Siding questions

[davidfite1978]

Water is the bane of my existence. My garage is housewrapped at this point and I'm trying to decide on siding. At the bottom, I'm getting some splash-back on the very bottom edge of the plywood. I'm afraid it'll rot out soon if I don't do something to stop it. My options that I can think of are

1-put Dry-Lok or something similar on the foundation (need to do that anyway) and cake a bunch of it on the bottom edge of the plywood while i'm at it.

2-install a z-channel flashing thing on the bottom before I install the siding. I attached a drawing of what it would look like.

What do you guys think?

Also, I've kinda had these discussions before, but I can never decide. I'm on the fence 50/50 between vinyl siding and LP smartside 4x8 panels. I want something that will last and not have any water issues. Quotes are about 5,000 for vinyl or 3,000 for smartside (or if I do the work myself, - 2,500 and 1,500).

 

[bczygan]

Need to know more.

Photos?

What overhang do you have? A large overhang helps reduce the amount of water hitting the wall and running down it, It also moves the drip line away from the wall. If you have little or no overhang, a radical, but useful solution, would be to add a roof to create a covered area for storage. Gutters and downspouts prevent sheeting water coming off the roof and splashing next to the base of the wall. Use gutter splash guards so water doesn't splash over the gutter.

What is the ground like adjacent to the garage wall? A slope away from the wall will help direct water and splashing away from the wall. Also, keep at least 8" between grade and any wood. Plant a low ground cover to absorb splashes.



http://inspectapedia.com/BestPractices/Siding_Splashback.htm

 

[davidfite1978]

Need to know more.

Photos?

What overhang do you have? A large overhang helps reduce the amount of water hitting the wall and running down it, Gutters and downspouts prevent sheeting water coming off the roof and splashing next to the base of the wall. Use gutter splash guards so water doesn't splash over the gutter.

What is the ground like adjacent to the garage wall? A slope away from the wall will help direct water and splashing away from the wall. Also, keep at least 8" between grade and any wood. Plant a low ground cover to absorb splashes.



http://inspectapedia.com/BestPractices/Siding_Splashback.htm

Yeah I know the basics about splashback. Grading and all that stuff will be dealt with next year hopefully, but I'm really just wanting opinions on what I asked about - drylock vs. zchannel. Which one would work better, or is there another alternative. I'll take care of the splashback issues that I can reasonably do without breaking the bank, but that doesn't change my question.

 

[bczygan]

Yeah I know the basics about splashback. Grading and all that stuff will be dealt with next year hopefully, but I'm really just wanting opinions on what I asked about - drylock vs. zchannel. Which one would work better, or is there another alternative. I'll take care of the splashback issues that I can reasonably do without breaking the bank, but that doesn't change my question.

A basic rule in designing structures for preventing water intrusion, is to first do it mechanically. In other words, shed water by lapping materials.

Secondarily, sealants provide a belt and suspenders approach.

Waterproofing porous materials like wood, especially end grain is important. And keeping up with maintenance of coatings and sealants is essential.

For siding choices, I don't like vinyl or Smartside. I think vinyl is ugly. To my purist mind, it is a faux material. It is one material trying to mimic another. I like natural materials that are honest about what they are. And Smartside is also a man-made material of sorts. Given the choice though, I would choose vinyl for the low maintenance. And I have made that choice myself.

There will be condensation and water runoff behind either material, so provisions must be made for water to weep out at the bottom. Vinyl has this built in. Your detail for the wood needs to accomplish this. I would use a Z channel to do this, but orient it in a different way then you show.I would mount it to the wall and use sealant at the top of it, against the house wrap. Then the face of the Z goes down the wall toward the ground. It then turns away from the wall, under the wood siding. Finally it turns down again, toward the ground. Keep the end of the wood siding panels up and off of the channel, leaving a gap. It is important that water seepage has a way out behind the wood siding, and this gap must not be sealed. Instead, treat the ends of the siding panels, especially the end grain, so it is impervious.

 

[volleyball]

There is a mesh that goes over the house wrap and under the siding to let water channel out.
I would also put some window wrap around the bottom perimeter.
Doing something about the grading sooner will also help.

 

[davidfite1978]

There is a mesh that goes over the house wrap and under the siding to let water channel out.
I would also put some window wrap around the bottom perimeter.
Doing something about the grading sooner will also help.

What's that mesh stuff called? I can honestly say I've never seen that in my 100s of google searches on various siding topics.

 

[stikman56]

I wiped some Alex Plus clear caulking on the bottom edge, (or something similar) of the OSB type siding on my shed and the back portion of my house where I replaced the old rotten T-111. The shed gets much water splash back where it's at and that was in 1999. There has been no issues with the siding at this point. I was told at the time, that was the key to keep it from rotting and swelling at the bottom edge.

 

[moparfreak]

I agree above, I would certainly default to a mechanical barrier rather than any type of sealant product. Especially over long runs it's hard to get it all sealed perfect.

When I was reviewing the siding installation instructions, they showed the Z-bend, except the front edge of it was overlapped by the house wrap. i.e. it was slid behind the wrap, so that water that gets behind the siding (this is common) couldn't intrude to the inside of the Z-bend. I am not aware of any pre-formed Z-bend that you can buy easily, though would be nice to know if there is something out there. The pros form it onsite from coil stock. It is not as easy as you think to form long sheets of roll flashing without purpose built tools.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[davidfite1978]

I agree above, I would certainly default to a mechanical barrier rather than any type of sealant product. Especially over long runs it's hard to get it all sealed perfect.

When I was reviewing the siding installation instructions, they showed the Z-bend, except the front edge of it was overlapped by the house wrap. i.e. it was slid behind the wrap, so that water that gets behind the siding (this is common) couldn't intrude to the inside of the Z-bend. I am not aware of any pre-formed Z-bend that you can buy easily, though would be nice to know if there is something out there. The pros form it onsite from coil stock. It is not as easy as you think to form long sheets of roll flashing without purpose built tools.

Thanks,
Adam

Lowes has it for $4/10feet. It's in the same aisle with the drip edge and other stuff. I could pretty easily pull the housewrap up along the bottom 2 inches and slide it under. That sounds like a good idea.

 

[volleyball]

What's that mesh stuff called? I can honestly say I've never seen that in my 100s of google searches on various siding topics.

Look up rainscreen. They use it for wood shakes and cement veneers.
A cheap way is to cover your studs with furring so there is a channel.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

@bczygan;
great link, thanks.
http://inspectapedia.com/BestPractic...Splashback.htm