vinyl siding - Digest #3602

[Guest guest]

I have to respectfully disagree with the opinion about vinyl siding. My home

was stucco front and vinyl siding (Alcoa brand) on the sides and back. I had a

very back mold problem and spent years in litigation with a builder due to

improper construction methods and code violations. The mold was not from the

siding itself, but from moisture intrusion. There was no moisture barrier /

house wrap (Tyvek is a common brand) behind the siding over the OSB. Siding is

not a sealant. That is why building codes call for a moisture or vapor barrier.

The lack of this barrier, properly installed, will cause moistue intrusion into

any home. It was especially bad around the windows. Dr. Lipsey was the

toxicologist I used and he can tell you that the siding sure didn't keep mold

away from my home or family.

I hope this is helpful as I would hate to see anyone suffer from mold due to a

FALSE security that siding is the answer.

Sincerely,

Armstrong - HOBB Florida Chapter

www.hobb.org

Re: Consequences of Vinyl siding; New England Housing

Posted by: " Christ " antares@... antares40_40

Date: Sun Feb 25, 2007 10:31 am ((PST))

I believe the reason you want to bring in some fresh outside air is to

create a positive air situation inside your house as opposed to

neutral or even worse negative. That way not only do you have air

movement though your walls which is critical in preventing mold

growth, but also any voc's or mold spores, or bacterial problems

behind your drywall is expelled outdoors and can't get the chance to

build up to dangerous levels inside of your living environment.

I would tend to lean towards the idea that because siding is outdoors

the wind and relatively higher and lower temperatures and the wilder

swings in between the two will create air movement in between the wall

and the siding preventing the conditions for condensation formation

and thus making the opportunity for mold to grow less likely. This is

just my speculation. I am no expert here. Further I would assume the

manufactures make reasonable efforts to encourage air movement and

discourage mold growth.

The siding which is impermeable to moisture will also prevent direct

contact with rain and high humidity which will tend to wick into wood

as well as cement, stucco, or cinder block, creating a more humid

environment inside your walls their could be factors though that are

quite the opposite of what I am speculating, barring that what shelly

is saying makes good sense to me.

In my very limited experience I have never heard of mold growing

behind siding.

On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 05:38:15 -0000, you wrote:

>

>At the risk of being wrong here, I will share that one of our air

>quality experts told us that vinyl siding is the best choice in today's

>construction for mold prevention. I believe that the vinyl siding has

>holes for drainage at the bottom of each panel. We were told that brick

>and other veneers are more vulnerable to mold. I assume that is because

>water tends to accumulate behind them. Another thing which we were

>advised to do is to have a system installed which brings " fresh "

>outside air into the house. Ours replaces all the air every 3 hours. It

>seems to me that this air movement would help to dry out any materials

>that became wet.