Expanded polystyrene insulation and polyisocyanurate foam polyiso are the two main insulation types used in EIFS in North America. Overseas, many other types of insulation are used to make EIFS, such a mineral wool and “glass foam.”
I often get calls from people wanting to “beef up” the performance of their EIFS walls. There are some things you can do to improve performance and this month’s column has a potpourri of strategies for common problems.
There is work underway to develop a standardized protocol for inspecting EIFS as it is being installed. This work is being done by the ASTM technical society.
When I do technical seminars about EIFS, one of
the most frequent questions is, “Should I use adhesives or mechanical fasteners
(screws plus washers), or even both, to attach the foam insulation to the
wall?” The answer depends on a number of factors, and sometimes you have no
choice about which to use.
One
of the most popular design features of EIFS is its ability to mimic other
materials. This includes being a stone, concrete or stucco look-alike. This
feature of EIFS is widely used for many reasons, including its attractive
appearance, light weight and low cost.
If
you spend any time working with specifiers, end-users, designers and
contractors who are involved with EIFS, you’ll find out right away that the
environmental friendliness (“eco-friendliness”) of EIFS is a hot topic.
In North America, EIFS is
pretty much a single type of design, namely expanded polystyrene insulation
adhesively attached to the supporting wall, and a thin, synthetic, two-layer,
glass fiber mesh-reinforced coating system.
The recent devastating
earthquake in Haiti has focused attention on many things about that country,
including politics, economics, its history and culture, and many other poignant
topics, not the least of which is the safety and design of buildings there.
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.
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