Rainscreen Siding Wasps

A rainscreen is a system of materials used to create a gap between the siding and the water resistive barrier wrb.

Rainscreen siding wasps.

It helps keep the entire wall assembly dry by allowing for both water drainage and airflow. That small gap between the j channels of your home s siding and the siding sheet itself. Insulated vinyl siding or that which fills the hollow space with a solid backer loses this key advantage. It s impossible to keep them out and they either freeze to death in the winter or can t escape.

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. A rain screen airspace can be created by a variety of methods. It s hard to see even in this close up picture. Typical siding boards can swell up to 1 8 in width.

Furring strips can be created using 1 4 or thicker material cut from sheathing material strips of treated lumber or one of the many manufactured products. I ve got a building with horizontal cedar siding over 1 furring strips. 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. The south facing side of your home gets very warm during the day and stores heat into the night.

The easiest and safest way is to locate and monitor the wasps suspected access point into the siding during the late afternoon. This small gap forms a wonderful attractive home for wasps and other insects. The vent space at the bottom of the wall is protected by stainless screening to keep the critters out. We designed our exoclad rainscreen quickclip specifically to allow for this natural swelling and shrinkage in the widths of individual boards after installation.

If the mesh size had been larger they could be. Unfortunately it also seems to keep them in. 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.

On top of the great authentic look advantage rainscreen siding offers it also is extremely durable as well as long lasting. The exoclad rainscreen quickclip will compress to absorb this expansion.