I'm with ya, Rubicon. Sounds like you did a great job of getting your issues resolved.
Guess I was getting hung up in the terminology - to me, a 'house wrap' refers to the latest-and-greatest product(s) that are being used as moisture barriers on house exteriors nowadays.
I've seen something new-to-me in that industry right across the street from us here - new stick-built home with the exterior sheathing sprayed with a fairly thin coating of what would look like undercoating on an automobile of old. It isn't tacky when dry and seems to have some amount of flexibility. The piece of literature the contractor posted inside on a garage wall stud states that the product makes the home 'water resistant' (ie. they're not guaranteeing it to waterproof the walls) but.......and here's the show stopper to me - it doesn't let the moisture out either.
And you're right as well - the best house wrap system in the world isn't worth a hill of beans if everything associated with it and the outside of the structure aren't installed properly. Intrusions through the walls after the fact, as you mentioned, also cause problems as well.
Bill
