Siding Ventilation

Alkyd

Anyone have any ideas on what to use to ventilate the moisture from inside the house. This is an old house (1950) and over the years paint has sealed the lap wood siding that the house cannot breath correctly. I thought about wedge vents but they will not work due to the siding being ike a tongue and groove. What about the little vents that you put on the siding by drilling holes? What is the lay out if I were to use those type of vents? Thanks

dayspring

I've never heard of venting siding in all my 30 years in the biz. Maybe I missed something

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joasis

I would strongly suspect you have other issues then "trapped" moisture. We go to great lengths to get a home tight for a reason....

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AtlanticWBConst

huh? ??

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ron schenker

I think what you are referring to are holes that are drilled to spray insulation into the walls and then "capped"

Double-A

You mean something like this?

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maj

I agree with Ron. Around here, we use them after filling old house walls with cellulose insulation. Some guys use the solid caps, but I have seen the vented ones. I have torn off siding with them installed, and really couldn't see any significant difference in peeling paint. Walls with the vents were peeling just as bad as the walls without them.

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Brushslingers

ACK! Ok, you guys prolly missed the 1950 date... there were no fancy roof vents or soffit vents then.

http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/225.shtml

Historic homes require breathing room, ell most normal siding requires some breathing. What he is talking about is using those "cap vents" to dry out the cavities in between the joists... which is what we used to do for historic homes that still had good wood and plaster walls.

It's cheaper than something like this -

http://www.cor-a-vent.com/siding-vent-sv-3.cfm

And sometimes, will cure the problem, depending on the house, weather, etc. Tight walls are awesome, but too tight.. and you can't breathe.

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dayspring

Then install soffit and roof vents

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maj

ummmm, no brush, I don't believe we missed the age of the house. Which in my neck of the woods is not that old. Most houses here were built around the turn of the century.

Actually brush, I believe the vents are supposed to ventilate the wall assembly (stud cavities). There is usually two per stud bay, one near the top and one near the bottom. Maybe three on two story houses, with one more at center. Like I said, around here anyway, they have been used after blowing in cellulose insulation into the stud bays. The theory is that since there is no poly VB on the inside of old plastered houses, moisture will still try to travel through the wall but get trapped in the insulation causing mold on the interior and peeling paint on the exterior. With the vents in every stud bay, air can circulate through the wall assembly, relieving trapped moisture.

Now do they work? IMO, I don't think so. But why not use them as long as the hole is there already. As far as alkyd's question, He didn't say anything about the walls being insulated or going to be insulated, so whether or not the vents would work, I don't know.

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Alkyd

Double- A and Brushslinger you are right on. Double-A That is exactly what I'm looking for. Have you ever installed them. How far apart are they? Do they work even if there is installation in the walls? Thanks

dayspring

First off, where and what is the cause of the moisture? Without a source, I can't understand there being moisture in the walls. If the house has adequate heat and air or other source of continuous airflow inside that should, I would think, take care of any wall moisture. Lack of a vapor barrier may give opportunity for moisture to occur and create mold, but I don't believe it would create so much that it could get wet to the point of puddles or anything like that. Crawl space ventalation? Soffit vents? Roof vents on the house in question?

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maj

OK, I guess I got this whole thing wrong. I thought you were looking to ventilate the walls because of peeling paint issues.. If it is the attic you want ventilated, then you need soffit & roof vents. Those little round vents will do nothing for attic ventilation if you install them in the walls.

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dayspring

This is what I read Maj
He did not specify walls

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maj

OK..... The little round vents that he wants to install are for the siding, to ventilate the walls in older houses with no VB. So I am definitely with you dayspring on the attic ventilation through the use of properly sized soffit & roof vents.

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Brushslingers

Naaa, you read it right just didn't see the problem... most times some A/C guy will come out, stick central in an old house and boom. Moisture problems occur. Your right though Maj, it's not a "common cure", for the most part I cannot "see" the house so i'm not postitive... but in practice pre-1960 was mostly 2 foot stud on outside walls, every 2 feet spaced to allow the tounge and grove type siding to breathe. Now up north it was a little different, with the weight of snow, etc alot of the homes were changed to 16 sooner, however, sealing up a pre-70's and ell.. sometimes pre -80's home could cause LOADS of problems. For instance... changing windows in a 1968 house to double pane storms, now your client says "it smells musty"... heh, never been there?

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maj

Well, I don't know Brush, but around here A/C takes OUT moisture not introduce it. Only thing around here framed on 2' centers are cattle sheds, not one single house pre-2006 that I've worked on has been 2' oc, everything is 16".

I guess what threw me is when you posted about drying out between the JOIST cavities and then alkyd said you were right on. So that all led us to believe that he wants to ventilate the attic.

I will agree with your last statement.... The worst thing to happen to old houses was the energy crunch of the 80's. Insulating and tightening up those old houses without some form of air exchange is not good.

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Brushslingers

Ahh, ya you got me on that one, I meant studs not joists. Normally an A/C unit placed in an old house will introduce a "constant" humidity... something noone knew jack about 100 years ago, which is moisture. 30 years ago we used those "jack vents" to save ourselves some work but your also right in the fact that correctly, roof vents are best. Remember though that even cured plaster... old plaster not this new junk, is concrete, and all crete will hold water... so if the ventalation isn't good, peeling paint on the outside is just the first stage of the house screaming for help.

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maj

You're saying A/C will introduce moisture into the house? Now THAT is a new one!!!! Why do we have condensate drains on them then?

Maybe alkyd will stop back and explain why he wants to install the round vents, I thought it was for wall ventilation. I guess everyone should go back and reread posts now & then.

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Brushslingers

Your saying that A/C does not introduce moisture? You have never in your life driven down a long road and notice moisture on your car vents? Come on now. On a good system they also install de-humidifier systems... perhaps you want to ask about it in the A/C forum.

Yes he wanted wall ventilation, in the old days.. that was the fix, install the little vents in the stud walls. Like I said, you are right in saying roof and soffit vents are best however, not cost effective for a painter.

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Benn