My home in central MA was stained rather than painted. This includes the window sills as well as all siding, etc. The windows have wood storms. Because the windows are very air-leaky, winter condensation forming on the storm glass (plus rain in the summer) has slowly been rotting away the sills. Many have broken off — I’m not joking! I’m certain that rainwater is now getting between the beveled siding the the OSB of the SIPs.

How do I go about finding a local contractor who can remove the siding (most of which has no WRB behind it) to check for and fix any SIP OSB damage before installing a fully adhered membrane, adding a rain screen, then removing and installing new windows with proper flashing details and air sealing?

I’m worried because I’ve seen many local houses using house wrap as a WRB.  Several contractors I’ve had didn’t know about SIPs (“What do you mean your exterior walls have no studs?”), etc. I see and hear about many home projects online that are done according to best practices using all of the above. It’s as though there is a limited number of contractors who know how to do things right.

Do I need to call every contractor in a 30 mile radius and ask if they know what a SIP is, ask if they know what a WRB is (and whether they install peel ‘n stick or liquid applied), whether they slope the bottom of the rough opening towards the outside before applying  a sill pan, etc? Is there an easier way? I don’t want to “tell them how to do their trade” but I want to make sure that I will be happy with what they do. That means that I need to know details of how they will do each step. How would I keep from scaring away a potentially good contractor?

I want to find somebody knowledgeable to have him/her do follow-on projects to deal with kitchen shortcomings, storage shortcomings, insulation issues under a 4-season porch, adding insulation to a garage, etc., but I need to start with the part of the house which is currently undergoing rot before I move on to any of the other projects.

Bill in Upton