House wrap
bigapplerunner
| Posted in General Questions on
Hi all,
Our siding contractor is proposing Henry Blueskin. We don’t know the product too well. We’re renovating a 150 year old house in Northern NJ that is very leaky. The Blueskin VP100 product seems absolutely amazing. Any real-life experiences that could guide us?
Thank you,
Thomas
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Search and download construction details
Replies
We have used Henry Blueskin on a number of projects. Using a self- adhered house wrap makes a lot of sense in a renovation situation especially. Blueskin is easy to get which is also great. There’s also a great incentive to go with this system if the contractor and their team are familiar and confident with it. It will do a great job air sealing the areas where it is applied and shedding water. It will also allow the wall to dry to the outside.
While I think it is a totally acceptable product to use I think there are better options, especially SIGA Majvest and ProClima Adhero. Both of these products are thicker and more durable than Blue-skin. They also use better acrylic adhesives as opposed to asphaultic adhesives in Blueskin.
My biggest problem with Blueskin is the family of tapes and adhesives required is always changing and found lacking. The other systems cost a little more but I spend much less time with overly redundant tape+sealant flashing details and re-tooling failing sections.
Additionally the vapor opened tapes Fentrim (SIGA) and Contiga (Pro-clima) are just way ahead of the Blueskin counter parts. You can get rolls with a 5/8” split release that makes taping windows and doors well a breeze.
If you do go the Blueskin route I’d say forget their tapes and sealants and stick with other proven off the shelf tapes like 3M and sealants like Lexcel.
Of course, all of these tapes and membranes are pressure sensitive and require tooling. Even a better system can fail if not properly installed.
Henry makes a number of products, for walls you want to make sure it is the VP100 or VP160. These are the permeable ones with an acrylic adhesive. Works great, sticks even in the cold and it is pretty easy to install. One benefit of these is they can be installed both horizontally or vertically, vertical install is easier in case of a reno when working on a ladder.
Their other stuff (ie WP200) is for foundation waterproofing. I have seen a lot of this installed on walls which is mostly a bad idea. The material is a vapor closed so it forms a cold side vapor barrier which can be problematic unless you have a lot of exterior rigid insulation. Plus it doesn't stick all that well to wood without a primer which makes it a pain to install.