[Greenbuilding] Insulating 140 Year Old Wood Framed Brick Facade Building

[Alan Abrams]

I agree with RT that the air barrier should occur in at the interior, but
given the porousity of vintage brick and other elements, would select the
most permeable material possible for that purpose.  Intello has a
fabric-like product that resists vapor diffusion into the wall in winter,
and allows drying to the interior in summer.  that might be appropriate for
your climate, but it also assumes mechanical dehumidification in warm
weather.

given the absence of an effective drainage plane and the effects of vapor
drive to the interior when sunlight hits rainsoaked bricks, I'd be inclined
to omit these membranes altogether, and go with an airtight-ish drywall or
plaster finish, coated with latex primer and paint, to achieve the maximum
possible permeability.

Alan Abrams*
**certified professional building designer, AIBD
certified passive house consultant, PHIUS*
*certified passive house builder, PHIUS**
*Abrams Design Build LLC
*sustainable design for intentional living*
6411 Orchard Avenue Suite 102
Takoma Park, MD 20912
office  301-270-NET- ZERO (301-270-6380)
fax      301-270-1466
cell     202-437-8583
alan at abramsdesignbuild.com
www.abramsdesignbuild.com


On Fri, Jun 14, 2013 at 8:57 AM, RT <archilogic at yahoo.ca> wrote:

> On Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:01:12 -0400, Sam Ewbank <g.l.ewbank at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>   If we don't reinstall the sheething we would need to install
>> some other sheer bracing (the sheething boards vary in width from 8" to
>> 30"
>> and material including cherry, poplar and butter nut).
>> What about air sealing? Trying to seal the existing sheething would be
>> difficult to say the least. Would the gypsum plaster be adequate?
>>
>
> Sorry. When I mentioned that the plank sheathing should be salvaged, I
> just assumed that it would be re-purposed or sold.
>
> Whatever function it's currently serving in the structure can be done
> better
> by some cheaper, 21st C sheathing material.
>
> Old, wide, dry hardwood planks, never exposed to weather would probably be
> the equivalent of gold in the decor market.
>
> It was also assumed that the plank sheathing and wood lath (total
> thickness 1.5" or so ) would be replaced with something that would provide
> functions of continuous air barrier, shear bracing and possibly more
> R-value. (You had mentioned rigid ins.)
>
> If I were doing it, I'd consider creating the air barrier plane (possibly
> OSB or board insulation + let-in bracing ... joints sealed) on the
> interior face of the studs, taking care to ensure continuity across the
> joists-balloon studs junction (ie moisture piggy-backed on air leakage
> could be the Kiss of Death for the brick veneer. ie wet brick no longer
> kept warm by heat loss would be subject to frost action that result in
> spalling that could look like the building had been in a war zone and hit
> by artillery fire.)
>
> Then any services (plumbing, electrical)  that needs to go in the exterior
> walls could be installed on the interior of the air barrier without any
> concerns about sub-trades compromising the A/B's integrity.
>
> 3-coat, wet applied plaster can be an effective air barrier material but
> maintaining the continuity of the air barrier across the stud/joists
> junction would still be an issue that needs to be addressed.
>
>
>
>
> --
> === * ===
> Rob Tom                                 AOD257
> Kanata, Ontario, Canada
>
> < A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a  >
> (manually winnow the chaff from my edress if you hit "reply")
>
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