Tyvek over Tar

[mistfuzz]

Simple questions.
1st time here so be patiente with an old man that is trying to save some money, by doing it myself.
I have a house that it was built in 1948. The wood siding is bad, am replacing most if not all. I have removed one side and have 3 sides left to finish. Am doing each side on weekends. After I removed one side I noticed that it has tar paper, is in place, some places were torn by accident not a big deal ( about 9 square feet in total).
The siding am using is the same the house had: 1 x 8 x 12 wood siding. I purchased Tyvek and placed it over the tar paper. Since I have 3 other sides here is my question:
Is this the right way?
If it is wrong I will understand and not do it on the next walls. Please don't tell me about humidity, don't throw at me technical stuff that I may not understand, etc. I just need to know what is best for my budget and the house. I can't return the Tyvek becuase I already used in one side but, I can use it somewhere else.
Thank you for your time.

[MountainDon]

wood siding

what type of wood? pine? cedar?  ?

[mistfuzz]

Am using pine that is all I can afford. Not sure if it matters of not. Am in Dallas, TX

[MountainDon]

Fine. I asked because cedar causes problems used over the synthetic wraps. Wraps don't like it and deteriorate.

Then it becomes a question of whether or not you believe that synthetic wraps can cause problems with trapping liquid water behind it, against the wall sheathing. Liquid water could come from condensation or it could come from faulty installation of something that allows water to leak behind the wrap. Wraps are great at repelling water from the exterior side, when installed correctly, but that same quality can trap liquid water on the inside of the wrap. I don't think anyone, including myself, always builds so well that some eventuality down the road might rear its ugly head. hence my personal belief that tried and true building felt does a wonderful job that when all things are considered, can not be beat by wraps. That's an opinion, of course.

[PEG688]

Tar products and Tyvek / Typar , do not mix well . The oil based product degrade the wrap, you'd be better off IMO , to just patch the tar paper with new tar paper , 15 LBS felt , make sure you take the time to lap the paper properly , the paper above should lap over the paper below , the "shingling effect" , lead the water out / on top of the paper below,   not under the paper below.

G/L PEG 

[muldoon]

I am not a master carpenter (peg is).  I am not an engineer.  (mt don might as well be)

But if a home has stood since 1948 with tar paper under the siding and needs redoing, go with tar paper because that sounds like a winner.  Six decades is nothing to sneeze at.  For what is is worth, I live in Gulf coast climate and can afford either, I choose tar paper only because I think it is superior for the job.  Again, I am not an engineer but it seems to work well. 

[John Raabe]

If you have 15 lbs felt (tarpaper) on the wall (layered so it will drain) then you don't need Tyvek. Many builders feel that felt is superior as a wall sheathing to Tyvek.