I am planning to replace the windows in my home, add 2" of styrofoam insulation and new vinyl siding to the exterior. I am running into a couple of problems where I have had confilicting advice from different sources. The house is a bungalow built about 1976 in Moose Jaw, Sk. The exterior sheathing is a drywall material that is coated with an asphalt coating it seems. The current siding is, I assume, nailed only to the wall studs.
Answer:
The only way I've done this is to strap the whole building vertically with 2X2 spruce, 24" O.C. and as each strap is attached a sheet of 1.25" rigid foam insulation is installed. Rigid foam thicker than that becomes its own vapour barrier and because it is not on the heated side, you certainly don’t want that. This way you have a very tight job and building out around windows and doors with the same material means that a cladding of aluminum bent for the purpose will ensure a complete job. Now you can install whatever siding you want. I used vinyl in the past but you could do this with 'mortarless brick' too. If that's the method you wanted to use, I suggest strapping be 16" O.C. The bricks attache with screws and are at least as easy to install as vinyl.
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