A Practical Guide
to Proper Installation of BreatheEZ Housewrap

Improving the Weatherization of A Home's Exterior Walls

Start with lowest course, 2-3 Feet from a corner.  Wrap around corner and continue nailing or stapling as you move around the house.  Fasteners must penetrate the stud or nail base material.

Please follow the window and door installation procedures.  The nailing flange on most windows should go under the housewrap and attach directly to the substrate, 

• Install jamb flashing over side window flanges.

• Install head flashing over the top window flange and extend beyond jamb flashings.

• Remove temporary tape from header flap and fold header flap back down over top flange.

• Seal header flap with approved flashing tape.

Note: Windows must be installed in accordance with each manufacturer's recommended guidelines and installation procedures.

• Install housewrap in "shingle-lap" fashion (with the higher piece lapped over the outside of the piece below).
• All horizontal overlaps of housewrap should be at least 2 inches and vertical overlaps should be 6 inches.  
• At roof sections, be careful to lap the housewrap over the entire top of any step flashed areas against the wall.
• Around exterior doors, follow the same flashing procedures as indicated in steps 5 and 6 for windows.

Things to Note

• All insulation instructions and procedures contained within this document are recommended by KB Building Products and should be followed.  Failure to follow these instructions and procedures may compromise the integrity of the housewrap and impact its performance.
  
• All BreatheEZ housewrap is manufactured to meet the full intent of all applicable building codes and their governing bodies.
  
• BreatheEZ housewrap is an air infiltration barrier and can provide a secondary line of defense against weather.
  
• Wind driven rain can penetrate exterior sidings/cladding such as vinyl, wood, brick, aluminum, hardboard, cementitious, etc.  Vinyl and aluminum siding are manufactured with built-in weep holes to allow proper drainage of water that gets past it.  Wood, hardboard, and brick exteriors are porous, allowing water to be absorbed into them.
  
• Most brick facades also have weep holes built into the wall system that promotes water drainage.
  
• Contamination of BreatheEZ housewrap with various building site chemicals or various sugars and saps found in wood sidings (e.g. cedar) which increase it wet-ability (e.g. surfactants) will adversely affect the house wrap's water resistance and its contribution to the overall water resistance of the wall system.
• Any rips, tears, breaks, holes, etc. that happen during normal construction should be sealed and repaired.  Other holes, gaps, or cracks created in the exterior wall around items such as faucets, dryer vents, electrical outlets, etc., should be sealed and repaired.  Any of these occurrences that go un-repaired will also diminish the house wrap's performance and contribution to the over-all water resistance of the wall system.
  
• Standard fasteners, such as nails and staples, used to apply BreatheEZ housewrap can reduce the house wrap's water resistance characteristics.  Kb Building Products recommends the use of plastic cap nails to improve the seal around the fastener and enhance the protection against water penetration at the fastener location.
  
• KB Building Products recommends using House Wrap Tape to seal all over-laps, joints, and seams in the house wrap after it is applied to provide added protection against water penetration.  When properly installed, this will help create a continuous seal and effectively protect against costly air infiltration.
  
• Porous siding such as brick, wood, hardboard, and stucco have the ability to store water due to their hygroscopic nature.  As a result, when using exterior claddings such as these, it is a wise construction practice to use the highly recognized and accepted "Rain Screen" method as part of an overall design strategy to control moisture movement and transport.