I'm calling it... House Wrap is DEAD 

For those concerned about the nails through Zip sheathing, how do they fasten their house wrap?

I'd be interested to see blower door test done on a house 5 or more years after its original test to see if it stays tight ..

It's great! My shed has been completed and it turned out nice looking and sturdy and it is way better than the sheds that many of my neighbors had put up. Of course, I'm pleased with the outcome and this Ryan's ru-vid.comUgkxGZedDTcDfgD7fG_uU4esfx_EgxzlY2_1 Plans was extremely useful to me as a guide.

I'd like to see how they would talk if Dupont would pay them more than Huber is. LOL I bet they would find better pictures of nicely installed Tyvek...

Just retrofitted my house and used Prosoco Fast Flash on all of the OSB seams, doing that with a layer of Tyvek over it, and then 3 inches of Rockwool. Heating costs have dropped 80 to 90% in zone 6. Much better siding now, too. Did a lot of it after 5 when the contractors were gone for the day. Took a lot of that from Matt. Thanks!

I'm a fire inspector in my city and get to see alot of new construction. Since watching your channel I have learned so much. It's funny when I see new homes under construction now with tyvek wrap falling down because it's not even put up correct I cringe, especially since these homes are selling for $350K and up

Comes down to attention to detail. House wrap can be great if all the details are paid attention too. For example using enough cap staples vs just using staples. Each brand of house wrap has their own flashing tapes as well. Including flex/stretch tapes that perferm well with their products. It's all in the install details and the product will perform as expected. Either way house wrap and zip and weatherlogic are all great products........installed correctly

Still see a lot of guys with that transition at the bottom from concrete to zip sheeting… I set my wall back and have my zip come out flush with the concrete and have my facade go down an inch over the concrere

Back when OSB prices were normal it made no sense to use house wrap over Zip system. Right now wood suppliers are ripping people off with their ridiculous prices so people will go to whatever is affordable.

Unless Huber starts making a house wrap and does a sponsored video I guess. Maybe show some properly installed house wrap?? Anyway, I know you got to make a living, I just find huckster-ism so unpleasant.

I looked at ZIP on a remodel and had to go with Tyvek due to the high cost and lumber cost was killing us too. These crazy COVID prices will keep Tyvek going for a long while.

It’s nice to see someone building houses right. It has been a real long time since I’ve seen anyone even try. Most home builders are just trying to get them built fast with very little attention to doing it right. Most new homes have issues right away

What do you mean house wrap is dead? I see it flapping in the wind all the time. I can hear the sound it makes blowing in the wind in my sleep. Surely that is not dead. Rolls of house wrap and house wrap tape seem to multiply in the mud pits of my area's construction sites too.

In my dream home I would definitely use ZIP. My exterior would be 80% stone. I am so sick and tired of looking at vinyl siding.

Yeah it's really not that hard to get house wrap with peel and stick on window and door openings right. I definitely like the zip system but to say that housewrap is really complex and difficult to install properly isn't true. Think like water and take your time installing it and the housewrap will do what it was engineered to do. If the same crews that installed the housewrap in the pictures installed zip I guarantee you'd have many images also of things voiding the manufacturers warranty for the zip. My point is housewrap gets a bad reputation mainly from incorrect installation and not defective product. Whatever WRB is installed(wrap,peel & stick, impregnated, fluid applied) has to be done right.

I’ve done house wrap over the exterior sheathing and then ran insulation board over top of that, with extremely good luck in sealing up the exterior

Alternative? Tape the standard plywood or OSB sheathing to create an air barrier, then apply a house wrap and waterproofing detailing.

The home we purchased in Utah was built in 2006 has exterior siding of OSB covered with Vinyl lap siding . Upon inspection by myself I discovered that there is no vapor barrier wrap whatsoever. I’m presuming that the codes were either lax at this time or the builder just got away with this error. I even contacted the inspection service hired by the realtor and asked why they didn’t catch this . They said that they don’t check for this but may now start since there are a lot of homes with vinyl siding and it’s easy to check for . My insurance Co .said that if we ever have problems with moisture damage that they would cover the costs of repairs.

Issue I see here in Michigan, house wrap installed, 2-4 months before exterior siding. Performance of house wrap degrades with time left to the elements. But it has house wrap per code.

