Babcock Residential has just completed a re-siding project in Jasper, GA. We removed all of the old siding and replaced it with Hardy Plank. Pretty standard, except for one south facing wall.
Our clients had indicated to us that two of the bedrooms adjacent to the south facing exterior wall got much hotter than the rest of the house on a sunny day. An old article I had read some years back came to mind describing a roofing system that buffered the attic with a radiant barrier, air space, roof sheathing, and then the shingles. This allowed the heat radiating from the shingles to be reflected back and then sucked right of of the roof system without ever entering the attic space, dramatically reducing heat build-up.
I thought that this would work perfectly in the southern wall that was radiating so much unwanted heat into the house. So, first we installed a layer of 1/2″ rigid foam with a radiant barrier on one side onto the homes exterior sheathing.
Then we installed 1×2 strips vertically over the foam mirroring the studs beneath. With a screen at the bottom to stop the bugs and a continuous vent along the freeze board above, we installed the siding leaving an unrestricted airspace between the siding and the house.
This allows the hot air radiating from the siding to be caught in the air space and rise out of the vent above. This natural solar convection then draws the cool air off of the foundation below into the walls air space keeping the homes interior cool as well
After a few weeks of upper 80’s the owners are totally amazed and satisfied by the difference this application has made in the temperature those two rooms achieve.
