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Water can be a building's worst enemy, which is why we try so hard to keep it out of our homes and living spaces. The editors of the Journal of Light Construction have brought together leading experts to write this book on controlling practically all forms of moisture damage in residential buildings.
It explains the mysteries of vapor barriers. Provides innovative solutions for keeping basements and crawl spaces dry. It shows fool-proof methods for flashing windows and doors so that they won't let in storm water. Also gives storm-proof stucco details as well as tips for keeping paints and stain on exterior wood. Provides leak-free flashing techniques for both steep and low-slope roofs and provides plans for a low-cost whole-house ventilation that works incredibly well.
Water is a building's worst enemy, which is why we spend so much time and effort trying to keep it out of buildings. Yet despite our best efforts, water will eventually find a way in and get to where it doesn't belong, causing damage that's difficult and expensive to repair.
The editors at The Journal of Light Construction have brought together the leading experts on moisture in buildings in this essential book for residential contractors. Inside, you'll learn:
- The mysteries of vapor barriers explained in plain language.
- Practical approaches to moisture control in cold, mixed, and hot climates.
- Innovative solutions for wet basements and crawlspaces.
- Foolproof methods for flashing windows and doors.
- Water-managed wall systems for optimal siding performance.
- Storm-proof stucco details for the toughest climates.
- Field-tested tips for keeping paints and stains on exterior wood.
- The best approaches for vented and unvented roofs.
- Leak-free flashing details for steep and low-slope roofs.
- Low-cost whole-house ventilation that works.
- Backyard decks detailed to resist the elements.
- And much more..
While moisture problems will never be completely eliminated from buildings, you can get the upper hand in building dry, comfortable, and trouble-free homes that will withstand the test of time - and the mysteries of moisture. You'll find the answers inside.
From the Introduction
Water is a building's worst enemy, which is why we spend so much time and effort trying to keep it out of buildings. Despite our best efforts, however, water will eventually find a way in. If it can't drip through an obvious hole in the roof, it will blow sideways or even uphill to find a hidden entry point. It may back up behind an ice dam, flow in any direction by capillary action, or pass through the walls invisibly as water vapor. But one way or another, water invariably travels to where it doesn't belong and often causes damage.
The focus of this book is on how to build homes that can cope with moisture in all its forms. On the one hand, we cover materials and details designed to keep water out in the first place. But because these efforts are rarely 100% successful, most of the book is devoted to an even more important topic: creating durable buildings designed to tolerate an occasional wetting and to readily dry out afterward with no harm done.
While we all intuitively understand the principle of lapping flashings and building paper to shed water as it runs downhill, it's often easier said than done on a real job site - at a complicated corner, for example, or between mulled windows or around the perimeter of a rooftop deck. More perplexing is groundwater, which is hidden from view and is as likely to flow uphill as down. If water rises above our perfectly laid footing drains, only a house built like a boat has a chance of staying dry. Equally challenging is the invisible moisture passing in and out of walls, attics, and ceilings as water vapor. Based on the last 20 years of debate over vapor barriers, it's obvious that even the experts get headaches over that one.
Perhaps the biggest challenge is that the rules of the game keep changing. The materials we build with and the way we assemble them have changed dramatically over the past few decades. Nearly airtight, well insulated buildings hold the heat better than older buildings but stay wet longer, too. New fast-growth lumber is more vulnerable to moisture, making it less durable, less stable, and less able to hold paint than the wood of a generation ago. And new paints, sheathing wraps, insulations, flashing membranes, plastics, and composites all require new ways of building and new ways of managing moisture.
To address these issues, we've gathered from JLC contributors what we think are the best techniques and details for managing moisture in today's buildings. The book contains job-tested details to handle moisture from footings to ridge, in cold and hot climates, using both traditional approaches and the newest materials available. While moisture problems will never be completely eliminated from buildings, we hope this information will give you the upper hand when confronting the mysteries of moisture and help you create dry, comfortable, and trouble-free homes built to stand the test of time.
Steven Bliss
Project Editor
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