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Phillip

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uh oh.......

I gotta believe the things got water in the walls. Regardless, it can't be good to have the sheathing/substrate buckling like that.

No drains for a drainage plane type material means somebody didn't know what they were doing.

In your climate, it can't be good.

Good pics. We were discussing/arguing about pics and how to display concerns over @ the ASHI site. I'd use these as an example of how to do it.

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While I fully agree that there is no proper drainage at the bottom of the wall, I'm not so sure that moisture is the main issue. If so, I'd expect to see more buckling/uneven surfaces closer to (and concentrated around) the windows. And certainly below them. In the pics, the surface "irregularity" seems to be pretty uniform.

I suspect poor application details, but not limited to a lack of detailing due to water penetration around openings in the wall. Whatever the substrate is, I think it's probably improperly adhered or it's too susceptible to expansion/contraction issues.

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While I fully agree that there is no proper drainage at the bottom of the wall, I'm not so sure that moisture is the main issue. If so, I'd expect to see more buckling/uneven surfaces closer to (and concentrated around) the windows. And certainly below them. In the pics, the surface "irregularity" seems to be pretty uniform.

I suspect poor application details, but not limited to a lack of detailing due to water penetration around openings in the wall. Whatever the substrate is, I think it's probably improperly adhered or it's too susceptible to expansion/contraction issues.

With E.I.F.S. you must also take into account vapor diffusion from the interior. The warmer moisture-laden air in every home migrates uniformly outward through all exterior walls toward the cooler and drier exterior at night through a process called vapor diffision. When it enters the E.I.F.S. lamina it can cool to dewpoint and condense inside the lamina. Vapor diffusion has been known to generate enough moisture to totally destroy wall sheathing, so it's not a stretch to expect that if it becomes trapped behind an E.I.F.S. lamina that doesn't have any provisions for drainage that it could cause strange things to happen within that lamina.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

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I did not scan it for moisture. wish now that I did.

The company that installed the E.I.F.S. does not response to the home owner request about the problem.

The manufacturer list different items that could be causing this when they looked at it. They mainly said it was from settlement of the house.

I am inclined to believe it was improperly installed since there are other details that not right.

The E.I.F.S.inspector that I refer say it sounds like it is installed wrong.

The whole house shows the boards doing this.

John you ar right. The sun at the angle it was may for a better view.

Marc, the boards are the size the manufacturer calls for.

Kurt, I have seen the discussing/arguing about pics and how to display concerns over @ the ASHI site. The camera is a cheap Olympus ($80) set on it lowest setting for size.

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The most common cause for what is showing up in Phillips photos has to due with the original installation. The edges of each foam board must be rasped or sanded so that they have no protruding edges. All gaps between the boards must be filled in with small pieces of foam. Based on the photos I would say that this step was not done.

The next most common cause is poor adhesion of the foam to the substrate.

Another cause is the lack of the fiberglass reinforcing mesh and the direct application of the base and lamina or in some cases the complete absence of the base coat and only the application of the lamina or the finish coat onto the foam boards.

If you notice that the area around the second floor expansion joint is smooth with little to no visible ridges. This is telling me that the problem has more to do with the adhesion of the foam to the substrate.

The foam boards look like common 3x4 sheets of EPS based on the photos.

Regardless of who or what the problem is, it is wrong and it will only get worse with time.

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The most common cause for what is showing up in Phillips photos has to due with the original installation. The edges of each foam board must be rasped or sanded so that they have no protruding edges. All gaps between the boards must be filled in with small pieces of foam. Based on the photos I would say that this step was not done.

The next most common cause is poor adhesion of the foam to the substrate.

Another cause is the lack of the fiberglass reinforcing mesh and the direct application of the base and lamina or in some cases the complete absence of the base coat and only the application of the lamina or the finish coat onto the foam boards.

Regardless of who or what the problem is, it is wrong and it will only get worse with time.

I'd say it could be all of those. Maybe there's no water, but you're right, it's only going to get worse.

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  • 3 months later...

Are you sure it's foam boards underneath? When I took the schooling in EIFS, the foam boards didn't come in that size. I'll betcha it's cement boards.

I would have to agree with Marc on this one. The foam comes in 2x4 pieces, and from what I see there it does not look like a standard size foam piece. If it is cement board it would look just like that. If it was the foam not being rasped (sanded) then the pieces would be 2x4. I have been in the EIFS industry for over 20 years, and that would be my first thing to check.

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I have seen many jobs where you can see the out line of each piece of foam in the right sunlight, but that is the worst case I have ever seen. If indeed it is not cement board than measure the pieces, and see if they are 2x4.. If they are 2'x4' then maybe it is that it just did not get rasped, and the sun is showing every piece of foam.

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