| The Wedging Solution
Now that you know how and why paint fails due to trapped moisture buildup, you need to know how to solve the problem. Through the use of the innovative Wedging system, the problems of paint failure and cedar bleed can be readily and affordibly resolved.
We use a high-tensile strength wedge which is approximately six inches long. A permanent, onetime installation provides a means for moisture to be gradually released as it is generated without causing any damaging moisture buildup to existing paint or stain.
Learn more about the Wedging solution:
Installation of the Wedging System
Pattern of Installation
After the Installation
Wedging Helps Grow Our Reputation
|
Installation of the Wedging System
Installation with Clapboards
When used with clapboards, the length of the Wedge is critical, since it must go up under the clapboard far enough to go past the lap of the next clapboard to allow moisture to be more quickly released (see photo.) A composite material combining a unique series of qualities was developed for use in the Wedging system to avoid the problems of swelling, shrinking or rusting often associated using wooden or metallic shims.
|
High Tensil Strength Wedge |
1. After putting on safety glasses, place a pry bar in one hand and the Wedge in the other (see photo.)
2. Insert the bar under the butt of the clapboard, keeping in mind to be positioned in between nailheads.
3. Lift the butt of the clapboard away from the surface.
4. Slide the Wedge with the knob end in hand up under the clapboard at a 45° angle so that only one inch is visible.
5. Pull the pry bar out so that the pressure of the clapboard is now pressing on the Wedge.
6. Pull the Wedge with the knob end in hand away from the siding. The exposed portion will break away, leaving about 5 inches of the Wedge under the clapboard.
|
The correct way to install a High Tensil Strength Wedge with a pry bar
|
This is when the tensile strength of the Wedge is critical in the last setup of installation. When the Wedge snaps, it does so at a point approximately one-eighth of an inch up from the butt end of the clapboard causing the Wedge to disappear from sight. It can still be recessed further with an upward tap of a putty knife if the break wasn't clean. It is important that the Wedge be recessed under the clapboards/shingles since its exception below the edge of the siding may cause paint/stain dripping when subsequent painting/staining is done.
|
Installation with Shingles
When installing the Wedging system under shingles, it is important to remember to insert wedges at 45° angles under the seam of 2 adjacent shingles (see photo.) This prevents one shingle from being stepped out from an adjoining shingle. Again, the longer length of the Wedge is significant. Smaller metal and wooden wedge shimming products have proven ineffective since they do not reach the farthest point of moisture buildup behind the wood needed allowing for maximum moisture release as provided by the higher tensile strength Wedges.
|
Installing the Wedge at a 45° angle
|
A shingle is usually 16 inches in length, normally with 7 inches of surface exposed to the weather and 9 inches covered by the course above. After several previous coats of paint, the seam between individual shingles usually becomes filled, preventing any escape of moisture buildup. By installing a Wedge as recommended under a single seam, it allows the covered portion of the seam to release the moisture buildup through the open air space created by the wedge.
|
Pattern of Installation
The pattern for installing the Wedges requires some knowledge of home construction. When a house is built, the studs are normally positioned 16 inches on-center, and the area created between 2 adjacent studs is called a bay. Building codes throughout the United States generally require that fire stops (2 two-by-fours nailed together and placed horizontally on edge between the studs) divide one window from the next window or a corner post. The codes also require that fire stops be installed between structural floors. The reason for fire stops is to retard flames that start between partitions from looping up into the attic, causing a chimney effect and engulfing the whole house. It is in these bay areas that most sweating occurs. Since fire stops and studs create and isolate bays, the bays must be wedged on an indivdual basis.
A standard Wedging installation pattern is as follows:
1. Starting at the very first row of clapboard/shingles at the top of a bay next to a window, the first Wedge is installed in the middle of the bay.
