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Tyvek is the brand name of a product created by DuPont. It helps to protect your home against rain and wind. The construction workers apply it below the exterior cladding of a home like brick or wood. This helps to seal your home against outside air moisture. According to DuPont if your home is wrapped in it, it has a lower overall energy cost.

Tyvek is created with the combination of a synthetic fiber called spun-bonded Olefin and polyethylene through a heat-and-pressure process, making an effective covering for the air barrier. Since polyethylene and Olefin fiber are non-woven, they block the passage of excess water from entering into the interior walls from the exterior surface of the home. This makes Tyvek helpful during heavy rainstorms. Moreover moisture vapor present in the wall system of your home is able to pass through Tyvek from the back side and thus helps to keep the interior wall dry. Keeping out water while allowing the moisture vapor to leave is a typical strength of Tyvek.

Tyvek reduces the heating and cooling costs of a house wrapped in it. It serves as a thermal insulating material and prevents cool and warm air from entering your home as per the season. It also keeps the cool and warm air from leaving your home depending on the season. However in order to work as an effective protective barrier, you should cover anything that penetrates the ceilings and the walls of your home including the edges of the windows.

Apart from working as a barrier material for wrapping your house, Tyvek is used for covering vehicles, envelopes and a wide array of consumer products. Usually Tyvek wrap comes in rolls of thin plastic and is mostly used during the process of construction and remodelling as a barrier against wind and moisture. This house wrap is applied to the bare outside walls before the installation of vinyl siding. However the installation of Tyvek house wrap is an easy task that could be taken up by anybody.

Let’s have a look at the process of installing the Tyvek house wrap:

Unroll a foot of Tyvek

Employ someone for helping you unroll and attach the wrap. This will make your task easier. Spread out a foot of the Tyvek and ensure that the logos of Tyvek and DuPont logos are visible for installing on the outside walls. Hold up the roll on the lower right corner on one side of your home and secure the surplus house wrap over the corner to the other side of your home. The surplus is used for wrapping around the corners of your house for providing extra weather protection.

Place staples every 1 or 2 feet apart

Let your assistant unroll the house wrap across the side of your house while you start placing the staples for securing the building material. You should place staples at a distance of every 1 or 2 feet. Unroll the wrap right over your door and window frames. Never place staples into the areas of your door or window. Feel around for the door and window frames. You will feel raised areas beneath the covering. Place staples vertically a foot apart and within the inches of the window and the door frames. This will help to secure the materials around your door and window frames.

Secure the material of the building

Continue to unroll and attach the wrap till you reach the end side of your home. Secure the material of the building to the corner of your house and then roll out the excess house wrap. Cut the roll, pull the wrap over the corner to the other side of your house and then attach with staples.

Attach Tyvek as before

Try to go back to the earlier starting point on the side of your house. Attach the Tyvek as you did before by leaving an overlap of approximately 6 inches over the house wrap layer attached at the bottom. This helps to provide additional resistance against wind and moisture. Continue this for all the sides of your house.

Cut the excess wrap

Make use of a utility knife for cutting the excess house wrap from around the frames of the window and the doors. Try to cut as close as possible to the frames of the window and the doors. Repeat this process for every door and windows of your house.

Pull the excess out of the house

Unroll and attach by leaving an excess of several feet on both the ends of your house for peak ends. Try to pull the excess outwards from your house. Use your fingers in order to feel the peak and make use of the utility knife to cut the remaining house wrap to the right shape and the size.