This Wall System Has a Built-in Water Resistant Barrier

Exterior walls have water resistant barrier

Exterior walls have water resistant barrier

This home has ZIP System® wall sheathing. This is a built-in, water-resistive barrier that eliminates the need for housewrap. We install the sheathing and tape the seams, and this becomes an all-in-one structural wall system and a water resistive barrier.

This wall system combines the stability and strength of a high-performing panel with the extra weatherability provided by the product’s water-resistive barrier.

We’ve found this to be a good system. One plus is that unlike housewrap, wind will not blow off the barrier during the construction process.

The manufacturer states that the panels “eliminate the risk of trapped water between housewrap and sheathing”. And the “built-in barrier controls drafts, which promotes energy efficiency and the barriers are specially engineered to allow the ZIP System walls to breathe”.