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Wall assembly + construction of brick-block design

Taragine | Posted in General Questions on

We are owners of a house made in the 40s (brick block) assembly in a Southern Ontario, and are planning a renovation.

We plan on utilizing the existing masonry walls (the brick is in poor condition, but the block behind is fine), and doing a topup with the second floor utilizing ZIP-R system. Cladding is going to be brick on the front, and stucco on the sides. Wall assembly is going to be stick built behind the block with rockwool or closed cell spray in cavity.

My two questions are:
* Can ZIP be used over legacy block construction?
* A builder mentioned to me that ZIP is only suitable for certain cladding, and stucco was not one of them. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks again!

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Replies

  1. Expert Member
    Akos | | #1

    Stucco is not common here but EIFS is. This can be installed over ZIP but sometimes stucco folks insist on their proprietary WRB, in which case the extra cost of ZIP is wasted.

    If you are doing EIFS over the brick on the side, I would do only minimal interior insulation and bump up the thickness of the foam under the stucco. This is a cheapest energy upgrade with that type of cladding. Definitely skip SPF in the walls.

    You can even skip the batts completely and go all rigid on the exterior. Gives you the most amount of interior space plus the benefit of the thermal mass of the block wall.

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