Do I Need Felt Paper Under Siding

I ve opened up houses built less than 5 years previous and the tyvek was shreaded like old newspaper.

Do i need felt paper under siding.

Felt paper also commonly referred to as tar paper is an underlayment material applied to bare walls before siding is installed. They were built in the 1950s and 60s the felt was in perfect condition. Tar paper does not offer this. Decades ago the original form of house wrap used was asphalt coated felt paper.

Felt labeled astm 15 meets specific standards and is the norm in many areas. I ll stick with tried and true felt paper. This is a time intensive process and requires all sorts of skill. The old practice of running felt strips under siding casing joints may actually be creating an environment more prone to rot by concentrating more moisture.

Siding applied directly over tar paper creates a sandwich effect and can trap water between the siding material and the tar paper. Many builders use standard 15 pound roofing felt. Install pieces in the correct order and make cuts carefully so any moisture can travel downward at all points without slipping under the wrap. The paper requirement is typically omitted for other types of siding when they re installed over rated structural sheathing.

Should any water get past the siding properly installed felt paper. Felt or building paper must be applied to walls properly to be effective. I have seen literally hundreds of houses stripped of asbestos siding that had 15 felt under it. Basically all model codes agree on the need for a weather resistant barrier paper usually specified as 15 felt or grade d kraft paper behind stucco brick stone and other porous veneers.

In fact many builders disagree on the effectiveness of house wraps altogether and while some builders will only install 15 pound asphalt saturated felt paper underneath exterior siding others swear by plastic fabric house wraps such as typar or tyvek. The short answer is that felt paper is fine as a weather resistant barrier behind vinyl siding and will not cause a problem if the siding is installed correctly. Over the years house wrap materials have advanced providing far more protection. If you want vertical drainage with tar paper you have to add treated lumber strips on top of the tar paper.