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Exterior foam and vertical vinyl siding

user-1028860 | Posted in Green Building Techniques on

Hello Everyone.

My contractors are about to begin installation of a somewhat protected exterior wall. We’ll be applying exterior rigid foam siding and Mastic vertical vinyl siding. I believe we all advocate the use of furring strips between the rigid foam and the siding, but I was just reading the Mastic installation directions and they are suggesting that for their vinyl siding (vertical or horizontal) there be a layer of sheathing between the furring strips and the siding. This strikes me as a poor way to build a rainscreen.

I also know people here have recommend a variety of rain screen details for vertical siding vs horizontal.

What are your current recommendations for creating the rainscreen for vertical vinyl siding?

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Replies

  1. GBA Editor
    Martin Holladay | | #1

    Jason,
    This is an old controversy. To read more about the issue, see Can Vinyl Siding be Applied Over Furring Strips?

    If you want to retain the warrany offered by your vinyl siding manufacturer, you have to install their product according to their installation instructions.

    How thick is your exterior foam? Many vinyl siding experts allow vinyl siding to be nailed through 1-inch-thick foam. For example, the article I just linked to quotes Matt Gibson, the manager of contractor programs forCertainTeed's siding group, who wrote that “vinyl siding must be installed over a rigid sheathing that provides a smooth, flat surface, or an underlayment (such as wood, wood composition, rigid foam or fiber sheathing) that is no more than 1 inch thick."

    The fact that you want to install vertical instead of horizontal vinyl siding complicates the question, because vertical furring strips won't work.

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