This R-58 wall has I-joists screwed to the outside and dense-packed with cellulose. It is also one of the four best in 'BS and Beer' circles
There was recently a contest on Instagram for the most high-performing wall that was practical to build, and we at ProTradeCraft decided to make animations of the four finalists.
The first wall comes from Mike Maines, who submitted a panelized wall from a company he used to work with, Ecocor.
The Ecocor wall begins with 2x4 framing, on 24-inch centers. The stud cavities are eventually filled with rock wool insulation.
ZIP System wall sheathing covers the framing to provide not only lateral support but also it is the primary air control layer.
The seams are taped with Pro Clima Tescon Vana tape. Because this layer isn’t a water control layer, any tape will work, and while Pro Clima Tescon Vana tape is harder to say than ZIP, it is less expensive, so worth the mouthful.
Now comes the fun part: screwing I-joists to the outside of the wall. The I-joists are capped with a strip of ZIP sheathing top and bottom before installing the exterior WRB and blowing the cavities full of cellulose.
The outer WRB is also from Pro Clima, called Solitex Mento Plus.
On the corner is a wide strip of ¾ inch subfloor that will plane out with ¾ in furring strips. Ecocor uses two layers of perpendicular strips to create 3-dimensional airflow and positive water drainage behind the siding that will be fastened to the furring strips.
And that is the first entry in the Final Four High-Performance Wall Challenge. Stay tuned for more of the four.