2. Drop down one row, move over to the next bay, install another wedge.
3. Repeat step 2.
4. After 3 Wedges have been installed in this pattern, drop down one more row but return to the first bay and repeat the process.
|
By the time you get to the bottom of the window, your first bay will normally have about four or five Wedges installed (see photo.) The same installation pattern will hold true for the remaining bays. After installation, you will see that every 4th row of siding in a bay has a Wedge in place. A narrow opening 9 to 10 inches wide will appear along the butts of the siding or shingles after the Wedge has been installed. If a larger opening is desired, simply reverse the Wedge and install it with the ball end first.
|
Wedging installation diagram by bay |
After the Installation
Once the Wedges are installed, they become a permanent part of the siding of the structure. The average three or four bedroom home requires about 400-500 Wedges to do the job. Shaded sides of some homes may require fewer Wedges depending on the extent of the moisture problem at hand.
After a number of coats of paint or solid-color stain, exterior building surfaces eventually become less able to breathe naturally or experience normal moisture release because of excessive paint buildup created under siding boards. It is also important to remember that today's solid-color stains are similar to low luster house paints of years past. While most solid color stains can read "will resist peeling", that statement does not mean they will not peel. The only stains that will not peel are semi-transparent types. Unfortunately, most semi-transparent stains have a very short life under normal weather conditions and manufacturers recommend recoating every three or four years.
|
Painting/Staining Procedures
In order for the Wedging systems to work, you must follow these steps when painting or staining a house:
1. Strip all damaged areas to bare wood.
2. Install Wedges
3. Prime the clapboards or shingles with a premium alkyd oil-based primer. To avoid a patchwork look during the drying period, the primer should be tinted to match the existing color.
4. Apply a high-quality 100 percent acrylic latex topcoat to the oil-based primed areas (after they have cured per the manufacturers instuctions), with the top coat also tinted to match the exising color.
5. Once steps 1-4 are completed, it is essential that you leave the building alone for one full heating season (normally November to April), to allow the Wedge system to accomplish its purpose of providing a means for accelerated moisture release and drying out of the siding of the house. There are certain conditions when a house can be wedged, primed and finish coated in the same season. These conditions normally occur during the months of September, October and November. Normally, by this time of year the sweating that took place all winter has had a chance to dry out from the summer heat. We check the moisture content of the wood siding with a moisture meter first.
6. After the moisture release process is complete, generally one heating season after completing steps 1 through 5 above, a finish coat of 100 percent acrylic latex paint or stain should be applied.
With severe moisture problem cases, you might apply only the alkyd oil primer to the stripped areas and let it sit for a full heating season. Contrary to populare belief, a primer can be left on bare wood for an extended period of time without experiencing any adverse effects. In fact, the six-step recommended process listed above often gives the surface a more porous finish, speeding up the drying process. Once you resolve the siding moisture problem, trim moisture problems will also be eliminated.
Remember, moisture will always seek the easiest exit and that is where the Wedging is installed.
Wedging and Heat Loss?
You may also ask whether these new moisture release or breathing areas will cause heat loss, vapor barrier problems or insect infestation. The answer is NO. The Wedge system does not result in heat loss, vapor barrier problems or insect infestation. Experience has shown that builder-installed vapor barriers usually control moisture from entering or exiting interior walls. The moisture problem corrected by the Wedging is caused by a sweating process that takes place right behind the clapboards or shingles. Therefore, it has no effect on builder-installed vapor barriers.
|
Wedging Helps Us Grow Our Reputation!
Using the Wedging vent system is Weaver Paintings way of placing ourselves on a level above the competition and dignifies us as true professional painting contractors and not 'just painters.'
Yes, we admit it, this prep process is more time consuming and expensive than conventional methods and takes more time, but isn't your home worth it? Especially now that you've learned and understand what caused the problem with your wood siding to begin with?
Yes, we admit it, if you have seen us working a long time on a house and think we are slow painters, well think again. It's true! We sometimes take two years to paint a house correctly!
Call Jim Weaver for more info on wedging. 503-738-0657
|
|
|
