Protect Your Building with Air & Vapor Barriers
Keep Moisture Out of Your Building with Barriers
Protecting your Greenwood building from damaging moisture should be of the highest priority. Moisture can lead to extensive water damage, mold and mildew, excessive humidity, and a myriad of other issues. It’s for this reason that Roberts-McNutt offers superior protection in the form of air and vapor barriers. Unfortunately, air and vapor barriers aren’t things with which everyone is familiar. This lack of fundamental knowledge can be with regards to their application and even the differences that separate the two. That’s where we step in to provide more information on these two essential waterproofing materials.
Two Barriers All Buildings Need
Air barriers and vapor barriers each serve a unique function from one another but combine to strengthen the waterproofing system of your Greenwood building. With regards to vapor barriers, they reduce the movement of vapor through the walls. These barriers are installed on the warm side of a building assembly’s insulation, which means that the position changes depending on the climate of the region. The reason for this is because vapor generally moves from the warm side to the cold side of building assemblies. If the vapor barrier is on the warm side, then it has a better chance of preventing vapor from transferring. Reducing vapor transmission protects your building from moisture building up inside it and the insulation once it condenses on the other side.
Air barriers are an impermeable envelope that keep air from leaking in and out of your conditioned space. The primary difference between air and vapor barriers is that vapor barriers prevent vapor diffusion, which is the process by which moisture passes through breathable building materials and condenses to form moisture. The main purpose of an air barrier is to control the transmittance of air between two spaces, conditioned and unconditioned. In serving this purpose, air barriers affect moisture transference, durability, air quality, and energy usage.
Two Barriers for One System
The similarity in function between air and vapor barriers doesn’t mean you don’t need both. Each barrier performs a specific task that affects the waterproofing system of your Greenwood building. Fortunately, barriers like these often perform more than one function. In other words, many air barriers serve as vapor barriers and vice versa depending on the material used. At Roberts-McNutt, we carry barriers that are designed to function as both or separately depending on the client’s needs. To learn more about our air and vapor barriers, contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