Good point matt.. I thought it was interesting that you said air tightening is the most important thing.. it very well may be but I've become a huge fan of radiant barrier lately... Had a new house built in 2016 I won't mention the builder in Texas but it was basically wrapped in a foam board with a radiant barrier foil face.. I first thought wtf was I buying but after the wrap it was fully bricked no siding anywhere.. this was was close to 3000 sq ft 2 story with all electric everything, furnace, 2 boilers etc.. and I seen bills as low as 40 dollars some months, keep in mind I had zero gas in the house, all electric stove and all... Blew my mind a house that big was that efficient especially because I highly doubt it was air tight as the brick has weep holes all over and the foam wrap was damaged in many spots I witnessed it myself lol but after recently researching and adding radiant barrier to my now 90 yr old homes attic and feeling the difference and seeing the 10 dollars a week savings I now realize the brick home had an inch or so air space between the brick and foam foil that made it one huge effective radiant barrier and air leakage didn't matter as much.. def a different approach but extremely effective.. would love to hear your thoughts on this matt

Asks, "Is house wrap dead?" Shows two neighboring houses using house wrap before going into it. No, it's not dead. But it probably should be.

I have seen this type of taping in so many videos already and it looks great when installed. But I have been always wondering how many years the adhesive will last.

As long as Zip System’s price remains high, Tyvek house wrap will live forever.

Was always doomed because almost no framer uses it correctly ever making it almost useless. Contractors almost always wrap the house AFTER the windows are installed rather than folding it into the rough open ring then flashing it. Then the other subs come in and jack in the mechanicals and electrical sand the GC does nothing to correct when they destroy. But Tyvek is a directional matériels meant to stop water in one direction and let it breath in the other. So not to sure where the zip method will develop trapped moisture problems. Time will tell.

House wrap seems to be a pretty low level WRB as far as I can tell. We used Pro Clima's Solitex, which is a thick fabric with very good tear resistance, and is super easy to detail around doors/windows/services etc using stretch-tapes and not a staple or nail in sight! We had no problem with contractors puncturing holes in that, but we had no end of problems with our internal airtight fabric being punctured by trades. The problem with the Zip system appears to be that any failed flashing or tape installation and the water gets stuck in the OSB, with the vapour *impermeable* Zip tape then preventing it drying out.

I used Tyvek then xps on top of that. Everything was taped and wrapped. Totally air tight. Not that difficult. I didn't go for the zip because I didn't want to spend more money and it is easier to cut foam. Taping everything with tyvek tape and flashing tape I have a super tight house.

I have seen a crapy zip install just as well . You guys show what 90% of builders should do but don't.

According to the zip system website, it says to start the tape at the first horizontal seam. I always thought it was the shingle method. If I go by what I think it would make the seam on the foundation the first horizontal seam. If I go by what the website can make it sound like, it would be the the first seam the two zip boards meet. That would be opposite the shingle method. Which is the best way to start the taping? Does it matter?

Why not sheath normally, tape seams then spray or roll an elastomeric?

Matt. Love your videos! What are your thoughts on zip on top of hemp blocks? Or really hemp block construction in general?

Zip should use real plywood instead of osb would be much better product

My company is the oldest Weatherization contractor in the State of Florida, and we've done thousands of homes in housewrap and zip system. Both have pros and cons, but in the end, it all comes down to installation. You can have just as many potential moisture intrusion with zip system if not more, especially with the vast number of installers that don't roll the tape like Huber requires. Housewrap is much more forgiving in the event your installers aren't well trained, and most framers are not well trained in either system. I'd invite you to come take a look at our jobs in Jacksonville and see that there are none in the country that compare. More focus on the installation would be more beneficial than Tyvek vs Zip vs Typar vs Barricade vs Weathemate Plus vs.....well, you get the picture.

I have got houses finished at 1.5 ACH with regular house wrap. But I would totally agree that ZIP is a better system. Mainly because with ZIP you can get ZIP R. (My personal favorite!)

You really should have cut back to Will's Outro at the end... I bet he feels a bit slighted as big as that smile was on his face at doing it. Great video as always, Matt!

Any chance we will be able to see how you would work on a remodel? Love the new homes, but there are a ton of crappy houses out there that need upgrading.

It depends on if you live in the North or South. In the North you want your home to breathe from inside to outside. If you use ZIP system on the outside and a vapor barrier on the inside you're going to trap the moisture inside the walls.

Matt, didn't you say that the Zip system without the foam shouldn't be used in northern climates because it will trap water inside the wall since northern climates tend to have more of a problem with water vapor trying to leave the house than enter it. Only seal on the outside if it is insulated enough to prevent the dewpoint inside the wall from reaching the point that causes the water vapor to condense.

Excited to see you in Alabama. Always enjoy your videos. Thanks.

