THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602270480
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By CHRIS KIDDER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 366 lines
Thousands of homes in North Carolina and Virginia built with a synthetic stucco system called EIFS may be rotting from the inside out.
Most homeowners aren't aware of the problem. And, until recently, most builders and building inspectors had no idea EIFS problems were so widespread.
In the wake of inspection guidelines for EIFS recently issued by the North Carolina Department of Insurance Building Code Council, at least one N.C. county has announced it will no longer issue permits for those stucco-clad buildings.
The rot in homes using the exterior insulation and finish system was discovered last August in Wilmington, N.C.
J. Allen Golden, assistant director of the New Hanover County building inspectors office, reported that nearly all of the area's 3,200 EIFS-sided houses might have damaging moisture inside their exterior walls.
``It is the most severe, single-issue problem facing the construction industry in my 20 years in it,'' Golden said. ``This is a tidal wave coming.''
Spurred by homeowner complaints, Golden had inspected 31 houses covered with EIFS, synthetic stucco products usually consisting of an exterior sheathing of plywood, adhesive and expanded polystyrene covered with an acrylic polymer/Portland cement mixture sandwiched with fiberglass mesh.
Golden found excessive moisture in all but two; several had substantial rot. Although his sampling was not statistically sound, it proved to be accurate.
Since August, moisture problems have been found in 98 percent of 300 EIFS-sided houses inspected in Wilmington, Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Fayetteville and on the Outer Banks.
Used as an alternative to wood, vinyl or brick siding, EIFS now covers 3.2 percent of all wood-framed, single-family houses nationwide. Traditionally constructed exterior walls allow drainage and natural evaporation. But if a few drops of water get through a window or door frame, or if wind works a few raindrops under a roof flashing in an EIFS-sided house, water becomes trapped.
A study released in January by the National Association of Home Builders acknowledges problems nationwide but said the extent of the damage in other areas is unknown.
Albert ``Albie'' Viola, president of the Tidewater Builders Association, said he is trying to keep up with what is happening in North Carolina so he will know what to tell his builder members if problems are found with EIFS houses in Virginia. It hasn't happened yet.
``It's hard for me to believe the system itself is at fault,'' Viola said. ``It's got to be the application.''
But he doesn't see the problem ending there.
``I think there needs to be a massive education process for homeowners,'' Viola said. ``We need to teach them that EIFS isn't maintenance free, and it's not as forgiving as wood, brick or vinyl.''
Differences in state building codes may explain why EIFS is more of a problem - so far - in North Carolina than Virginia, according to the Tidewater Builders Association.
So far, local building inspectors from both states have not seen major problems with EIFS houses. But knowing that there were no visible signs of trouble on most of the Wilmington houses bothers some local builders.
The new Building Code Council guidelines are what worry North Carolina's building inspectors. EIFS is an ``alternative'' building method according to the code, subject to performance standards rather than prescriptive instructions for its application.
In the past, building inspectors have relied on engineering reports and installation instructions provided by EIFS manufacturers to meet the state's performance standards. Now, Golden said, the guidelines clearly place the responsibility on the individual inspectors.
``After we reviewed the guidelines, we felt there was no way for us to comply. It's technically impossible to do,'' Golden said.
Based on the guidelines, the New Hanover County Inspection Department will no longer recognize EIFS as an alternative method for residential or commercial construction. Other North Carolina counties are considering similar action, he said.
Talmadge Jones, a Dare County building inspector, recently received the state guidelines. He agrees that they would be extremely difficult to follow to the letter.
``But my interpretation might be different (from Golden's),'' he said.
No action will be taken in Dare County until inspectors have a chance to review the state memorandum.
No statistics are available for EIFS construction in Virginia, but Bob Loher, director of building inspections in Virginia Beach, estimates that at least some exterior walls in 10 percent of the 100 homes being built each month in his jurisdiction are EIFS.
``We see it mostly on custom homes in the $250,000 range,'' Loher said. ``There's definitely been an increase in its use over the last 10 to 15 years.''
