Masonry Magazine January 2012 Page. 28
AIR BARRIERS
The air barrier installation went perfectly," he continued. "That was due in large part to the training our guys got from the manufacturer beforehand."
Though product data sheets and instructions usually are comprehensive and informative, there's no substitute for hands-on training, especially when you're doing it for the first time. Even the best product literature won't help you understand how important it is to connect your air barrier to the roof and to the slab or below-grade waterproofing.
The printed page can't give you the "feel" of how to correctly spread or tool the material. You can only get that by trial-and-error experience, or through training and practice.
How air barriers work
AIR BARRIERS WORK by covering all openings in the structural walls of buildings. They are, simply, barriers to air. In hot weather, warm, moist air tries to get in walls through weepholes, failed mortar joints and other penetrations in the masonry veneer.
"That masonry is sure clean"
➤SURE KLEAN for post-construction cleandown of new masonry construction
Removes excess mortar improves color depth and uniformity Industry best technical field support 60 years masonry cleaning experience The right tool for every jab precision products designed to safely clean every type of masonry
Clay Concrete Stone 800-255-4255 www.prasaco.com PROSOCO SINCE 1999 READER SERVICE #195
Vana Trol 101 Lime Solvent Custom Masonry Cleaner Concrete Brick Cleaner Manufactured Stone Cleaner
Air-carried energy dollars begin their escape from living and working spaces through penetrations like these underneath a sink. Unless there's a seamless, continuous, durable air barrier to stop it, that expensively conditioned air will find a way to leave the building, just the same as if you left a window or door open.
But if the structural sheathing or CMU backup is covered, continuously and seamlessly, with an air and water barrier, that air can't go any further. It can't get in through seams, joints and connections of the structural wall to possibly condense in the cool inner recesses of the wall assembly.
In cold weather, warm, moist air from living spaces leaks into the wall assembly via electrical and plumbing penetrations, or any other opening it can find. If there is a pathway to the great outdoors, even indirectly, via those seams, joints and connections in the structural wall, you've got an air stream of energy dollars blowing out of the building. It's the same as if you left a door or window open. Air barriers stop those streams, cut energy costs, and return the work of air exchange to the HVAC system, where it belongs.
Latest advances
A COMMON LIMITATION for air and water barriers has long been that they could only be applied to dry surfaces. The means delays while crews wait for rain-soaked structural walls or CMU back-up to dry out. The newest products can go on surfaces wet or dry, eliminating many weather-related delays. They are instantly waterproof as well.
Air Bamiers, continued on p.30
The Voice of the Masonry Industry