Rainscreen with gapped panels
Hello Again GBA’ers
We have a design for a ventilated rain screen ventilated with mixed cladding materials. This will be exterior to 6″ of foam board insulation. One of the materials is Equitone, and the manufacturer recommendation calls for 3/8″ gap between panels, they supply a butyl tape to face the furring strips, both to provide a dark color on the reveal and to provide a moisture barrier on the face of the wood furring strip. The panels are very long, and there will be long horizontal gaps.
Two questions:
1) This arrangement leaves only the edges of the wood furring exposed for drying, is that sufficient?
2) So the gaps will be exposed to moisture (rain and snow), and so I would assume that some of that moisture will wick down into the crack, possibly dripping down onto the lower furring strip. Should I be concerned about liquid moisture in the rain screen gap?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or guidance!
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Replies
Gerald,
As long as the rainscreen gap is well ventilated -- with air inlets at the bottom, and air outlets at the top -- I wouldn't worry about the rain entry. This will work.
Aesthetically, however, I am not a fan of gapped siding with visible cracks. But there is no arguing aesthetics.
-- Martin Holladay
Thanks so much Martin- you and your crew are an absolute treasure. It's a particular treat to have an answer be uncomplicated :-)
The rain screen gap is 3/4 with inlet on the bottom and outlet at the top.
We like modern design influences, so that's where the gapped panel comes in- here's a link for a somewhat similar application:
http://www.houzz.com/photos/43645317/Edgewood-contemporary-exterior-vancouver