I recently built a house (my own), and fabricated my own "ZIP-R" panels on site. It was really easy -- just hit each 7/16 ZIP sheathing panel with a shot of Advantech subfloor foam glue on each corner, and one in the middle. Then slapped a sheet of 1" XPS foam onto it. Let each panel set up for about 1 hour. The Advantech glue bonds the two layers like cement, and this saved quite a bit of money as compared to purchasing the ZIP-R panels from Huber. All you really need is enough glue to hold the two layers together until the panel is installed.

Great to see a framer concerned about structural integrity of a building. So many homes ive inspected have that missing. We are in a high seismic zone also and there is a lot to consider when framing a house, shearwalls, hold downs, species of lumber etc.

CORRECTION: Continuous insulation is NOT the only way to meet the new energy code in WA state. It is the simplest in our opinion as builders (our company). Continuous insulation in the form of Zip R sheathing is the most cost effective way for us to meet the requirements. It lowers labor cost, requires less training, and is more efficient that other methods.

I am a licensed GC in AZ and a Civil Engineer who has done structural engineering. In AZ, we are concerned about the heat, not the cold and that is what we insulate homes here to protect them. I have installed several 2" x 6" framed homes that are stuccoed, and they are exceptionally energy efficient. Now, with stucco, you do have a 1.5" insulating board installed under the stucco. So there is, in a sense, a continuous insulation barrier, but it's like R-2, so it's not much. I am a big fan of the Zip system, but the continuous insulation system you are specifying is expensive. It would be interesting to see the insulation difference between a standard 2" x 6" framed home with non-insulated Zip shear panel and the R-9 Zip you are using. I am betting that the actual difference would not be that great. I think you are quickly coming to the point of diminishing returns, where you are just burning money. However, in Washington, where it does get very cold, it may actually be worth the additional money to pay for the insulated Zip board in extreme weather conditions. While I am not a cold-climate expert, I am very skeptical about the numbers this "architect" spouted off for cold transferring over five inches through 2" x 6" wood studs. Yes wood has a low R-Factor compared to insulation, but you have to consider the thickness of the wood framing members when doing these calculations. I don't think this architect understands that. The continuous insulation barrier system is better, no doubt. And both heat and cold will transfer through wood. But it is the AMOUNT of transfer that we have to be concerned about. Saying that an R-21 2" x 6" insulated wall system is "R-9" if it doesn't have a continuous insulation system is complete BS - he doesn't know what he's talking about. The R-Factor of wall systems is measured as a complete system, and that is where the R-21 number comes from. It would be blatantly illegal to promise an R-21 insulation factor with a 2" x 6" clad wall system and deliver an R-9 insulation factor - it would be fraud. In AZ, a stuccoed 2" x 6" wall system with fiberglass batt insulation and 2" foam under the stucco is nearly R-30, and they are VERY energy efficient. I know because I have built dozens of them, and they just work, provided they are installed correctly. During the summer, we get temperatures that range from 110 degrees F - 120 degrees F for several weeks in a row. At night sometimes the temperature does not get below 95 degrees F. So these conditions are about as extreme as you are going to find anywhere. Insulation is a big deal here because, without it, your home becomes unlivable in the summer. BTW, no one installs double sills here in AZ, no one. Your guest really doesn't have a clue about national construction methods. I have framed structures in several countries, and nobody uses double sills. There's nothing wrong with using double sill plates, but you can attach shear panels to walls with single sill plates. Further if your double bottom plates are not both attached to the concrete with J-bolts or redheads, then your structure does not meet code PERIOD! It is possible in extreme cold that using double bottom plates arose to provide additional insulation against the frost line reaching into the home from the ground. Finally, while your structural engineer is correct, and you do get some limited shear value using the R-9 Zip panels, it is nowhere near as strong as a regular shear panel that is nailed 4" O.C. This won't matter if you are in zones that don't have hurricanes, high wind events, earthquakes or tornadoes. But if you are in one of these zones, the inherent weakness of the R-9 Zip shear panel may become a factor and the home could fail. I have never run the calcs on the difference between standard, non-insulated, shear and the R-9 Zip, but I would bet the R-9 is at least 50% -75% weaker in catastrophic storm events than standard shear panel. Standard shear panel has been proven to hold a house together in 200 mph winds, hurricanes and tornados and I personally would not lose that level of protection if the home I was constructing was in a high-risk area. Being cock-sure that you are right, like this architect who is your guest, doesn't make him right. Just because a structural engineer said it was okay in one application doesn't mean it is the best system for all applications. In short, if the home was in a high-risk area and I wanted to install Zip R-9 panels, I would shear the exterior of the walls normally and then install the R-9 Zip over that shear.

