Exterior Siding Repair Of Dry Rot Damage
Caused By Faulty Construction Paper Installation

Eugene Oregon General Contractors like M3Maintenance, who specialize in repairing rotten walls won’t run out of work any time soon. The epidemic of wall-rot problems that began more than 20 years ago shows no signs of stopping. In fact, home inspectors are often called to investigate problems in developments where most of the homes have rotting walls — and in some cases, these homes are not very old.

There are two things that are part of your home or commercial building that often receive the most neglect: the roof and the siding. When it comes to siding, this exterior material layer offers the building protection to ward off moisture as well as hot and cold temperatures to keep your place safe from the outdoor elements. However, rot and decay from negligence, pests, and age can quickly leave your building exposed.

We’d like to take a minute to discuss the importance of properly installing felt paper, also commonly referred to as tar paper.

This is an underlayment material applied to bare walls before siding is installed. Should any water get past the siding, properly-installed felt paper will act as a barrier to keep the water from damaging the wall sheetrock or framing.  The purpose of felt paper is initially to prevent wind from penetrating into a wall and secondly to act as a backup moisture barrier. In wet regions like Eugene Oregon, the second function is very important since moisture in a wall is definitely not desirable.

The trick is to make sure you install it so it overlaps correctly. You want each piece to overlap the piece below it. Feathers on birds, fur on animals and shingles on a roof use this same method to stop water penetration. It’s all about shedding water.

Today I would like to highlight a situation I ran into recently where the felt paper was installed incorrectly, and resulted in significant siding damage caused by Dry Rot and damage to the home’s insulation. As you can see from the image below, the felt paper is not overlapping correctly, and allowed water to run down the interior wall behind the siding.

Below is a series of photos showing the initial damaged caused by the Dry Rot and then the steps I took to fix the issue.

If you suspect Dry Rot damage around the exterior of your home or business, give us a call today at (541) 729-8640 for a free inspection and estimate.