The earthquake on January 12 in Haiti should make us all pause and be grateful for many things: The country we live in, the kindness and generosity of people to help those in true need and, believe it or not, the pesky rules and regulations we have to follow here in the United States.
When EIFS first appeared in
the U.S. market, designers and contractors didn’t know what to make of it and
were reluctant to specify it, thinking it was flimsy and cheap. Little did they
know that EIFS would quickly become a mainstay in the wall cladding business.
In those early days, EIFS had to be sold. Then the oil embargo in the ’70s sent
designers and owners scurrying to find more energy-efficient walls, and EIFS
quickly became popular.
Ask any building facility manager what the number one complaint is among building occupants and they will tell you that people are either too hot or too cold. Both LEED and Green Globes offer points for designing buildings that
Everyone has heard the slogan, “The customer is always right.” And everyone who runs a business knows that it’s not true. Customers are often wrong. They complain about silly things, about things that are their own fault, about the
It’s probably an appropriate time to weigh in on the on-going residential sprinkler situation.First, however, full disclosure. The Gypsum Association-my employer-currently has no formal position on whether sprinkler systems should or should not be installed in residential dwellings.
In Part 1 of this column (Walls & Ceilings, December 2009), I quoted Willem Kymmell, an architect and associate professor in Construction Management at California State University, as saying, “Despite many recent developments in project delivery methods, owners are often still dissatisfied with the results of the construction industry; projects still take too long and come in over budget, while the quality frequently is not up to the clients expectations.”
Las Vegas is much more than gambling and partying: It is a place where major business is conducted and usually plenty of construction activity is happening. Considering that the city can handle conventions on a global scale (and you can visit Paris, New York, the Sahara Desert and more), Las Vegas has the biggest hotels, the biggest shows with the biggest stars.
The origin of the EIFS with drainage goes back to the 1990s. The idea of adding drainage came about due to a rash of water intrusion problems on houses in the southeast. Water had gotten behind the EIFS and ruined the supporting wood structure, causing a flurry of lawsuits and repairs, and sparking the interest of building code officials.
Oh, I don’t really mean you, of course. I don’t expect anyone to fess up to being an overbearing SOB. But it’s a good bet you know plenty of other people who fit the description, right? And, just maybe, if you’re really willing to take a long, serious look at yourself … well, let’s just focus on all those other people for now.
This column first ran in October 2005. Since then, there have been several updates to the codes mentioned in the original, so we are taking the opportunity to rerun this piece with updated code references.
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