Love to see you building with Steve and love these videos.

Building has changed a lot from when I started in the early seventies i always thought that we should have been using a weather resistant tape I've found duct tape and other stuff on demo's this system now is what i always thought should have been easy to get. Thanks

Really nice to see you up your game wrt efficiency. Good to see Steve on the job.

I drove my builder/framer crazy with all your videos I would share with him because I wanted him to know what quality of framing I expected. In the end, I didn’t get quite as good as I wanted but I got much better quality than the big developers offered in our area. We ended up with a very well insulated house with an ACH of 0.6 and once the house was insulated, before drywall, I could get the interior temperature to +7°C with two 1500 W space heaters when the outside winter temperatures were -27°C. Thanks to your videos I have an exceptionally good quality home because I learned what good quality framing and homes should look like.

Great information on the use of these panels and the energy conservation involved. I will rewatch just to reinforce my understanding. Great video

Love it, fantastic best practice details.

Love the game graphics, that flash tool looks like a composite carpet tuck tool.

Timely video! All the builders and suppliers in our area are scrambling for CI solutions right now (although we knew it was coming for over a year). Naturally, everyone thinks their pet idea is the exact right way to do it. I'm kind of liking the ZIP system - fenestration flashing is a lot simpler vs trying to flash a furred-out RO.

The architect has a classic flat top hair cut. When I was a kid in the late 50's early 60's we loved getting flattops for the new school year. Plus some of our astronaut heroes had flat tops too. We had these giant chap stick type holders that had this sticky wax you would put in your hair do you could make it stand up properly. Dust and bugs took up residence I'm sure.

Great video.

One question: do you roll the tape?

I'm in Ontario, Canada and was looking into this sheathing. They told me my local dealer was a Rona about an hour away, so I took a trip as I wanted to see what this sheathing was all about. They did not have any, said they could order it and then the salesman tried to sell me on a ICF system. That's what I was thinking of doing anyway, but wanted to see if I could use Zip on other parts of the house. LOL

If you use floor or roof trusses, and you want your studs to line out for siding purposes, then layout needs to be thought through and addressed with the truss manufacture during the planning stages because otherwise you’ll waste a ton of zip sheathing trying to get the proper overlaps on your corners.

I always put my fascia on before raising the wall and would toenail rafter tails to back side of subfascia of course making sure it was straight first.

Increased sheathing costs. Increased ventilation costs. Increased maintenance costs on sophisticated air exchange units. Increased labor cost on HVAC. All in the name of saving $30 a month on energy bills.😂 In Western Washington, which has an extremely mild climate. I had my windows open 24/7, 365 when I lived there. Meanwhile, here in NC, we have brutal humid summers and actual winters and all we need is 2x4s with batts. 🤷‍♂️

Oh man I almost fast-forwarded at that Low T joke 😂

Wouldn’t it make sense to install on the inside of exterior walls behind internal linings? Your heat source is inside thus removing the fact you will require more energy to heat framing etc if on the outside?

Take it a step further and mitre your exterior corners on the zip sheathing. I wish I had done that on my project. Would have my siding easier.

Awesome, nailed it, Framers

Can you do a video of installing an entry door with ZIP R6? The largest jamb widths are 6 9/16 unless you add a inch with extensions but with a stained wood door, I don't know if it would look clean. Not to mention finding some type of door sill/threshold extension.

Safety first. Remove battery on router when adjusting settings. Cheers

11:48 would it just be cheaper/faster to use a 2x8 instead of a extra stud?

Do you guys use ring shank nails for framing, floor and roof sheathing… 16d to 8d nails?

What is with the gap between panels? Love Steve!

I had understood that, in the Pacific Northwest, walls needed to dry to the outside. How is this possible with the Zip-R panels?

Just so I won't forget by the end of video, you may actually cover this, but on that inside corner do you cut back the osb part of the first sheet and then but in the corner piece so there is no thermal bridging in the corner? That 7/16" of osb touching the framing member will cost money in energy ya know, definitely measurable. I like the double mud sill idea.

