Tags: #architecture #buildingenclosures #buildingenvelopes #buildingmaterials #buildingproducts #buildingscience #materialsengineering #materialsscience
Treating fasteners allows panels to withstand prolonged hydrostatic pressure and cascading water. Not treating fasteners leads to instantaneous failures.
Whether it’s liquid flashing, cut tape squares, or the fastener patch – why is there so much resistance to a practice that has so much demonstrable benefit? The answer is simple. Convenience or perceived convenience.
The makers of wood-based WRB panels market convenience. They market fewer trips around the building, easier installation, and a solution that meets code. But these are mere perceptions. Treating the fastener erodes at these perceived conveniences. The reality? Treating the fastener adds no additional trips around the building. It is no more difficult than treating panel joints. And untreated fasteners meet code because the code doesn’t address water accumulation within the substrate. Indeed, if not treating the panel joint could somehow pass ASTM E331, I’m convinced this too would fall on the wayside. If idiocracy had a real definition, this would be it.
Untreated fastener penetrations leak. It doesn’t take 21.6” of hydrostatic pressure nor does it take 1 inch. It takes the mere presence of water, a light cascade, less than 0.25″ of hydrostatic pressure.