Durability

Acts as a Water Resistive Barrier (WRB) to keep water out. Water is the #1 reason for a home’s premature decay. Also helps as an air barrier. Excess air leakage can be just as bad as or worse than not having adequate insulation.

Careful attention to flashing is critical to keep water out and is usually overlooked by most builders. The whole exterior must work together as a system not only to keep water out, but to let water escape should a cavity get wet unexpectedly. Critical areas to flash correctly are doors and windows, floor plates, roof to wall intersections, roof and sheathing penetrations and sheathing joints. This is almost never done correctly by builders and it can be a big deal immediately or down the road.

We use a cement board substrate behind our wet tile walls. It is moisture and mold resistant and will not deteriorate, swell, soften, decay, delaminate or deteriorate in the presence of water like the gypsum wallboard used for so many years.

We use SmartSide Soffit and Panels on our exterior ceilings and soffits. It’s more expensive, but it is less prone to warping and is treated with zinc borate which resists insects and rotting.

All of the wood in contact with the floor is treated 3’ up with Boracare, a borate-based non-toxic termiticide that soaks completely through the wood. Borate is also known to be a mold and mildewcide and to be fire-resistant. Boracare comes with an industry leading 12 year warranty as opposed to the traditional 5 year pretreat warranty.

We’ve eliminated siding on most of our homes and replaced it with all masonry veneers. Masonry lasts a lifetime and doesn’t have to be refinished, saving you time and money. When we do have large amounts of siding (on some 2 stories), it is mostly built out of fiber cement Hardie Board or cedar which resists decay much better than other wood products.