There are no estimates on EIFS use across North Carolina. Based on counts from Wilmington and Charlotte, ``it would be accurate to say the numbers are in the thousands,'' said Paul Wilms, an NCHBA spokesperson.
On the Outer Banks, where EIFS probably wasn't used in residential construction until 1987, Golden's findings may affect 500 homeowners.
Kirk ``Skip'' Saunders, past president of the Outer Banks Home Builders Association, tested four EIFS houses on the Outer Banks and found evidence of elevated moisture levels in three that, to the untrained eye, looked fine.
The exterior walls of any wood frame house should have moisture readings of 10 percent or less. Readings of 20 percent to 30 percent are danger signals. When moisture exceeds 30 percent, wood rots.
One moisture reading was ``off the meter,'' he said, exceeding 50 percent. ``But you can find leaks and hot spots with wood siding,'' Saunders cautions. ``Each situation has to be handled on its own merits.''
`If you have an EIFS house,'' Golden said, ``I can't over-emphasize the importance of getting it checked now by a qualified water-intrusion specialist. Statistics say you've got a problem.''
The reaction to Golden's report in Wilmington was described by a New Hanover County architect as ``a run on the bank.'' One Wilmington bank restricted loans to contractors for EIFS-clad houses. A few homeowners and builders, fearful that EIFS would keep their houses from selling, removed the EIFS and re-sided with other materials.
Golden informed North Carolina building officials of his suspicions about EIFS and moisture damage earlier in the year, but nothing was done. Most believed the problem was local; poor installation and faulty product were blamed. But Golden continued to test EIFS houses for moisture and by late August could show that houses across the board were at risk.
It didn't matter how much the house cost, who built it and applied the EIFS, or what EIFS system out of more than 50 on the market was used: They were all susceptible to damage.
In September, the North Carolina Department of Insurance set up a task force to study the problem and make recommendations. The task force included representatives from EIFS manufacturers, the state and national home builders associations, New Hanover County inspection officials and state building code council members.
Wilmington architect Henry Johnston served on the task force. He supervised testing of another 209 houses in Wilmington. While 98 percent of Golden's houses had elevated moisture levels, 90 percent of Johnson's did.
Neither his data base nor Golden's are large enough to be statistically accurate, Johnston said. But the ``hard facts'' show that most EIFS houses have at least minor problems.
Also in September, the North Carolina Home Builders Association issued a warning about potential EIFS problems to all its member chapters. By October, EIFS homeowners had formed SHOC, the Stucco Home Owners Committee, to keep up with the situation. Some sued their builders, EIFS manufacturers and even county building inspectors for damages.
Others considered a class-action lawsuit.
Although stories ran regularly in the Wilmington newspaper about the EIFS-related problems there, little public attention was paid outside New Hanover County.
Behind the scenes, nine EIFS manufacturers through the EIFS Industry Members Association and the National Association of Home Builders worked to identify the causes and cures for the growing problem.
The EIFS industry members group set up a toll-free hot line to provide information and schedule some inspections. Golden, at the behest of the task force, began traveling around the state, testing houses in other cities.
The results were the same wherever he went: Most EIFS-sided houses had moisture problems. And everywhere he went, no one - not the builders, architects, building inspectors or homeowners - had any idea of the extent moisture was affecting EIFS construction.
The problems Golden found weren't news to the EIFS industry.
``There are published reports from, at the latest, 1992 that contain everything I'm discovering now,'' Golden said. ``But they didn't do anything about it.''
Keith Hayes, a spokesman for EIFS industry members group, disagrees with Golden's conclusions.
``There have been isolated problems with houses in other areas but never a preponderance of houses leaking in one location,'' Hayes said. ``From our perspective, this is a very unique situation.''
EIFS was developed as a finish for concrete block in Europe after World War II. It was imported 26 years ago to the United States and first used in commercial construction.
