Some homeowners have asked me about their stucco. The most common stucco siding in the northwest is called EIFS but is  sometimes referred to as Dryvit. It stands for Exterior Insulating Finish System and it is truly a nightmare in the northwest. We realistically find severe structural rot under it 87% of the time. It is generally installed 2 ways by  either being glued on or randomly screwed with special grommets which is much more labor intensive to remove. Its has white beaded looking Styrofoam under it giving it some insulation value although nothing is as good as R21 or better packed in your wall cavity as newerhomes have 2 x 6 walls. The main problem is that if water gets in it doesnt get out. So it sits there and molds or rots the wood underneath as rain continues.  My previous blog spoke about the new oregon  mandated rain screen system. This particular stucco would not have had so many problems IF a rain screen system would have been used for this reason - water tends to get in MORE  around the windows & doors on EIFS than other sidings. Most builders that took a chance with this style of stucco were from California where rain isnt a problem.  For years Eifs has been having problems in any state where there is higher moisture content. How can you tell if your stucco is actually Eifs?  Go to the bottom of your stucco, feel unerneath the bottom drip edge. If it feels anything  like  foam you have the Eifs style of stucco. Every siding contractor in the northwest hates removing it for the reason that when it is painfully stripped off the home the white foam under it breaks apart and  goes everywhere so special measures are taken to contain the mess. If there is ANY wind during the siding removal, it makes it even tougher to contain it.  Another fact is that this styrofoam NEVER breaks down in the landfills.  As always I hope this helps as our goal and passion is to teach and help others with information on siding. For pics of Eifs tear off  that we did go to    http://superiorexteriorsystems.com/ you may not like what you see but need to be aware. thanks again for listening.

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