rharshberger
Well-Known Member
+1. Now tell me about "green" board. That is what was installed in my bathrooms when the house was built.
Green board drywall is moisture resistant.
+1. Now tell me about "green" board. That is what was installed in my bathrooms when the house was built.
Green board drywall is moisture resistant.
I know that. How is it done? Additive? Change in process?
Drywall ends up being more stable than a lot of other materials once it's properly painted. It should be much cheaper than plywood and gives a much nicer surface. You mentioned 1/2" plywood for subflooring. That's too thin. 3/4" tongue and groove is typically used for subfloor material- glue and screwed.
Batted insulation is also much cheaper than spray insulations. The spray stuff is great for getting into tight areas, but is more expensive for more extensive usage.
I've used this small-scale spray gun before with excellent results. https://www.menards.com/main/paint/...435969130-c-7937.htm?tid=-4537819226629187923
In fact, the cans that attach to the spray gun go a really long way. I think I used two cans on a 600 square foot garage I built for sealing the corners and other various areas.
I think what you have done so far looks fine and will work for your purposes. I would advise you to remove the term "perfect" from your vocabulary when referring to construction. A little slack is actually a good thing as it allows for expansion and contraction and prevents buckling of sheet materials. One thing I forgot to mention was making sure that any crawlspace is properly vented so that soil moisture can escape, especially if your house is built over land with a high water table. If not, you have a large humidor prone to condensation, mold and mildew.
Flex seal seems like an expensive way to go. Would roofing tar work (the thicker stuff used around flashing and vents)?
Looks like 4-5 2x4s are missing that should be running up and down. I don't see any form of a footer poured with cement block building up 36" or whatever is required to lay the lower 2x 6 or whatever the vertical boards would rest on. Might be just the picture, but this makes me understand why building inspectors / code enforcers exist (well not really )
I gotta say, that looks pretty bad overall. I'd consider a user trailer unless other pics make it looks better.
I agree- there should be studs every 16" to hold the weight of the roof up. I'd start at the foundation and work up from there. What do you presently have for a foundation?
The sole plate of your walls needs to be treated lumber and set on top of some sort of moisture barrier- 30 lb tar paper works just fine, or some of the newer rolled-foam products are also really inexpensive. Then you put your 16" wide batted insulation in between those studs. The paper part of the insulation faces toward the conditioned space (inside) and functions as a moisture barrier. You then staple house wrap on the outside of your walls followed by your plywood.
It's important to get all of this correct. The building codes have a section about braced walls with some pretty comprehensive calculations and examples to make sure your house is structurally sound. Plywood by itself satisfies the braced wall requirements if it's done correctly. Otherwise, your house could sort of fail in a parallelogram way.
They also sell slightly thicker plywood with various patterns on it that can function as structural support as well as finished siding. That stuff is typically called sheeting/siding and can save you some money and some steps. An easy to find version is called RBB which stands for reverse board and batten. It usually has 12" of a flat surface followed by an inch or so that then goes inward.
Can't quite tell from the photos, but looks like you might not have any gutters on that part of the house. I'd suggest putting some up to keep the water from splashing on the ground and ruining your sole plate. It's a good idea to keep 6" ground clearance from the bottom of you siding. That may entail making sure your foundation is at least that far above grade.
It looks like this is an add on and I don't see any foundation other than wood stacked on the ground. I think it is time to reevaluate the repairs you are making and consider doing some serious demo and rebuild from the ground up. This is a can of worms. Sorry, I think your time an effort would be better spent planning this out and starting over.
Raising the foundation up higher is a great idea. It could probably be done by using concrete block on top of your existing foundation wall and mortared in place. You might have to tie into the existing foundation with rebar though. Not sure of your local code requirements.
The only question you might ask yourself is "While they are not enforcing the code right now, do I want to take the chance they might decide to all of a sudden?". I'd err on the side of finding out from town hall if there is a code and, if so, follow it. It would really stink to have them slap a condemned sticker on your door if you cross some line.
WowTop! It looks like you bought a can of worms and certainly have your work cut out for you. In one of your previous photos taken from the inside, it shows the backside of the vinyl siding and a piece of the expanded polystyrene foam board. This is typically seen when a homeowner hires some Jake Leg "home improvement" salesman who then does a cover up job without fixing the underlying problem, which was then passed on to you. These are the kind of unethical things that give all remodeling contractors a bad reputation and it only makes the underlying problems worse.
That said, it is fixable. It appears that the exterior wall that you exposed runs parallel with the floor joists which would make it possible to build up with a treated lumber sole plate, rim joists and/or blocking and lots of uncomfortable labor. It also appears from your photos that this wall is taking the roof loads and are supported by nothing but the remaining plywood sheathing and air. I would strongly suggest that you FIRST temporarily install some 2 x 4 props from the ground up to the bottom of the top wall plates, both for your safety and to prevent any sagging of the roof structure. I wish I could be there to give you a hand. Maybe you can find another vet who has some remodeling experience to help you through this?
Ted
Sounds like you have it under control. Go slow and methodically and get the structural defects repaired first. When you get to replacing the plywood sheathing, do not butt the joints tightly (1/4" on the 8' length and 1/8" on the 4' joints is pretty much standard). Then goes the exterior moisture barrier (15# tar paper, or building wrap) and finally the siding. Do not nail the vinyl siding tight...it must be allowed to move.
Did the same people who did the siding job also do the re-roofing? And was the new roof installed over the old one? The reason I ask is that the leaking old roof probably caused much of the damage to your walls, especially if winter ice dams formed and then melted along the eaves, causing water to back up under the shingles. But...if it ain't broke, don't fix it! :wink:
Can't quite tell from the photo if the window opening is framed correctly. It does look like the 16" spacing it at least off on the bottom. You need a header above the window that carries the load of the roof down to the plate. Here's an example https://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/framing_a_window.html
There are span charts that you can use to calculate the size of the header that is needed. It all depends on the width of the opening, the species of wood, and what load you'll be carrying (another floor above versus just roof). You're probably looking at either a doubled up 2x4 or 2x6, both with a 1/2" piece of plywood in between to span that window opening correctly.
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