Seal The Box Part II (Residential)

Seal the Box

Drainage Space

(Part 2)

 To properly dry in a building to stop damage from wind driven rain, there are 4 fundamentals to perform to achieve the desired results. Part 1 of our blog discussed the 1^st fundamental which was how to create the drainage plane using felt paper or house wrap to keep the water from penetrating the structure.

Part 2 will be about the “Drainage Space” or the area that the water will travel to exit the building.  The Drainage plane is the surface the water moves across and the space is the area between the drainage plane and the siding used.

If your home is wood framed with stucco exterior, then the space is between the house wrap and the lathe (the metal mesh that is nailed on before the stucco is applied). It does not take much of a space for the water travel because gravity is constantly pulling the water in a downward direction. If the drainage plane was applied correctly the water will travel the direction of least resistance.

If your home is masonry with brick exterior the brick mason will leave a one inch space between his bricks and the block for the water to travel. The bricks are tied to the masonry using brick ties that are laid into the concrete blocks and them used in the joints of the brick to tie the two together.

Next we will discuss the 3^rd fundamental which is “Flashings”

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Seal The Box – Part 1 (Residential)

Seal the Box

How to build a water tight building

(PART 1)- Drainage Planes

Other than structure failure, wind-driven rain caused an extreme amount of damage after the hurricanes of 2004 in Florida. Water damage due to leaking buildings was a major problem, very expensive to repair, waking up Architects, Inspectors and Builders on how to build water tight structures.

Many studies were done concerning common building practices trying to pinpoint where the failures were and how to correct them. One of the resulting solutions was to go back to basics when it came to how to dry in a building.

Improper Caulking was determined to be a leading problem. In fact, caulking should not be used as the leading system when trying to build a water tight building. Caulking should be used for cosmetic locations not for filling gaps or holes that water may intrude.

The way to seal the box is to follow some simple procedures that have been time tested and will accomplish the goal of keeping water from intruding the structure causing extreme damage. There are four main operations needed to keep water away. They are: Drainage Plane, Drainage Space, Flashing and Weeps. If these 4 systems are used when designing and building your Home, water will never be an issue.

The first one is the: Drainage Plane. What is a drainage plane and how does it work? Most people would recognize a drainage plane as some type of building wrap. Black felt paper, or House wrap around the outside shell of the building is used before the siding is installed. The important thing to know about this house wrap is that it is installed shingle style or starts with the first row at the bottom of the structure and overlaps as each successive row is installed. It is important that the overlaps are like roof shingles running from top to bottom. This keeps the water running down hill and not allowing it to enter the building. All the joints must be sealed and openings wrapped around the edges to create a water tight seal around the entire building. Today’s building wraps allow air to escape the structure but does not allow moisture to enter from the outside. This is probably the most important step in assuring that wind drive rain does not enter your home ruining the interior finishes and causing structural damage to your investment. Next we will be discussing the drainage space.

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Part II Coming Soon!

Welcome To Our Orlando Construction Blog

This blog is for discussion on the topic of Construction in Central Florida. What the environment is and how to improve conditions to jump-start the construction industry in our area. It is a place to make contacts, ask questions or offer your opinion of what is going on concerning construction in Central Florida.  A place for professionals to have open discussion with other professionals or for asking questions or offering suggestions.

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