Within 10 years, builders had figured out that EIFS offered almost unlimited design flexibility if used over wood frame construction. With EIFS, rounded walls, elaborate archways, decorative trims and coining - techniques that previously required stucco over concrete block or poured concrete - became relatively affordable and easy-to-build.
Traditionally, houses are water-resistant, not waterproof, structures. Wood, vinyl and brick have natural or manufactured means for water to both infiltrate and escape. EIFS does not.
According to most building professionals who studied Golden's moisture test results, the problem with EIFS, if there is one, is that the product does exactly what it was meant to do: It creates a waterproof finish. Water only gets into EIFS-covered exterior walls when windows or door frames, roofs, joints around items like hose bibs and electrical outlets, and other architectural details don't deliver the same elastic impermeability that EIFS provides.
The good news from Wilmington has been that most of the houses tested had moisture levels under 30 percent and that initial reports pegging the ``average'' repair at more than $25,000 appear to be too high. Inspections by EIMA in the Wilmington area support Golden's statistics about damage incidence but conclude that roughly half the homes with moisture problems can be repaired for under $3,000.
Experts disagree about what will fix existing problems, especially in cases where moisture readings are below the rot threshold.
``I suspect that just putting caulk around windows won't solve the problem,'' said Tom Kenney, an engineer at the National Association of Home Builder's Research Center in Maryland.
Golden believes that moisture problems are inherent to EIFS and should be solved by the manufacturers.
Grady Lassiter of Kitty Hawk, a licensed building contractor and a home inspector familiar with EIFS-related problems, is convinced EIFS needs a drainage plane.
``It's an assembly problem,'' he said. ``Builders don't know how to build houses with today's technology.''
Others argue that improved installation is all that's needed. NAHB and EIMA are both working on builder training and installer certification programs.
``There are some pretty easy fixes for future construction,'' Kenney said. ``We know now that there's clearly a level of detailing required to successfully use EIFS.''
Outer Banks developer Bob DeGabrielle was one of the first builders in the area to use EIFS. He has built about 100 homes with Parex, an upper-end EIF system.
DeGabrielle had moisture problems with his early installations. He's repaired them and learned from his mistakes.
``When everything is said and done,'' he said, ``the problem will be identified not with the product but with installation. I'm totally confident recommending Parex.''
Said Saunders: ``I don't have a definitive answer. We all agreed that EIFS magnifies moisture problems. I don't want my homeowners left doing inspections. The manufacturer needs to take responsibility.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphics
KEN WRIGHT/The Virginian-Pilot
Color photo
DREW WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
ABOVE: Kirk ``Skip'' Saunders, past president of the Outer Banks
Home Builders Association, tested recently tested four EIFS-sided
houses on the Outer Bank. He found evidence of elevated moisture
levels in three that, to the untrained eye, looked fine.
LEFT: How the synthetic stucco system EIFS is applied to a house's
exterior.
THE FACTS BEHIND EIFS
What is EIFS?
EIFS (pronounces eef'-es) is the acronym for exterior insulation
and finish system. It was developed in post-war Europe to refinish
and insulate masonry buildings. It wasn't used in the United States
until around 1970. The EIFS system is a sandwich of exterior
sheathing. Most systems put a fiberglass mesh in a base coat of
stucco over plywood or gypsum board sheathing. They then top that
with a second, finish coat.There are currently more than 50
manufacturers of EIFS in the United States.
Moisture hot spots
Recent EIFS studies identified the following ``hot spots'' for
excessive moisture when EIFS is used with wood frame construction:
Improperly installed flashing and moisture barriers around windows
and lack of proper caulk joints around window frames caused most of
the EIFS-related moisture problems. In a task force study of 209
homes in Wilmington, 38 percent ofthe windows were not properly
caulked. The task force discovered that some windows leak water into
the exterior wall even when properly installed. Vinyl clad windows
provided the best protection against water intrusion, followed by
aluminum windows. Wood frame windows were most likely to leak.
