Sometimes, a project’s specifications require inspection of the EIFS. This type of inspection is a matter of a private contract-part of the business agreement to do the work. Other times, inspection is required by statute, as in cases where the building codes require inspection. Most EIFS jobs are not formally inspected: EIFS has not been relegated to the must-be-inspected world of critical construction, such as structural welds or elevators.
As a long, hot summer eases into fall, the Chinese drywall situation that has impacted North America since the beginning of the year deserves a retrospective review as it relates to domestic gypsum board production.
I was raised in the construction industry and surrounded by men whose handshake was their bond. As a young buck, I looked up to these men. These men were raised through the Depression era and survived wars in Europe and Korea. They were tough, hard-working and they don’t take bull from no one.
When EIFS was first introduced into the North American market in the late ’60s, there was skepticism about its performance. Designers and specifiers asked, “How well would such a lightweight wall cladding perform when subjected to the usual rigors that wall systems are exposed to?”
The worst thing about a deep recession may be the inevitable stupid pricing that follows. By stupid prices, I mean bidding or pricing goods and services that are below a company’s cost. The second worst thing about a deep recession is below-cost pricing drives the entire market price down and it takes two to three times as long for them to return to a reasonable level.
The push for green buildings is happening so fast and with such urgency that it is difficult to keep up with all the latest developments. Since the USGBC launched its green building rating systems, several more have cropped up and are in various stages of development.
One of the many beneficial characteristics of gypsum board is the ease by which it can be cut to fit a specific dimensional application. Score one side of a sheet with a sharp blade, snap the core, and you can split a board in about ten seconds.
Tough times can alter an industry. Is it possible that this recession may again alter our industry? Anyone familiar with the walls and ceilings industry may remember how the last deep recession in the late 1970s resulted in the craft unions losing the major share of their market. In 1975, the trade unions made up to 80 percent of all construction; today, the union share is about 13 percent.
One of the first LEED certified buildings I ever toured was a large corporate office headquarters building in Wisconsin. My tour guides, the building’s architect and corporation executive, proudly announced that the building had achieved LEED Gold.
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