Vapor Barrier
![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/69e4c40bdfa85a7bb9c5560096ed0840?s=52&d=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.greenbuildingadvisor.com%2Fapp%2Favatars%2F200x200%2Fd.png&r=g)
So we bought a house in western North Carolina several years ago, the house was originally built in 2007. The wall construction is 2×6 studs, OSB sheathing,
untaped Tyvek, and Hardie Plank siding. Unfortunately they put a visgueen vapor barrier on the inside of the studs. It looks like most of the 6″ fiberglass insulation is unfaced but I have found a few places where faced insulation was used.
Recently I discovered that because the second floor deck joists had been improperly flashed significant water intrusion into the first floor wall had been going on for quite some time resulting in a lot of rotten wood in areas that I am in the process of replacing.
My question is what should I do about the visgueen? As I see it there are two options.
1) After the rotten wood has been replaced and the deck properly waterproofed just patch in the OSB and Tyvek where it had to be removed before residing with new Hardie plank.
2) Go ahead and remove all the OSB and insulation which would allow access to cut out most of the visqueen. Then replace the OSB with ZIP system, Tyvek (?), and new siding. This would take care of the majority of the first floor walls.
Thanks
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
![](https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/app/themes/greenbuildingadvisor/dist/img/modules/detail-library/thumb1.png)
![](https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/app/themes/greenbuildingadvisor/dist/img/modules/detail-library/thumb2.png)
Replies