01-06-2010, 04:14 PM
Double wall construction was birthed from the need to insulate a home and many homes on the mainland were single wall in the distant past. Originally a double wall provided a closed air cavity that provided additional thermal transfer retardation against the exterior air temps. Throughout the years this cavity has been modified with differing insulations, but in a place like Hawaii insulation was not necessary unless one simply disliked looking at the inside of the exterior siding. This all relative to the quality of finish one provided on the inner facing wood surfaces. Today... noisy metal roof panels can be replaced with foam insulated metal roof panels and so on. We've also to consider the present requirement of treating lumber in Hawaii. To back all of this... we've a much larger selection of woods available today and some are impervious to insect invasion as well as mold and fungi. The proper single wall of today is not the single wall of yesterday, not by a long shot.
Also... I'd like to point out that airflow is not a theory, it is fact. It was not presented as a testament to those homes that have survived throughout the years as single wall. It is merely a fact of high humid air vs. dead air spaces.
I've torn several walls apart that have suffered the stillness of air within the interior wall cavity in Hawaii. It's not a pretty sight.. nor does it smell pretty.
E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.
Also... I'd like to point out that airflow is not a theory, it is fact. It was not presented as a testament to those homes that have survived throughout the years as single wall. It is merely a fact of high humid air vs. dead air spaces.
I've torn several walls apart that have suffered the stillness of air within the interior wall cavity in Hawaii. It's not a pretty sight.. nor does it smell pretty.
E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.