Experienced siding contractors know the protection for your home should be more than skin deep.
Your siding protects against the elements and if it’s doing its job, makes your home look great and gives it appeal. However, professional siding contractors know to protect your home as completely as possible from moisture and pests, more than siding has to be in place.
Under your home’s siding should be Tyvek type wrap or covering. If it isn’t installed over wood in exterior walls, it makes them more susceptible to water, which can cause rotting, leaking and large amounts of property damage. Do not hesitate to ask the siding contractors you are dealing with about this.
Damage From Poor Wrapping
Often, in homes where wrapping was not done, repairs have included rebuilding of walls and repairing all associated water damage. The scope of this damage can be devastating. Think of the following situation – a homeowner earnestly wants to replace a window or two to improve efficiency. The window contractor discovers their home was not wrapped correctly, or at all. The result, depending on the age of the home, could easily be an entire wall may have to be replaced before a window can be installed. This is a devastating development from a budget perspective.
Think of it – every rain storm or winter snow fall you experienced could have contributed some moisture to the breakdown of your wall. The Oriented Strand Board (OSB) commonly used for your walls is like a sponge. Your siding will deflect the majority of the moisture, but some will get through. And, when it does your walls will soak it up. Unfortunately, until a homeowner has repair work done or sees signs of damage, the degradation quietly continues.
Water Damage Warning Signs
Because moisture can travel almost anywhere when it isn’t managed well, damaged areas in your home can occur in many ways. Below are a few examples professional siding contractors will have you look for –
- Inside Discoloration – ceilings and walls can often show water damage with stains. They can either still be wet or have dried multiple times.
- Bubbling Plaster – Your plaster will not bubble unless something (moisture) is coming at it from behind.
- Wall Paper Bubbles – Similar to plaster bubbling, though it may happen with smaller leaks and not as much moisture.
- Base Board Cupping – Cupping is a nice way to say warping. If your baseboard is not staying straight, moisture is probably involved.
- Casing on Windows Cups, Buckles or Warps – All of these problems are a sign of moisture.
- Discoloration of Vinyl Floors – Shades of gray or black on your floor show moisture is creeping in between the layers of the vinyl floor. Usually glue is degrading and releasing the plastic layer above from the other layers in the floor.
- Cracking of Brick or Mortar – brick and mortar are both porous and will absorb moisture. As they go through multiple saturation and drying cycles, however, they break down and essentially crumble.
- Isolated Wet Spots on Brick When the Rest of the Wall is Dry – If water is being trapped behind the wall or wicking from an adjacent unwrapped OSB behind the brick wall, the outside of the brick will be dry. However, the isolated wet area indicates water wicking through the brick and the mortar. Your inner wall is degrading behind this wall even when you do not see the wet spot. The wicking occurs only when the area is completely saturated.
Siding Contractors To Help You Protect Against The Elements
As professional siding contractors, Sims Exteriors and Sims Remodeling, Inc. has helped homeowners in the Madison WI area and all of Southern Wisconsin with siding, roofing and replacement windows in their homes and businesses for years.
Sim’s vinyl siding experts serve the greater Madison WI area, including Middleton, Waunakee, Fitchburg, Oregon, Verona, McFarland, Stoughton, Cottage Grove, Sun Prairie, DeForest and all of Dane County.
Call or email Sims today to get an expert analysis from experienced siding contractors in Madison WI.