Saw a whole house framed with zip sheathing and no house wrap in Denver

I was driving through a new build area in Denver last week and saw a crew putting up zip sheathing on a whole house, but they weren't using any separate house wrap over it. The foreman said the tape and the built-in barrier was all they needed now. I've always used wrap over OSB, so this seems like a big change. Is skipping the extra layer the new standard, or is it cutting a corner?

3 comments

3 Comments

umar592mo ago

That's actually the whole point of the Zip system, right? It's made to be an all-in-one air and water barrier so you don't need the extra house wrap. Feels weird to see it after years of doing it the old way, but maybe it's just the new normal.

williamm822mo ago

Bennett's got a real point about the real world being messy though. That factory-applied coating is tough, but one bad cut from a saw or a sloppy tape job and you've got a hidden weak spot. Adding a separate wrap over it isn't about doubting the system, it's about planning for human error on the job site. The extra cost is nothing compared to fixing rot inside a wall later.

bennett.mason2mo ago

Hold up, you trust that little tape as your ONLY line of defense? I've seen too many jobs where the tape fails at the seams or a panel gets nicked during siding install. That built-in barrier is great until it isn't. An extra layer of wrap is cheap insurance against a small mistake that costs thousands in water damage later. Maybe the system works in theory, but real world building is messy.