Vapor Barrier in Florida Remodel
latch74
| Posted in GBA Pro Help on
I am remodeling a part of a Florida house near Tampa, climate zone 2. Upon removal of the drywall, I discovered a rotted top plate. The house has only two layers of felt paper as WRB and stucco on top of it. My question is given that the moisture is driven from the outside to the inside, is there a way to install a good vapor/air barrier without removing the stucco and still protect the framing?
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Replies
> "is there a way to install a good vapor/air barrier without removing the stucco"
No.
Is there a window directly above the top plate? Are there overhangs? It is curious to me why the top plate of all things has the rot. Usually it would manifest itself lower on the wall.
A low-to-no-perm WRB can work in hot/humid climates but must go on the outside of the assembly to stop moisture from getting to the framing. The stucco is basically a sponge that allows water to migrate through to the WRB, which in this case has some perm rating to it so that moisture is getting to the framing. You would have to remove the stucco to do this properly, you DO NOT want an interior side vapor barrier here, it needs to go where the current felt paper is.