In cold climate areas it is normal to put a vapor barrier on the warm side of the wall so that the humid interior air cannot get into the wall and condense during the winter. But you may not be aware that this vapor flow can also occur in the opposite direction, namely humid summer outdoor air may allow vapor to move toward the interior, causing moisture build-up in the wall.
I
receive letters to the editor on a regular basis, some complimentary, some not.
In the first half of this year, EIFS and stucco were attacked by self-serving
groups, and fortunately the industry responded with its own “letter to the
editor.”
Are you like me? You go on a vacation and are accused of not leaving work behind. I don’t mean fretting about your business, and if all the little details have been handled. I mean spending too much time looking at construction details. Take heart, you are not alone, not by a long shot and I have proof. The following are the writings I have done on vacation.
I recently had the opportunity to revisit Chicago, the home of one of my personal heroes, Byron Dalton. To most in the industry today, the name Dalton has little or no significance. But to some of us older die-hard plastering fanatics, Dalton could be considered the American patriarch of the plastering trade.
It’s the eleventh hour and all the documentation has been gathered and is ready to be submitted to the USGBC for that LEED rating that the entire project team has worked long and hard toward. But what is this? One of the coatings used far exceeds the allowable VOC limit established in the low emitting materials credit for paints and coatings? Panic sets in with the realization that an entire point may be lost due to a simple mistake.
If our economy had been growing at a rate of 20 percent a year for the last decade or so, most of us would be luxuriating in hog heaven right now. That’s apparently where a lot of heavy equipment thieves reside, because that’s been the growth rate for heavy equipment thefts since 1996, according to the Insurance Services Office.
Most of the inquiries I get for help with existing EIFS projects have something to do with an odd problem that no one can figure out how to work around. Some inquiries also are about strange uses for EIFS on new buildings.
Q: I was recently questioned about the metal studs I am using and if they are code-compliant. I was informed that if they are not, I– the subcontractor–could be held liable. This has me quite worried considering all the construction defect litigation today.
In last month’s column we discussed the basic parameters of finishing joints in fire-rated systems. To recap, joints in fire-rated gypsum board systems are typically required to be finished with tape and joint treatment, and fasteners are required to be spotted with joint treatment.
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