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Winterizing the cottage

The value of a vapour barrier

vapour barrierA vapour barrier, like the one pictured here, keeps warm air from leaking into cold wall spaces and condensing and, to do its job, it has to be well sealed. That means insulating with rigid or sprayed foam, which form their own vapour barriers, or, if your insulation choice is batt or loose fill, using plastic barrier with overlapping seams adhered with acoustic sealant or sheathing tape. 

Vapour barrier has to be on the warm side of any insulated wall. In a house, that means between the drywall and the insulation. 

“Warm-side,” however, gets tricky when a building is used intermittently. In spring, when the cottage is cool and the weather heats up, the warmer side of the wall is now outside. Damp spring air can infiltrate and condense inside the wall. That and wind are why builders now put air barrier (also known as house wrap or by a common brand name, Tyvek) on the outside of the wall as well as a sealed vapour barrier on the inside.

 

- Charles Long

 

Photo: Eden Robbins

 

Winter 2007 coverAdapted from an article originally published in the Winter 2007 issue of Cottage Life magazine.

Copyright © 2007 by Cottage Life. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any article, photograph, or artwork, for other than personal use, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher is strictly forbidden.