@1:44 seconds "It's just an origami of pieces,going in every direction" No description could be more true. We used tar pp.years ago. Oh man dont miss that. As always Matt your making us see the light,of the future.. Thanx

Not even any house wrap. I contracted with a community "builder" to buy a new house back in 1998. I checked out construction numerous times. Imagine my shock one day when I saw the vinyl siding being attached directly to the plywood sheathing. Not even any house wrap. That was a good example of how badly the house was being constructed. Found out later that they just slapped windows in bare-lumber holes. Gee, wonder why they leaked less than a year later. After just 14 years, the roof was failing and water infiltration had damaged drywall. Sadly, most builders are more like mine and much less like Matt Risinger.

I did repairs on a Tyvek-wrapped house with knotty cedar siding on it, and poor detailing at the window and door trim. All the places where the Tyvek had been wet continuously for a long time, the Tyvek fell apart. Tyvek is not a water barrier. 15# felt would not have failed like this. Of course the siding shouldn't leak like it did this windy hill, but it did and these things happen. Tyvek may be a good air-barrier (when taped) and a good vapor barrier, but it is not a water barrier. Just saying.

Matt, I'd love to see an episode on exterior liquid applied air/vapor barriers. Nitra-seal, air-shield, etc. Are they being used and can they be uses in the residential market.

Another great job info information and explanation!

Do they have any way to test what chemicals are off gasing in a new house?

Damn, Matt. You took your 'saying' like the boxing announcer at MGM. LOL I like how you did your sealant on the underside. looked MUCH more long lasting than that thin tape. If I end up using the zip on my home I'm building, if I did that tape, I'd double it. It depends if I hit those cuts as nice as you, and it makes it easy and clean. You put out good content.

Where I live, lots of cheap split levels are still being built everywhere so I'm sure house wrap will still be alive and well for decades to come.

our Off-Grid home has Zip.... infact we still haven't covered it up. The tape did not seal on the roof and had leaks in several places but the walls seem ok. Videos on our channel.

I think Matt is very smart and uses all the latest and greatest. Most people however cannot afford to build the way he does. Tyvek is a perfect example. Tape all the seems use less staples in the middle and it is EVERY bit as good as the zipsystem. Put the money you will save into other parts of the build. Love watching his show though to learn about what is out there. This is not meant to be a knock on him. Keep up the great work Matt.

I'll tell you this when prices go down and supplies are better I'm definitely going to try to see if I can get a loan to take the metal siding off my old house and put the zip plywood And around it. I don't know when I'll be able to afford it but I'll tell you this thank you for confirming what I thought.

I am specifying for a new build in deep cold snow country, western red cedar shingle siding (chosen by owner), that the wall build (2x6 by local code), is 2x6, 24" centers, 7/16 OSB sheathing, flash and batt inside (2" closed cell, Roxul at 3.5"), and out, Benjamin Obdyke HydroGap housewrap, then the shingles. Obdyks's installation specs are for 4" overlap, no tape no seal, at horizontal joints, 6" no tape no seal, for the few vertical joints. So no, housewrap ain't dead, at least here when we want to do WRC shingle siding.

Problem is contractors will cut corners with Zip and not properly adhere the tape to the panels or the panels will be wet and the tape not stick.

For a new home, zip system is absolutely the best choice. But for retrofit applications (rewrapping and siding an existing house, removing and patching window openings, etc) building wrap is still useful.

Sadly, membrane integrated sheathing will be the fodder for high end homes (at least in the pacific northwest for the foreseeable future.) Every spec house here is built with Tyvek. You can bungle up the installation and it passes inspection. Until quality of work inspections and grading are part of the already expensive permitting process, most Americans will continue to live in homes built haphazardly that they paid WAY too much for. I'm rebuilding my tool shed with Zipwall - I look forward to avoiding the time + hassle in getting a very tight envelope.

After hearing that "Oooon the Build Show" in the end I really want to see Matt singing "Staying Alive".

Awesome stuff Matt! 😃👍🏻👊🏻

True ply and tar is all you need. I hate osb, so right or wrong zip seems cheap to me but cuts labor costs.

