Does rigid foam sheathing squeak?
Reid Baldwin
| Posted in Green Products and Materials on
I had a Styrofoam cooler in my car this weekend. If it got next to anything else, it made an extremely annoying squeaky noise with every little bump. Does foam sheathing make noise when the house shifts a little from winds or other loads?
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Replies
Reid,
I have never heard of the problem. My guess is that a well-built house doesn't move enough in the wind to cause the squeaking you fear.
Perhaps rigid foam sheathing could be used as a hurricane warning system: if your sheathing squeaks, wake up! Trouble ahead.
It probably moves enough to squeaks in a category 4 hurricane, but you wouldn't really hear it over the roar of the wind and the breaking glass, etc.
I had my house wrapped in EPS foam (that material that what most people call "styrofoam" is made of) last year and have yet to hear any squeaking, even during this spring's 60 MPH wind storms.
Reid,
If your house has so little sheer resistance that it squeaks, you've got bigger problems than a bit of noise.