Finaly your using a Router better suited to the job I am shocked the little 1/4 hp cordless even lasted as long as it did ..How you liking the metabo HTP I love mine ..was looking at the Milwaukee because it has the track adaptor but I have my Festool for that but for on the job warranty and durability so Far the Metabo is Boss cheers

Will you be nailing the siding into studs ? If yes is there going to be enough nail penetration into studs? I guess if you use 3" glv. nails. But then there is window and door trim.

i just have one question…. is there any way to make the house not so close to the neighbors(?) 😂

Newbie question here, shouldn't the sheathing panels be installed horizontally as opposed to vertically to help in preventing the framing structure from racking side to side? (IE: being able to attache the panel across 8' vs the 4' if attached vertically). I hope the question makes sense. I only ask because I spent a couple years in the mid eighties framing houses and I remember that it was code at that point in Alberta and also when I moved to BC shortly after.

STEVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@12:00 you talk about having the 3rd stud for nailing of the sheathing. Is the 2nd (flat) stud used for structural purposes or just for nailing for the sheathing? Instead of using the 3rd normal facing stud for sheathing, could you slide over the "flat" stud and save yourself a stud piece? Amateur here to learn, thanks

In our market builders are applying EFIS directly onto ZIP without a crinkle wrap or drainage wrap. I checked Huber’s technical specs and that is in fact shown in an image as an approved method of applying EFIS. Isn’t that asking for potential water penetration when the caulking between the EFIS and window ultimately fails? I wouldn’t think that there is much drying potential for the ZIP in this case.

Can also use the Stretch Tape. I haven't done the CBA on Stretch, VS. 3" VS 6".

Bought the max stick nailer out. Thats one sexy looking nailer😂

What about shear? The sheathing is not directly tied to the framing, as the 1" insulation is between the framing and sheathing.

Great details on framing with Zip R6. Why didn’t you slope the bottom of the widow rough opening? Surprised Steve didn’t say anything.

Maybe I missed it, but with Zip R sheathing, do you now eliminate the interior vapor barrie in Northern zones?

The number of concerns people have with shear values and ZIP R seems to increase as the foam gets thicker between the OSB and the studs. What if you just added diagonal metal bracing straps to the studs for extra shear resistance when using ZIP-R thicker than R6? And as an aside, the Godfather of Forensic Building Science, Dr. Joe Lstiburek, once said of ZIP-R: "Good luck achieving shear values with that" - I don't think he was a fan.

Hi! Why don't you chamfer the sheets at the corners? :) Nick

So when do we get an alternative to the zip system and bring the prices down?

How would tape the zip if it was on the inside of the wall

👍🔨

“B T Dubs” 😂😂😂

You could get the stiffness back with just some lay-in braces before applying the sheathing

Isn’t a Zip-R panel just half a (skinny) SIP panel?

What is the integrity of the sheer portion of this sheathing product? Likely fastening with 2 1/2 nails? The sheer can't be equal to a conventional sheathing material.

How toxic is that Styrofoam when it catches a fire? And how flammable is it?

so efficient no one can afford it

I’m willing to bet $500 that when this residence is complete, if we did a UA target calculation and compared it to the UA factor of the entire building envelope, R402.1.4 would show that continuous insulation was completely unnecessary to meet code. That’s not to say it’s not a great product. It’s just not required in most cases.

It's always hilarious to listen to Steve talk about stuff he doesn't understand. Heat transfer calculations are under the HVAC engineer's purview thank God because architects don't know this stuff. The term thermal bridging doesn't even exist in the handbook. He forgot to include the exterior siding, drywall, and surface films in his math. Time to go back to school Steve.

Just keeps driving the cost of new homes out of the reach of most people. Last month We got a new house to pass the codes with very little extra effort. No spray foam, no zip, no extra crap. Just read the code book.

So they call a carpet push a quick flasher

Since you are closing the envelope I assume you are bringing in fresh makeup air?

Pay the farmers more money they will do better

Polyiso (and XPS) R value drops as the outside temperature goes down - not a great feature for northern climates, but OK for southern. Also R value degrades with age, Polyiso’s R value drops 20% in 5 to 10 years. EPS (expanded polystyrene) insulation keeps its R value as temperature goes down and is expanded using Pentane gas, not hydrochlorofluorocarbons which is used to expand XPS.

Innotech windows and doors are awful. We stopped using them.

This is why house pricing will never go down. With all the new requirements added every year, all they do is add to the cost of building a house.

0:56 1:18 Mr. B-roll is really hogging your voiceover. When editing your videos, please consider having only one person talking at a time.

Those rollers are so dumb. I guarantee you can make that tape stick better rubbing it on with your hand

I don’t know Tim, this seams too much like rocket science. Not!

Low shear values, sorry

Making houses so "airtight" IS unhealthy and relies too heavily on HVAC IMHO. Not to mention what is off gassing from this Zip continuous insulation panels? Tons of plastic and Styrofoam in my house? No thank you.