House Wrap ... On the Interior?


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Old 02-14-19, 10:05 AM
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House Wrap ... On the Interior?

Ok, this might sound a little crazy, but hear me out. I have a 100 year old house where I can literally feel a cold breeze inside when the wind blows more than 10mph outside, and it's a big, if not the biggest contributor to high heating costs and general discomfort in the home. I haven't done a blower door test yet but I have one scheduled. I imagine we will be so leaky the contractor's going to have a stroke.

The main part of the house is balloon framed, and blown in cellulose is going in there- easy, effective, cheap. However, there is a small 'addition' on the rear that actually used to be a porch- this particular part of the house isn't very big but leaks air like nobody's business because, well.... it used to be a porch!

I could have the guys dense pack cellulose in there too, but I don't want to for a couple reasons:
1) I'm tearing off the 'addition' roof (all 4+ layers!) this summer. I don't want this to mess up the dense-pack
2) I'm tearing off the interior wooden siding and replacing it with drywall, little by little. Obviously this would let all the insulation fall out.
3) The exterior is aluminum siding which is pretty difficult to take off without ruining it. Replacing that is on the list too, but in the meantime doing something like house wrap on the outside is a no-go.

I have a a 100ft roll of housewrap laying around from another project which is rated at 12 perms. After I tear off the interior wood siding if I stapled the house wrap on the interior stud bays as an air barrier, would that pose any problems?

I intend on using something like Roxul to insulate after the housewrap, which is also fairly vapor permeable AFAIK. Given this is an old house that wasn't maintained well, I want to assume that moisture is going to get in some how and allow it a path out. Thoughts?
 
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Old 02-14-19, 10:13 AM
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No, there are no problems using it that way, it just won't be very effective since it will be hard/impossible to air seal the top and bottom edges. You would also have to wrap it snugly around each stud. Some plywood cleats or lath might help.
 
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Old 02-14-19, 10:44 AM
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Great thoughts, I hadn't considered air sealing the top or bottom (duh!). Luckily there are no top or bottom plates- the studs rest on the sill, and the joists are nailed to the studs. Prob should put some in for fireblocking purposes anyway so nailing them in tightly overtop the housewrap would be a win-win
 
 

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