My brother generously offered to visit and help with the house construction. It is sort of a vacation for him and he likes house building projects almost as much as I do. He is much more of a perfectionist though, which can’t be a bad thing when cutting and hanging panel siding!
One of the big chores for the siding was to replace the insulation over the trombe wall areas. There is a gap behind the upper siding and the interior block wall that is inaccessible from inside the house. We first noticed this area when the original drywall was torn off.
Block wall is thick but does not hold up the rafters
Another photo of the inaccessible area from the master bedroom stoop when the siding was taken off. There is a gap between the block and the surface of the trombe wall.
Left side interior, Right side behind slump block wall
The only way to get into the gap area was to tear off the outside siding and polyiso sheathing around the trombe wall glazing area. Then we removed and discarded all the old insulation.
Gap Over Trombe Glazing
Tearing off the siding and removing all the nails, sheathing and insulation was time consuming.
Tearing Out Old PolyIso and Fiberglass Insulation
There was a gap of about 12 inches or the width of the outer trombe masonry.
Size of the Gap
Then the gap was refilled with Roxul rock wool insulation.
Filling Gap with Roxul Insulation
The Roxul insulation was cut to fit behind the outer wall that is over the block masonry wall and up into the rafters.
Insulation Going In Above Window
After resheathing with foil backed polyiso the drip edges were installed above the siding. Then the sheathing was covered with Siga exterior membrane, layered with the rain screen, and lined with steel wool above and below to keep out insects and mice. Finally the siding could be cut and fit over the wall assembly.
Applying the Siding