Integrated Rainscreen Wood Siding for Concrete Walls
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wood or wood-composite lap siding on concrete walls or blocks requires a weather-resistant barrier (WRB) or separate rainscreen, leading to increased costs, labor, and compromised drainage due to compression issues, which results in moisture absorption and deterioration.
Innovation Solution
Integrated rainscreen feature within the wood or wood-composite siding that eliminates the need for a WRB or separate rainscreen, providing a self-indexing system with raised elements and channels for effective drainage, allowing fasteners to pass through and preventing direct contact with the concrete surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a weather resistant barrier or separate rainscreen is used with wood lap siding on concrete walls, then moisture protection is improved, but installation cost and labor increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the weather resistant barrier function and the rainscreen function into a single integrated component that is factory-applied to the back of the siding. This eliminates the need for separate WRB and rainscreen installations, reducing installation steps and complexity while maintaining moisture protection through the integrated design that includes both water-resistant layer and drainage channels.
Solution Approach 2:
The weather resistant barrier and rainscreen features are applied to the back of the siding during manufacturing before installation. This preliminary action ensures proper installation quality and eliminates on-site assembly complexity, as the integrated system is ready for direct attachment to the concrete wall without requiring separate installation of WRB and rainscreen components.
2Reliability
If a woven mat-style rainscreen is used behind wood-based siding on concrete/block construction, then moisture management is improved, but drainage capability is compromised due to compression at attachment points
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated rainscreen features include locally adapted designs where raised elements or strips with channels are positioned at specific locations on the back of the siding. These localized features maintain drainage capability at attachment points by providing structured channels that prevent compression of the drainage path, while the overall system maintains moisture management through the integrated weather resistant barrier.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated system combines a weather resistant barrier material with a rainscreen structure featuring raised elements and channels in a single composite component. This composite design ensures that the drainage channels remain open and functional even at attachment points, preventing the compression issues that occur with separate woven mat-style rainscreens while maintaining both moisture protection and drainage capability.
3Device complexity
If wood-based siding is used on concrete walls without a WRB layer, then installation cost is reduced, but direct contact between wood and concrete causes reduced service life
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated weather resistant barrier and rainscreen system acts as an intermediary layer between the wood-based siding and the concrete wall. This intermediate component prevents direct contact between the wood and concrete, eliminating the moisture transfer pathway that would otherwise reduce service life, while still allowing the simplified installation approach without requiring separate WRB and rainscreen installations.
Data Source
AI summary
A wood or manufactured wood-composite based siding used on concrete wall or concrete masonry unit (CMU, or block) construction (including, but not limited to, insulated concrete form construction) with an integrated rainscreen feature. The rainscreen feature or component is applied to, or integrated into or with, the back of the siding (i.e., the inner surface) during the manufacturing process, or in a secondary process thereafter. The features may include raised elements, strips, ridges, or wedges, with one or more channels or spaces. No job-site assembly is required, thereby reducing time and cost.