Every contractor who has anything to do with stucco knows the frustration of hairline cracks that are inherent with a cement stucco system. We try every new product and technique but yet still seem to find ourselves on site with the designer, owner and general contractor pointing fingers at one another for cracks in stucco. When tempers fly and no resolution seems likely, a private consultant can be hired to take core samples and ship them off to the lab for a petrographic analysis.
Stucco can reduce the moisture permeability of masonry-enhancing its waterproofing capabilities-and provides an aesthetic finish on concrete block or masonry. Cement stucco can also be colored or patterned to add a textured look to a building. Stucco applications are the most economically effective method of waterproofing deteriorated masonry surfaces that require extensive tuck-pointing. It has also been used as a waterproofing agent over the lower portions of a masonry surface.
From coastal regions battered by heavy rain to dry, less severe climates, moisture management solutions-variously called water resistive barriers, housewraps, and rainscreen systems-increasingly are being viewed as essential components to well-constructed sidewall systems. Spurred by technological advances in these building products, homebuilders, architects, and contractors alike are specifying them to protect residential wall assemblies from potential mold and mildew damage and to improve heating and cooling efficiency.
After reading the article “The Habituals” (Walls & Ceilings, Sept. 2005) about the Jimmy Carter Work Project in Detroit that W&C and other BNP Media sister publications were involved in, Joseph Lyman, the Insulating Concrete Form Association’s executive director, wanted to show metro Detroit another kind of construction project. This one would be a Habitat home utilizing a very unique design, one that incorporated ICFs for the foundation and above-grade floors, structural insulated panels for the roof and gable and an acrylic finish for the exterior.
Someone once told me “things always change.” Truer words were never spoken. As the Democratic Party prepares to take control of the House and Senate, some people are celebrating while others are filled with fret and concern.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that in many parts of the country the economy has slowed way down. For several months now, I have gotten e-mails from many who have asked for tips on staying busy, especially around this time of the year. I like to talk about repair work and plastering but if there’s no work, it doesn’t really make much sense to talk about how to do it if the phone isn’t ringing.
Back in January 2002, there appeared in this column a two-part article entitled “Drywall Déjà Vu.” The first part talked about the impact of waste gypsum board; fully 1 percent of the entire solid waste stream and the problems encountered when gypsum is dumped in landfills. The second part discussed the first company to successfully recycle waste gypsum board from both the manufacturing (mill waste) and installation (on-site virgin gypsum board) processes.
The number one source of litigation in the construction industry is leaks. People tend to describe buildings in terms of the dominant opaque cladding: “Turn left at the brick building,” instead of “Turn left at the building with windows.” Thus when a building that has EIFS on it has leaks, the automatic mantra is “the EIFS is leaking.”
Ramón didn’t understand. He said he did but he didn’t. He said he did because he wanted to make his supervisor happy. Making his supervisor happy cost him his life. Making his supervisor happy cost his family their husband, their father, their provider.
Pseudo-holidays, such as Columbus Day and Presidents Day, give respite to those of us who live in traffic-clogged metropolitan areas. Millions of motorists experience the giddy feeling of doing the speed limit to and from work for a change.
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