Your building envelope must be the focus throughout any type of exterior renovation. Whether you’re redoing your home’s entire exterior or just one part, like the siding or roof, you need installers who understand how the various components of the building envelope work together to shed water, provide ventilation, and reduce heat loss.
Ventilation and Heat Loss
Current building codes force contractors to seal houses up very tightly to reduce heat loss and energy costs. At the same time, you have to allow the building to breathe so you don’t have problems with condensation and mold in the future. Understanding how the building envelope works, from the roof down to the foundation, allows us to seal houses as tightly as possible to avoid heat loss while ensuring they can still breath.
Exterior home renovations can uncover issues with your building envelope you may not be aware of. While no one wants to find something that is going to be costly to repair, homeowners should consider themselves lucky that the problem has been found. Dealing with it now will be much more cost effective than dealing with it when it starts to become very obvious down the line.
Why Building Envelope Problems Occur
Exterior home trades should have in-depth knowledge about water shedding and the importance of breathability. Even if they understand these concepts and how they relate to their own work, they may not be working with all the other trades to ensure that all the components of the water shedding system are working together to provide the best outcome.
At The Exteriors Group, we don’t consider ourselves roofers or siders. We’re building envelope experts skilled at waterproofing your home the correct way.The roof and siding offer a first layer of protection against water damage, but it’s what’s underneath that is really important.
One big issue we see is improper caulking. Caulking is a key part of protecting the house envelope. It’s not just about knowing how to use a caulking gun. It’s about knowing where to caulk—which areas of the envelope are weak—and using the proper product for each application.
Your Building Envelope Experts
If you’re redoing the exterior of your home, talk to us about how we can deliver extra value by assessing your building envelope before we install your new siding or roofing. Our prices are competitive but we bring extra knowledge that can make a significant difference in your home’s “health” and give you peace of mind. Contact The Exteriors Group today.