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mosquitogang201

I just don't know about the way houses are built these days...

mosquitogang201
9 years ago

I went to replace some paperboard siding on my ~20 year old house today. Plywood sheathing underneath was rotted all along the sill plate and a couple inches up. Flakes off and crumbles to dust when you touch it. This was not from water getting behind the siding. It's from moisture wicking up through the bottom edge of the plywood. Which is more than the recommended 6 inches off the ground. Considering that OSB and plywood are what's used to resist wind and/or seismic loads this does not seem like a good situation. Being the point of the sheathing is to transfer the loads into the sill plate it cannot be good for the sheathing to be rotted at this connection. Plus the nails are all rusted. Granted probably just surface rust for now but they will eventually rust through. And what about those 16 inch wide garage portal walls that code allows now? That's an extremely small amount of material to begin with. What happens when the OSB on those starts to rot away? Which makes me wonder if I should pull off the drywall to look in the 24 inch walls on my garage. I bet they're rotted at the bottom too. If I ever build my own house I'll make sure it's not just glue that keeps my house from blowing over in the wind.

Sorry for the long ramble. I guess I just wonder how long these houses are going to hold up? What are your thoughts?

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