Frequently Asked Questions
What is EIFS?
Exterior Insulation and Finish System is the name for a building cladding system generally consisting of an adhesive, EPS (polystyrene) insulation boards, a ground coat, a fiberglass reinforcing mesh and a finish coat. The adhesive is applied to the sheathing of the building or home, EPS board is then adhered to the sheathing, the ground coat is applied to the EPS board, the mesh in embedded in the ground coat and finally a finish coat is applied.
Why is EIFS referred to as synthetic stucco?
EIFS, once applied, looks similar to traditional stucco.
How is EIFS different from other claddings such as brick, clapboard and stucco?
All claddings are designed to be integrated with other building components such as windows and the roof to create a weather envelope to protect a building or home from the elements of the weather.
Traditional claddings such as brick, clapboard and stucco are designed to stop water at the surface of the system, but they also anticipate that some water or moisture will get behind the outside cladding and provide a secondary barrier that stops intruding water from reaching the sheathing and allows the water to weep or drain from behind the cladding.
In contrast, EIFS is a so-called face-barrier system. That is it attempts to protect the building or house from the weather by stopping moisture at the surface of the home. If water gets behind the EIFS, there is no secondary system to drain or weep out the water or protect the sheathing. Water can become entrapped, saturate the sheathing and, if uncorrected, eventually rot the sheathing or other building components.
How can water get behind the EIFS barrier?
Water can intrude behind EFIS through windows, where windows and EIFS meet, where EIFS and roof lines meet, through intrusions in the EIFS for gas lines, electrical conduits and fixtures, where doors meet EIFS and where decks meet EIFS.
Although good building practice calls for application of sealants and flashings to stop water from intruding through these pathways, sometimes contractors fail to properly install these building facets.
Who is responsible for water intrusion and resultant damage?
Builders, EIFS applicators, architects and manufacturers have all been sued for damages resulting from water intrusion behind EIFS. While each situation must be evaluated on its own merits, many common elements exist.
Frequently, EIFS installation is defective because proper sealants have not been installed or applied properly and/ or flashings (which divert water away from joints) have been installed improperly or not at all. This allows water to intrude through joints around windows, doors and other penetrations and through joints where roof or deck lines meet the EIFS. Responsibility for defective application lies with the builder and subcontractors such as the EIFS applicator or roofer responsible for aspects of the EIFS application.
Homeowners have successfully argued that the manufacturers are liable for damage because EIFS is a inherently defective because it does not anticipate foreseeable water intrusion and does not provide a system to protect the sheathing and drain the intruding water. They have also argued that the EIFS manufacturers failed to provide sufficient training to applicators, failed to warn of the risks of water intrusion and failed to publish details sufficient for proper installation of EIFS.
What companies manufactured EIFS?
Major manufacturers of EIFS include Sto Corp., Dryvit Systems, Inc. and Parex, Inc.