'Scuze me? Since when is house wrap supposed to seal a house from water? It's job was not water-proofing, it's air-proofing. It's there to stop freezing wind from blowing air through gaps and any sloppy joints in a wall, pushing expensive heated air out of insulation. ('saving energy'). That's it. Sort of like a wind skirt under a building when true basements aren't deployed. A small, incidental amount of one-way moisture wicking had to be built into wrap to pass any residual moisture out of wall insulation to ensure it never condenses into liquid, as houses have to dry to the outside due to standard poly vapor barrier on the inner-most wall. But it's the job of the interior poly moisture barrier to stop any water getting into wall insulation from the inside in the first place, and originally the job of external siding and tarpaper to stop gross amounts of liquid water from getting to the sheathing from the outside. Not wrap. Tyvek instruction details had to change over the years however, because people started depending on it to be a gross exterior liquid water barrier, instead of an air barrier as designed. That was too much of a tempting short-cut, and was when the window-frame rot problems started to show up. So it became a general-purpose magical boogaloo to slap on outside of a building to keep code requirements satisfied, and had to be lapped a bit more like tar paper. DuPont never complained about that one bit. Not that I care all that much, as I don't like stick-built anyway. And I prefer a little natural ventilation over a 50 thousand dollar heat-exchanger system, bigger electricity bills from driving more fans, oodles of sealing tape, and an expensive high-maintenance 95+ furnace etc.

Can you share insights on wall/roof vapor drive concerns with OSB sheathing? My understanding is the OSB glues create a super low perm rating that can only be mitigated with dehumidification.

I could not believe what I saw a couple of days ago. A $4M build using Tyvek flapping away in the wind. As a builder, it's like hanging a sign "I don't give a eff" and 'buyer beware'. Sadly, proper air sealing is still the exception on the multi-million builds I see in Norcal/Hawaii - a price point where you'd expect the minimal added cost to be standard building practice. Sure would like to see a longterm durability test on Siga Fentrim when used at sheathing/foundation interface - that's typically a high moisture/UV exposure location.

I'd like to see Matt or someone cover good retrofit options. For those of us that aren't building a new house (maybe ever), and looking to remodel to address some of these improvements without a complete tear down.

I have been looking at the zip sheeting with the foam insulation on the back. Is it a problem when nailing the foam into the studs , does it compress the foam into the stud enough to make the osb "wave" where its nailed? Seems like it would be more prevalent on the joining studs.

We have just chosen a builder for our new home. One of the factors why we chose this builder is because they used the zip system on all of their builds.

You might be right on High Performance and Higher end custom homes, but Zip System still has a way to go to get to production builders. Especially in areas of the country where builders are reluctant to try new things because they've been doing things the same way for many, many years.

When cost is no object , I'd choose Zip. I like the green color. It does kinda suck that after 5 years exposed, Tyvek fades and deteriorates. I'd need Zip to hold up at least 7 years, since it'll take that long to save up for the siding after forking out for the Zip.

Matt (if you see this) I built my house thirty years ago before the sealing craze but what I did was silicone caulk every OSB seam on the exterior sheathing. I also used the newly emerging superior walls. I expect my "blower door score" would be on par with all today has to offer. Cheers!

Getting more and more trustworthy with tape, aren’t we!

I have watched your other videos on a drainwrap over sheathing to address drainage behind a foam layer, but what about when using the zipsystem? Would one still need to worry about drainage or would one just attach the foam directly to the zip sheathing?

Getting ready to start a project in southern Utah and none of the local suppliers stock Huber Zip sheathing or its competitor Georgia-Pacific Forcefield. Looks like I'm going to have to source it some other way.

I have used both systems. If it didn't need tape the zipwall might be worth it, but at $30/roll + the sheets being double the price of regular sheathing it is not economical at all. Not to mention it takes me longer to tape a house than it does to tyvek it. I still use house wrap unless a customer doesn't mind paying the difference and has to have it. The "waterproof" aspect of it doesn't mean a thing. Once the house is sided it will NEVER be wet unless the builder effed up...

Now the problem is getting them to roll the tape.

Matt - off topic from the current video, have you ever created a kitchen island that is a full on quartz or granit top 8 to 12' long that actually is movable? I imagine you'd have to put in serious wheels - maybe 6 or so and use lead plates on top of the bottom layer to create a low center of gravity. My issue is I really want to be able to move it so if I'm moving in appliances or working on changing out the garabage disposal etc. I suppose if you wanted the island wired, you could make the plug removable from the floor.

It certainly isn't dead in New Hampshire. I still see it all the time at news construction on the side of the road with osb and typar. Even at the peak of pandemic lumber when Zip R5 was the same price as osb and cheaper than standard Zip people were still doing osb and typar or sometimes tyvek.

How do I use more plastic and oil derivatives to make my house more environmentally friendly

We can't use zip system in Hawaii Matt, as they do not make a pressure treated version, and all wood has to be treated....so still not dead out here yet.

ZIP is way too expensive. Plus, almost 1/2 of my ZIP-R panels separated from the foam. Next project I'm going double stud with a WRB.

