Should I place a vapor barrier on an inside wall?
SABAWA
| Posted in General Questions on
I have built a wine room and have been advised that I should create a vapor barrier on the walls outside the wine room since I do not want water vapor to seep through the walls when the cooling is running. Is that correct.advisable? I live in New Mexico and have had a smaller wine room for eight years with no discernible problems and am wondering if I should do that. Also, I have been advised to place a vapor barrier on the outside stucco walls as well. Any comments and advice would be welcomed
Thanks.
SABAWA
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Replies
Sabawa,
Vapor drive problems occur when one side of the assembly is hot and wet, and the other side of the assembly is cold and dry. In this case, you don't have a big driving force, so you are very unlikely to have vapor drive problems.
I would just pay attention to airtightness and not worry about vapor drive.
That said, if you want more information on this issue, you should tell us how these walls are being built. What type of insulation is being installed? What are all of the layers in these stack-ups (especially the layers in the wall with stucco)?
-- Martin Holladay