Improperly flashed roofs that intersected EIFS walls caused some of
the most extensive - and expensive - damage seen by the task force.
Other penetrations into an EIFS wall (e.g. exterior light fixtures,
hose bibs) and wall joints were often inadequately caulked or not
caulked at all, allowing minor moisture intrusion.
Who pays for the damage?
Not your homeowners' insurance policy. Standard language in North
Carolina homeowners' policies specifically excludes damages from wet
or dry rot. In Wilmington, some builders and EIFS installers have
made repairs and filed claims with their liability insurers but,
according to John Hicks, a Wilmington insurance agent, none of the
claims have been settled yet.
If the EIFS product is defective, then homeowners must collect
damages from the manufacturer.
At least two lawsuits have been filed and other homeowners
areconsidering a class action suit, possibly against the
manufacturers. In response to the threat of legal action, the
manufacturers have been picking up some of the repair tabs and,
through the N.C. Attorney General's office, are working on a
settlement proposal.
What should EIFS homeowners do?
A homeowners' inspection is useful in identifying potential trouble
spots but only a thorough examination by a qualified contractor or
building inspector can determine the extent of moisture damage.
Call your builder or the company that applied EIFS to your home. If
neither is available to help you, call your local home builders
association for referral to a qualified contractor. You can also
call the EIFS Industry Members Association (EIMA) information line,
1-800-294-EIMA to schedule a home inspection by one of their
representatives or to get complete guidelines, including testing
instructions, a maintenance checklist and a house inspection form.
What to do to avoid a problem
Visually inspect on house interior. Any sign of water penetration on
the inside of the house, even if periodic, should be thoroughly
investigated. Areas to inspect are ceilings, window headers and
sills and floorlines around exterior walls.
Visually inspect house exterior to detect potential problem areas
which could allow water entry. Areas to inspect include: Roofs
flashing should provide proper drainage; gutters and down spouts
should be properly sloped and free of debris; chimneys should be
properly flashed for drainage; penetrations, attachments and
terminations should be flashed and joints properly sealed.
Check windows and doors for frame separation at corners; weepholes
should be clean and functional; all exposed edges on woodwindows
should be painted or sealed; proper caulking aroundcomplete frame,
sealing unit to the abutting cladding.
Investigate all suspected locations of water entry by testing for
moisture.
What should if a problem is found
If moisture readings are under 20 percent, perform repairs
determined by visual inspection. Use latex acrylic caulk. For
readings of 20 to 30 percent, probe sheathing, studs and other
structural members for deterioration with an ice pick. Where probing
reveals deteriorated wood and for readings over 30 percent,
cladding should be removed around area of concern.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For general information about EIFS-related moisture problems in
North Carolina:
Paul Wilms
North Carolina Home Builders Association
P.O. Box 12166
Raleigh, N.C. 27605
800-662-7129
J. Allen Golden
New Hanover County Inspection Department
414 Chestnut Street
Wilmington, N.C. 28401
910-341-7456
For general information about EIFS-related moisture problems and
copies of the NAHB report, ``Investigation of Moisture Damage in
Single-Family Detached Houses Sided with Exterior Insulation<
Finish System in Wilmington, NC,'' write or call:
National Association of Home Builders Research Center
400 Prince George's Boulevard
Upper Marlboro, M.D. 20774-8731
HomeBase Hotline, 800-898-2842
For EIFS information or to schedule a EIFS inspection:
EIFS Industry Members Association (EIMA)
2759 State Road 580
Clearwater, FL 34621-3350
813-726-6477
EIFS Information Line, 800-294-EIMA
For homeowner support:
Stucco Home Owners' Committee (SHOC)
8308 Fazio Drive
Wilmington, N.C. 28405
910-686-1863
For information about EIFS lawsuits, homeowners' rights, liability
issues and damage settlements contact:
David Kirkman
Attorney General's Office
N.C. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 629
Raleigh, N.C. 27602
919-733-7741
What is EIFS?
IN SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB