Best Practices

Framing

Exterior Framing

A common practice is building walls laying down then standing them up and shifting them into position. Often people will sheet the walls before they stand them. While this method is faster and easier, it creates a certain issue. When nailing a wall laying down, if the wall is not perfectly square before being sheeted, it is nearly impossible to rack the wall into a plumb position. In our experience, we find a higher quality product when we wait to sheet the wall until after it is racked and braced in a position that is plumb and square

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Siding

Setting Elevation Lines

To ensure that lap siding coursing remains at the same elevation all the way around a building, Devcon1 makes sure to snap multiple level lines in chalk up each wall. We measure up from the bottom of each plank to the chalk line, making sure the same measurement is used for any given row. The result is clear: Perfectly aligned siding.

Material Maintenance

Specifically with fiber cement products, there are several ways to increase the quality of the material before it ever goes on your building. Trimming frayed ends and spraying primer on all cut ends to reduce the possibility of water absorption is one way we make sure we are leaving a product that will last.

Coursing Layout

James Hardie Recommendations allow for the nailing of planks into plywood. While many companies will ignore laying out studs and nailing into sheathing, we have found that if siding is not directly attached to framing, it will come loose from the wall at a significantly faster rate. This also allows for water intrusion into the substrate, inviting rot that could easily be prevented.

Water Intrusion Protection

During our careers, we have seen many houses that have been sided completely without flashing above trim, and many that had inadequate caulking. Without flashing, water will pool on top of and erode trim and caulking. This creates an opening for water to intrude behind the cladding system and begin to rot the sheathing, and eventually the framing. The same thing happens even with flashing if a contractor does not understand the appropriate places to caulk. If too much caulking is added, then condensation that occurs behind siding will be trapped and also cause rot.

Windows

Weather Resistant Barrier

A major issue that happens with window installation is improper use of WRB. There are also many contractors that will either put WRB on the sill only or simply none on the opening at all. We primarily use Grace Vycor Plus, a high-quality window wrap product that does not allow for water absorption. We start at the bottom of the opening, put a piece in the lower corners, then move up the sides, followed by adding additional corner pieces in the top corners, then finish by installing the final piece of window wrap at the top of the opening. We apply spray adhesive underneath every piece of Vycor to ensure that the WRB stays adhered for as long as possible. After all of this, we caulk the side and top flanges to the WRB to ensure that no water can ever get through the system.