When doing vinyl siding which is a better underlayment? Pink foam board or house wrap? Chicago area...?

Answer 1

The pink foam board will probably provide better insulation then just Tyvek type of house wrap.

Answer 2

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RE:
When doing vinyl siding which is a better underlayment? Pink foam board or house wrap? Chicago area...?

Answer 3

Vinyl Siding Underlayment

Answer 4

I live in Florida,and TYVEK is an assume VAPOR barrier, not an insulator. I'm opposed to the fact that it's used at all, on many personal levels. I won't state them to keep from insulting others in the trades.

Color by the way is of no consequence. What might be some things for you to consider are/is...what is the Siding being attached to? Who is installing it?

I'm having a difficult time trying to GET the use of the foam. First of all it would have to be thin,,, negating any R value. Foam is like 1 inch equals an R value of less than 10, and certainly I hope your house is already insulated.

It seems to me also and again, no offense, but unless you get answers from siding contractors here, that are local to you; it's likely not many here can relate to your issues, especially those you haven't detailed.

Steven Wolf

Also with no offense I'm opposed to Vinyl, and/or Aluminum as siding.

Answer 5

Pink foam board gives you insulation, and some wind protection. House wrap gives you protection against the wind only. So, I would go with the board AND cut it tight like a puzzle with edges fitting tight and after it is applied TUK tape all the seams twice or 3 times so to seal it up tight, then the siding.

Answer 6

Use both. Since you are replacing the siding, it's a good time to add insulation AND a house wrap to prevent air infiltration.

Check your local building code to see if you need to put anything over the foam insulation before installing the vinyl siding as a fire-prevenion measure.

Answer 7

We are having this done too...we have an old farmhouse & we're on a hill, so we get some pretty high winds - mainly at the front of the house. The contractor tore off the old siding, but we only had him wrap the front of the house, but I don't think he used any foam board - just the wrap. You probably don't need to do both, but I'm not a contractor so I'm not sure. :-(

Answer 8

being that it is chicago and lake effects is as big an issue as insulation

your best bet will be to house wrap with something like tyvek over the top of the insulboard and then you will be all good as long as you install the vinyl siding as specified by the manufactures instructions

the most common problem with siding is that it is installed to loosely in winter conditions or to tightly applied in summer conditions

either way the siding will ripple and bow at weather change

so read first apply second and all will remain as nice a when applied

Answer 9

Depending on the climate where you live. If you are in a warm and mild climate like the southwest house wrap is good enough, it is basically moisture barrier. If you are in say north east and climate is harsh in the winter a bit extra insulation is a nice think and probably will be worth the investment.

Answer 10

are you removing all the old siding? is it new construction?

I kept the old lap siding on my house and just put "ProPink" over the top of it to create a flat surface. R Value was 1 i think, but i kept the old siding on there, so it wasnt an issue for me.

If you use both, and you are over old siding, consider your old windows and the fact that they will be recessed the thicker your siding is.