“Fill a one-quart mason jar halfway with sand, then fill it the rest of the way with water, screw on the top, and shake it up,” Webber says. After 30 minutes, the larger aggregate will have settled to the bottom, and fine clay and silt will be on top of it. “Too many fines are not good. A high-quality sand will have about .25 inches of silt on top of 2.5 inches of aggregate,” Webber says. Webber recently used Dalton's test on four random batches of sand. The worst quality sand required twice as much water as the best.
FLASH AND WRAP
Because all cladding leaks, it should have a weather-resistive barrier and a flashing system.
DRESS IN LAYERS
Cultured stone (below, left) and stucco (below, right) need a drain-wrap product, topped by a standard building paper or house-wrap. This system forms a capillary break and a drainage plane.
MAKE ME WEEP
Brick needs weep holes at a minimum of 24 inches on-center.
NOT EXACTLY WATER TIGHT
These penetrations have no protection from water intrusion. That's why what goes under vinyl siding is as important as the siding itself.
DON'T CLOG THE AIRSPACE
Never let mortar accumulate behind brick. It will act as a reservoir and store water.