I wanted it to be. None of the holes are bigger than a staple, just enough to see if you look closely.

Incidentally, it's roughly 32x40 and the quotes I got for vinyl (middle grade, no insulation) are about 5,000 installed. I can get the materials for 1500-2500 and do it myself if I wanted to attempt it. I personally like the 4x8 smartside panels but my wife hates them. So looking for any options.

 

[CarsonConcepts]

Helped a friend last fall who was in a similar situation. We ended up going over all the staple holes with some calk and putty knife. Put up a few 1x2's and calked where the edges were not covered very well and we were worried about wind starting to peel it back. He checked it every weekend or so through the winter just to catch any issues early, but it held up well. Pulled the extra lumber down in the spring and put up the siding. No issues so far.

~ Carson

 

[Stuart in MN]

Housewrap has a limited lifespan when left exposed - I don't know how long that is, but you should be able to find out from the Lowe's website.

When I built my garage, I got it wrapped with tarpaper in the fall and waited until the next spring before I put on the shingle siding with no issues, but again you can only do that for so long before the tarpaper deteriorates.

You may want to nail some strips of wood lath over the seams to keep them from tearing open from the wind.

 

[p_mori7]

Install the strapping (furring strips) before the winter.

That's what I did and it was fine.

 

[A_Pmech]

If you have the time and the installation labor cost is the issue, vinyl is easy as pie to install. Literally the only thing to worry about is getting the courses level. Most of the time, that's just a tape measured dimension between the bottom of the wall and the top of the nailing fin every few courses.

 

[boiler7904]

If you're leaving the housewrap exposed all winter, you're going to get wind damage if its only held on with staples. I'd want cap fasteners holding it to my building if exposed.

You'll also exceed the recommended UV exposure limit which is usually 90 days for residential products. I'm pretty sure you can go as long as 180 with commercial Tyvek or equal.

 

[kbs2244]

The big thing siding starters need to learn is not to pound the nails down tight.
They provide slots so the siding can slide back and forth as it expands and contracts with the sunshine.
You have to leave space behind the head for it to slide.

 

[davidfite1978]

If you're leaving the housewrap exposed all winter, you're going to get wind damage if its only held on with staples. I'd want cap fasteners holding it to my building if exposed.

You'll also exceed the recommended UV exposure limit which is usually 90 days for residential products. I'm pretty sure you can go as long as 180 with commercial Tyvek or equal.

Lowes.com says the UV exposure is 12 months. Assuming I have enough staples and am confident in their holding it in place, should I be ok?

 

[p_mori7]

Staples alone will not hold it. Install the furring strips that your siding will be nailed to.

 

[davidfite1978]

I was planning on installing siding (assuming I do it myself) directly on top of the housewrap (which is over 7/16 OSB)

 

[Blk88GT]

I left mine all winter and it was fine. I had it fastened with only staples.

 

[deter]

as long as you installed the housewrap correctly, and it doesn't blow off. you should be ok.

 

[Mustang51js]

I left mine all winter and it was fine. I had it fastened with only staples.

Same here and no issues

 

[NUTTSGT]

I left my OSB exposed for about 2 years before I sided the house garage and it was fine. I'd put some plastic cap nails in it to hold the tyvek in place over the winter.

 

[38 Dodge Coupe]

The wrap will help some , but I did exactly what you are considering and the OSB still got wet and it swelled and made installing the siding much harder. If I had to do it again I would not have waited.

 

[Chris705]

In my build I left my Tyvek exposed all winter long with no ill effects. There was a big difference where I made sure it all layed flat on the wall vs. where my contractor quickly put it up and did not pay attention to getting it flat on the gable end walls and my dormers but even still with staples only it did hold up well thought I did go wild with lots of staples. In fact parts of it may have to go for a second winter as I scramble to get my cedar shakes up on the gables......boy do they go slow! I am installing a second layer of air barrier as I get to each gable to install my shakes.

 

[Chris705]

Oh yeah....make sure you install from the bottom up in courses so water will shed w/o going into the seams.....wrap at least 1' past the corners and btw the tape they make holds really well.