Exterior Siding Stucco Eifs Disclosure

What is synthetic stucco.

Exterior siding stucco eifs disclosure. Clearly eifs aren t just synthetic stucco essentially applied like the traditional concrete siding. Stucco type of siding is also easy to install fire retardant and resists rot mildew and molds. The installation process for eifs stucco is much more complicated and time consuming than traditional. Eifs were first introduced in the united states in the late 1960 s and were first used on commercial buildings and later on homes.

Eifs with drainage another eifs system is the predominate method of eifs applied today. You ll probably find more stucco homes in california texas florida arizona and new mexico. What is eifs siding. The stand alone advantages include the following.

Exterior insulation and finish system also known as eifs is a non load bearing exterior wall cladding system that consists of an insulation board a reinforced base coat and a textured protective finish available in endless color options to accent your home. As the name implies eifs with drainage helps to eliminate moisture before it has an opportunity to enter the wall cavity. Eifs or dryvit is a synthetic stucco that mimics traditional stucco. It is most common on higher end homes in camas and ridgefield washington.

This form of synthetic stucco primarily fails because there is almost always no moisture barrier protecting your wood sub wall structure when rain gets in. It pays to be informed. Like hardboard siding eifs has also mushroomed into a major disclosure issue requiring expensive and destructive testing. Eifs were developed in europe after wwii and brought to the us in 1969.

Stucco is made up of portland cement lime sand water and additives applied in several layers over wood or metal lath. However eifs is. It is different to traditional stucco. Eifs is notably lighter than traditional stucco however.

Eifs is an exterior insulation and finish system. Eifs synthetic stucco siding. Eifs isn t a disease. It is 80 percent less heavy than stucco but it has a higher r value coming in between 4 and 5 6 which is notably higher than the 0 20 r value of regular stucco.

There are numerous benefits for choosing stucco as siding for home exteriors including noise reduction energy efficiency low maintenance longevity and versatility. The eifs acronym stands for exterior insulation and finish systems. They are complete systems that bring several benefits to the building. In fact the national association of home builders now recommends that even eifs homes undamaged by moisture intrusion be tested at least annually necessitating additional homeowner expense.

Some people call it synthetic stucco. Cons of eifs stucco. Stucco exteriors can last up to 50 years or more but they seem to do better in hot dry climates rather than cold wet rainy areas.