House wrap and tar paper both serve as weather-resistant barriers (WRBs) as long as they are correctly installed.
With a similar purpose of sealing off external water and air, they still differ in terms of benefits, durability, and permeability.
Once their distinct features are known, decisions are made easier.
The resilience, ease of application, and life span of WRBs are very weighty in ensuring homely performance characteristics for air and moisture accessibility.
These material choices are valued based on purpose, expectations, and return on investments.
What Is a Weather Resistant Barrier?
Weather Resistant Barriers guard against the passageway of water and air in any building. Also, they are known to be erected partitions that fence off the intrusion of moisture and air into any home interior.
Weather-resistant materials are expected to follow specified standard codes for construction/residential codes internationally.
Tar Paper
Historically, tar papers have been invented and produced for over a century now. Founded based on cotton rags which were recycled to manufacture asphalt felt. Over the years, tar papers have been enhanced by a combination of ridged paper and sawdust. Initially manufactured to be heavy with high production costs, producers have found a means of solving this problem. Currently, they are much lighter and less expensive to make.
Pros
- Tar papers, also known as asphalt felts, maintain the capacity to seep in moisture at the same time providing a ground for evaporation from exterior surfaces. Asphalt felts’ ability to suck up water and allow it to dry slowly (condensation capacity), makes it ideal for usage in buildings.
Cons
- Due to its delicate nature, tar paper is very fragile. Once it is mishandled, it easily rips apart. In the long run, it becomes inelastic, frail and loses strength under exposure to sunlight. This flaw makes it defy its purpose/use as water and air begin to have access to interior spaces.
House Wraps
House wrap, on the other hand, has lighter weight, drainage capacity, higher permeability, simplified application, uniform bonding ability, and more health benefits. The permeability of house wraps prevents moisture saturation via small open pores that allow for evaporation. They are durable and solid enough to reduce injuries from exterior elements and installation procedures. They have in-built properties of insulation, withstanding split forces, efficient thermal performance, and inhibit ultraviolet (UV) rays.
Pros
- Considering house wrap advantages, they offer the option of various roll sizes with user-friendly ease of application, which entails use of staplers on external shells. The improvised shield protects against moisture penetration and is also professionally designed with the ability to enliven houses without permitting excessive currents of wind/water to jeopardize the structural integrity of buildings. House wraps are also known to rank higher in ratings of permeability (rate of evaporation), insulation capacity, and ultraviolet radiation. They also foster savings on your bills via energy efficiency. Meanwhile, the life duration of house wraps is claimed to span up to 20 years and more, but only if properly installed.
Cons
- The disadvantages of house wrap hold more sway in non-adhesive types. It mostly results from installation issues. Once installation is not properly done, poor application leads to deterioration under persistent UV and moist conditions. Because stapling serves to hold wraps in place, insufficient clips and improper sheathing minimize the quality in the future and shorten the lifespan. Another drawback is that infiltrations are permitted into external coverings with improper handling as well as prolonged exposures. Furthermore, construction fragments on site can also dent, puncture, and create holes in house wraps. If not handled/sealed on time, it later forms loopholes for air and moisture to trespass. Also, prolonged UV exposure not only degrades and discolors house wraps, it reduces insulation ratings and flexibility of usage.
House Wrap vs Tar Paper: Which Is Better?
In the contest of house wraps vs tar paper, what material stands out in combating powerful elements of weather? Considerations should rather be weighed on a scale of comfort, internal living/micro-climatic conditions, energy efficiency, permeability, UV, and insulation ratings. House wraps score more if we go by the overall scale of preferences. Tar paper does not just lose its color appeal when left in the sun, but also contains risky health issues in case of fire outbreaks. If the life span was the major benchmark for the two materials, tar paper stands out. But if all the aforementioned factors come into play, house wraps win. Nevertheless, your power of choice counts on your willingness to go by your informed intuition.
