Rainscreen Siding Wasps

For most residential builders a rainscreen siding installation is one that includes an air gap between the siding and the water resistive barrier the asphalt felt or housewrap.

Rainscreen siding wasps.

That small gap between the j channels of your home s siding and the siding sheet itself. Rainscreens tend to cost more money unless the siding or cladding has a built in rainscreen the best example being vinyl siding. Yes this often maligned building material has a huge advantage compared to other siding and claddings. A rain screen airspace can be created by a variety of methods.

The easiest and safest way is to locate and monitor the wasps suspected access point into the siding during the late afternoon. Rainscreen siding is an all natural wood siding product that provides a more natural look when compared to vinyl or plastic siding options. Furring strips thin strips of wood or other material can be installed horizontally for vertical siding or vertically for horizontal siding to lift the siding off the weather resistant barrier covered sheathing. This is the time of day when you are likely to see the most activity as the wasps return to the nest for the evening.

It s hard to see even in this close up picture. The exoclad rainscreen quickclip will compress to absorb this expansion. The south facing side of your home gets very warm during the day and stores heat into the night. The vent space at the bottom of the wall is protected by stainless screening to keep the critters out.

Some purists insist that you can t call it a rainscreen gap unless you have ventilation gaps at the top of the wall as well as the bottom of the wall. It helps keep the entire wall assembly dry by allowing for both water drainage and airflow. This small gap forms a wonderful attractive home for wasps and other insects. A rainscreen is a system of materials used to create a gap between the siding and the water resistive barrier wrb.

Typical siding boards can swell up to 1 8 in width. It s impossible to keep them out and they either freeze to death in the winter or can t escape. We designed our exoclad rainscreen quickclip specifically to allow for this natural swelling and shrinkage in the widths of individual boards after installation. Insulated vinyl siding or that which fills the hollow space with a solid backer loses this key advantage.

I ve got a building with horizontal cedar siding over 1 furring strips. Unfortunately it also seems to keep them in.