Welcome to Owner Notes, a free newsletter for anyone planning (or dreaming about) building a custom home.

Last week, we talked about the flow of a construction projects and the Six S's. This week, our focus is protecting your future home from moisture damage using a rain screen.

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What is a Rain Screen?

As a homeowner, your enemy is moisture. If it gets trapped in your home, it can wreak havoc. That's why the envelope of your home, the shell around the exterior, is so important. When it works well, moisture is not an issue.

A rain screen is a relatively new way to mount siding onto the exterior of a home. Let's look at what it is and how it works.

The Old Way

Your home will have some type of exterior cladding, like siding, that protects it from the elements. In the past, siding was applied directly to the exterior walls. It works, but moisture can get trapped behind the siding and cause problems.

The New Way

A rain screen prevents moisture from being trapped by holding the siding away from the wall. This allows moisture to safely drain down the wall and away from the home.

This is accomplished by adding strips of wood called "furring strips" to the exterior, on top of the house wrap. The siding is then mounted onto the strips.

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Moisture causes rot, mold, and mildew when it's trapped. A rain screen prevents this by allowing the moisture to evaporate and/or drain from the bottom of the wall. The drainage happens through weep holes like the ones seen below.

Rain screens, types of siding, moisture barriers, trim, and much more is covered in the Custom Home Construction Navigator Course.

Did you find this helpful? Do you have idea for future issues? I would love to hear from you. Reply to this message or email me anytime at lee@buildlivable.com.

Lee LeFever, Build Livable​

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