[b]big deal about moisture this...[/b], and moisture that? What is this romper room? (Not this board of course, but in general) EIFS is a great product as long as you use it properly. EIFS is not rocket science; nor are we cavemen..., or cavewomen.

The only reason people bad mouth EIFS is because the manufacturers and distributors had absolutely no quality control in place(and still don't) and that's why eifs has a bad name. The bottom line is that eifs/stucco companies are listening to the manufacturers and distributors as to the proper way of installing and the specs and all, what they don't know is that the industry big wigs don't give a rats ass really and they want to sell more stuff. If the house rots in five years, big whup. They would just sell more, caring little about who buys the stuff. Whether they are experienced or not. Nine times out of ten distributors will sell EIFS products to an orangutan.

Truth be told, money talks and BS walks. Anyone with cash or a credit card can buy EIFS and therein lies the problem.

Oh and by the way, EIFS does not belong on wood.


This is what happens when quality goes out the window. You get crappy work like in these pics.

Thats where I think your wrong, yes some distributors of the products sell them to people ( diy or want to be plastering contractors) Water managed systems were out way before all the troubles with eifs came about. The same rot is also found behind brick, siding, cement based stucco and other wall claddings. If done per the details eifs is the best thing going, what other product insulates, stucco and has your building coated with a 100% acrylic elastomeric coating by the same contractor? The product recived a bad rap due to poor construction practices, can't say I've seen it all but the days not over as yet.

Parex Guy,

You disagree with what exactly? You said yourself that distributors sell to DIY's.

Are you familiar with the glue crap that manufacturers were selling to directly apply EIFS to OSB/plywood in the 90's? What were they thinking? EIFS details were wrong in the 90's and in my estimation leave alot to be desired today as well. Let's face it, mechanics work for subcontractors who are certified by manufacturers to install the systems. EIFS subs and mechanics are the scapegoats and you know it. Hell, kick out flashing wasn't even invented in 1996, yet I personally saw the flaw in details and made literally made the kick-outs utilizing scrap metal found on job sites. I remember the roofers saying stuff like "kick-outs?...we don't do that" and guess what, they never do. Eventually, in 1998, after making these kickouts with flashing and caulking the little hole, I used my head and realized that too was not the best thing either. So what did I do? I took a walk down the local Home Depot looking for something that would work better than the metal flashing. I came across vinyl gutter ends. I modified the ends using a grinder and other tools until I was left with a perfect kickout that wouldn't leak and that would not deteriorate. Jump forward to today and you'll find them in most EIFS shops. Not the modified version that I did but some gaudy type that doesn't look good at all to me. My point is that manufacturers should have saw the chaos coming. In my 20 year career as a mudslinger I've yet to come across a mechanic that arbitrarily deviates from what they've been taught to do in terms of installation. That may be a bad thing.

Finally, when are manufacturers going to accept even a little accountability and stop blaming us lowly sub-contractors.

By the way, Parex is by far my favorite EIFS product out. There was a distributor here in Hampton Roads that sold the stuff but for some reason they switched to STO. Go figure.