Construction Corner: Rain Screen Siding
Posted by Kelly Asmus on Aug 15, 2011 in Construction Corner, Latest News, _Special | 0 comments
Since early 2003, Renaissance Homes has built all of their homes in the Portland metro and Vancouver/ Clark County areas with an exterior cladding system that is known as Rain Screen. Renaissance realizes that the average consumer may not be aware of these new and innovative building practices. Therefore, we offer the following description of the Rain Screen system.
Moisture in many forms is prevalent in our Northwest climate. Over the years, builders in this region have come to expect those leaks as a “cost of doing business”. The typical construction method for most area builders has the exterior cladding system fastened firmly to the homes plywood or oriented strand board sheathing, which in turn, is attached directly to the homes studs. When a leak or water penetration occurs with this type of construction, the water is literally forced through the wall and can spread in many different locations by a principal known as capillary action. The Rain Screen system addresses this problem.
The Rain Screen system is designed to channel moisture and drain it from the siding assembly by employing firing strip to lift the siding off of the exterior wall. Thus the definition of Rain Screen is: a moisture management system incorporating cladding, an air cavity to allow for vertical venting behind the siding, a drainage plane, and an airtight support wall to offer multiple moisture shedding pathways. Rain Screens diminish the forces attempting to drive moisture into a wall.
Renaissance Homes employs Pressure Equalized Rain Screen, (PER). PER carefully integrates exterior claddings, compartmentalized air spaces, generous ventilation and watertight / airtight (DuPont™ Tyvek® HomeWrap®) support walls. PERs terminate the pressure differential across cladding systems that are magnified by winds. This limits the opportunity for rain penetration beyond the cladding.
The ‘Renaissance Homes Rain Screen System’ has been engineered by a licensed building envelope engineering firm for the exclusive use of Renaissance Homes. This proprietary building envelope engineering supersedes local building code requirements.
Visit a Renaissance Homes neighborhood today and ask the community sales manager about the benefits to you on this innovative technology. Renaissance Homes is an award winning Street of Dreams custom home builder specializing in green building for the Portland market.