Matt, I disagree that House wrap is dead. Huber makes a great product with Zip but being that they have a patent on it they seem to like to gouge the customer. Around here, (SE Michigan) I never see a high-end homes built with Zip. It is available at Home Depot and Lowes, but it's not selling. If the price was more competitive it would sell well and make house wrap obsolete. That won't happen until Hubers patent runs out. Yes Lp makes WeatherLogic and GP makes a similar product. But both those companies have to pay Huber a license fee to sell their competitive products.

Matt’s comment about only seeing rot in the bottom of the house is lacking the insight that the water penetrates higher- the bottom is just where it settles and soaks the wood to start rotting. Just saying…

I wish Asian Ladybugs had an R-Value 🐞

Might just be nitpicking but anywhere on the windows where the zip tape isn’t covering the fin completely on to the frame is a point where water can infiltrate. We’ve started running the tape flat to the 90 where the fin attaches to the window and caulked the seam between window and fin.

So I love the Zip system almost as much as you, but what are the alternatives now that Zip sheathing is nearly impossible to acquire?

I like the Zip system. BUT, I used this on a 3 story 400 unit apartment complex. Let me tell you it was a challenge to get the crew to get it right. And the house wrap work you showed was obviously done by incompetent crews. Both are good systems. I'm a fan of Zip but wrap is just as good

Of course not. Wrap works and has a cost point that makes sense

Buy a can of Flex Seal and use it to spray over your nail heads, super fast and super easy. No worries about water getting in then.

I do remodeling , home improvement stuff, I always use #30 felt. Its better than all that junk imo.

Sure, it looks great now, but will it last?? Who can say it won't break down in 10 or 20 years? The reality is, no one knows for sure until it's tested that long.

Matt, a thought for a future video. 3:40 I like the use of a tape or a fluid applied between the bottom of the panel and the foundation. But how can this be integrated with a termite shield? Termites are spreading. Typically I use a sheet metal shield between the sill plate and foundation, which projects out. I often see nice details like at 3:40 that solve one problem but fail to address another, or sometimes even create another problem. It's the integration of solutions that is so important. So a video about all things termites, that actually works with other issues such as air sealing. I've seen your videos on Termi-mesh and that's a good start but we need more. Can Termi-mesh be used at the bottom of Zip-R panels, to seal to the face of the foundation? That's the most critical termite entry point. How does that integrate with an insulated slab edge for a slab on grade house? This is the kind of integration of solutions I'm talking about.

Still seeing new homes built here in Missouri and high end ones at that still using housewrap.

It’s gonna either be zipp or wood-resin-polymer products like fiberboards from Steico. Both have diff advantages and diff vapor perm strategies.

Air tightness for sheathing comes from the inside by sealant to studs at seams of the sheet to the studs, caulking the inside of the sheets in the stud bays before insulation. Flex taping house wrap around windows/penetrations is a cake walk. Tycek would be the absolute hero of products if DuPont paid as much as Huber for marketing their product. Cherry picking damaged or poorly applied house wrap isn’t honest, I’ve seen houses with Zip with the tape dangling off everywhere

As a builder that wants to go the new route on the building envelope you have shown Zip, Siga and Prosoco. Is there one you prefer or a compliment of two?

That’s what they are using on my garages. Hope it helps keep the garages better sealed.

Building a house right now...went all in with zip liquid flash on every nail hole, entire window and doors...flashing silly

Nobody actually does housewrap as shown in those photos.... give us some credit, lol.

I assume this detail is appropriate for a cooling climate. In a damp heating climate wouldn’t you trap and condense vapor in the cavity. In that environment the vapor barrier should be located at the drywall layer.

Hi Matt, any update on when your podcast will return? It looks like the last episode was in December. I checked two podcast apps and on the Build Network website and don't see any more recent episode.

When you replace the siding on a zip sheathed house, what do you use to fill the holes from the old siding?

4x8 Zip $78.99 vs OSb $39.99. Hard to justify the $11,000 difference for the whole house. Wish it was in my budget but i couldn’t do it.

Can the zip system be used on metal framing?

I haven’t had a chance to use zip system yet in any build I’ve been a part of, my area of Wisconsin is a little behind on new ways of thinking about our building. But I’ve really really tried my best to do as much air sealing as I can. I started cutting my rolls of tyvek in half to make handling easier, I only use staples where there are overlaps and then tape over them. I refuse to use the cheap woven wraps that are pretty much transparent. My biggest hurdle in the industry is getting guys to even look into these products like zip. They are so stuck in their ways and don’t think/care about any other option other than the ones they learned 20+ years ago.

Anyone have any suggestions on ZIP sheathing going up behind a masonry veneer? Do you just put a moisture-screen system directly on the ZIP system, or are additional measures needed first?