Roofing & Exterior
The Wall That Keeps You Dry Is the One You Can't See
Siding is a rain shield. The weather barrier, flashing, and rainscreen gap behind it are what actually keep water out of your house — and they're where walls quietly fail. Done right, they're why a good siding job lasts decades.
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Signs to watch
Is this you?
You're re-siding and want it done once
The single biggest driver of whether new siding lasts is the moisture management behind it. If the wrap and flashing are an afterthought, the pretty new siding is on borrowed time.
Rot keeps coming back below windows
Water almost always enters at window and door openings. If the flashing and drainage plane aren't detailed right, you'll re-rot the same corner no matter how good the siding is.
Your walls trap moisture and can't dry
Siding installed tight to the wall in this climate holds water against the sheathing. A rainscreen gap gives the wall a way to drain and breathe — the difference between drying out and rotting.
Older home with no real weather barrier
Plenty of PNW walls were built with felt, gaps, or nothing meaningful behind the siding. A re-side is the one chance to fix the layer that actually matters.
Your options
The layers, and why each one earns its place
A wall keeps water out in layers, not with a single product. The weather-resistive barrier — housewrap like Tyvek or a comparable membrane, lapped shingle-style so water sheds down and out — is the drainage plane the siding sits in front of. Flashing tapes and metal flashings seal the openings: sill pans and head flashing at windows and doors, kick-out flashing where a roof meets a wall (the detail whose absence rots more walls than almost anything else), and flashing at every penetration. The rainscreen is a furred gap — battens or a drainage mat — that holds the siding off the barrier so any water that gets past can drain and the wall can dry. And window integration ties it all together: the order in which wrap, flashing, and window overlap is what sends water out of the wall instead of into it. Get the sequence wrong and every other layer is working against you.
The method
How we do it
- 01
Assess the wall and the openings
With the siding off, we check the sheathing, the existing barrier, and every window and transition for how water was — or wasn't — being managed.
- 02
Barrier, flashing, and window integration
Weather-resistive barrier lapped correctly, flashing tapes and metal at sills, heads, kick-outs, and penetrations, and windows integrated in the right sequence so the whole plane drains.
- 03
Rainscreen and dry-in check
A furred rainscreen gap where the wall calls for it, then a walk of the dried-in wall before any siding goes back on — the layer nobody sees, verified while it still can be.
Straight numbers
Where this money goes
On a re-side, the weather barrier, flashing, and rainscreen are usually a line item within the larger project rather than a standalone job — and it's the line item that decides whether the siding above it lasts. A full rainscreen assembly adds material and labor over a basic wrap-and-side, and in this climate it's money we'll almost always tell you is worth spending. We quote it in writing as part of the bid so you can see exactly what the invisible 30% costs and why it's there.
Where we do this work
Housewrap & Rainscreen Systems: straight answers
What is a rainscreen, and do I actually need one in the Northwest?
It's a small drainage-and-drying gap between the siding and the weather barrier, created with battens or a drainage mat. In a wet climate it lets water that gets behind the siding drain out and lets the wall dry instead of staying damp against the sheathing. It's not mandatory on every wall, but in this climate it's one of the highest-value details there is — and we'll tell you honestly which of your walls truly benefit.
Isn't the siding what keeps water out?
No — and this is the misunderstanding that rots walls. Siding sheds most of the rain, but wind-driven water always gets behind it. The weather barrier and flashing are what actually keep that water out of your house, and the rainscreen is what lets the wall dry. Great siding over a bad barrier is a wall that fails from behind while it still looks good.
Why do so many leaks start at the windows?
Because openings are where the continuous barrier gets interrupted, and the order the wrap, flashing, and window overlap has to be exactly right for water to shed outward. Miss the sill pan or lap a piece the wrong way and every rain funnels a little water into the wall. It's the detail we're most careful about, because it's the one that fails most.
Can you fix the moisture layers without replacing all my siding?
Sometimes, in a targeted way — reworking a leaking window flashing or a missing kick-out often means opening just that area. But the barrier and rainscreen are continuous systems, so the ideal time to get them right across the whole wall is during a re-side, when everything's open. We'll tell you honestly whether a spot fix will hold or whether you're patching a system that needs doing properly.
Get the housewrap & rainscreen systems conversation started.
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