Posted By FBBP on 30 Jun 2013 05:11 PM
Lbear - are yu suggesting that crickets and scorpions regularly bypass a venting system such as this? http://www.cor-a-vent.com/siding-vent-sv-3.cfm

It's the first I've seen of such a system but it appears that it would not work with stucco applications, only on siding applications. It has an insect screen on the bottom but I could not see a closeup of the screen. If the screen is tight against the wall and small enough to stop termites and carpenter ants, it could work. Most screens stop larger bugs like crickets and roaches but termites and ants are much more difficult to stop.

It sure is a better setup than just leaving a gap on the bottom with no insect protection. Out in the desert SW most homes utilize stucco finishes and weep screeds. Wood, vinyl or cement board siding homes are quite rare. The higher elevations (6,000 + feet) is where they start to become more common.

Please remove my name from the ones who get emails every time this gets posted!!! I have not signed up for that!!!

That looks like a big problem. Maybe "old school" is the way to go, tar paper the way my dad did it.

Here is my solution using ridgevent material. No scorpions in eastern Canada yet but the other bugs are plentiful. Tyvek is still being used though.

If the bugs get past the siding vents, how do they get from there into the house? Or is this just a "don't give them a place to live" issue?

Posted By jonr on 04 Jul 2013 10:17 AM
If the bugs get past the siding vents, how do they get from there into the house? Or is this just a "don't give them a place to live" issue?

Down here in Arizona they don't OSB sheath the walls, it's open framing between the studs. When the put up the Tyvek they rip it and create hundreds, if not thousands of rips in it from nails, staples and if they lean on it too hard from the outside. An insect gets inside the wall through the weep screeds and finds a hole or rip somewhere in the Tyvek, they crawl in, now they have access to the interior wall. They crawl around and will usually come out of an electrical outlet or the baseboard gaps. The other area of entry is that they will climb up into the attic space and then drop down through a light fixture or bathroom vent fan.

They love to live within the wall cavity between the wrap (Tyvek or tar paper) and the exterior finish (usually stucco). At night you can sit there with a black light and literally watch them all start crawling out of the bottom of the weep screeds to go hunting for other insects.

Posted By MikeSolar on 04 Jul 2013 06:55 AM
Here is my solution using ridgevent material. No scorpions in eastern Canada yet but the other bugs are plentiful. Tyvek is still being used though.

This is a good idea. The "brillo" like material should do a good job of keeping bugs from crawling up into the furred out cavity but still provide a drainage plane for the moisture to escape. As long as the material is tight and flush along the bottom of the siding, it should work well.

I doubt you will ever see scorpions where it gets to below zero weather during winter. Scorpions tend to dissipate in Zone 5 and above.