Moisture Trouble With EIFS Home
REM #A718
By Ilyce R. Glink
Summary: A reader purchased a synthetic stucco (EIFS) home and now has detected a bubble on the exterior of the home. Ilyce warns buyers about purchasing homes with this type of exterior.
Q: I'm attending school to become a home inspector. On a practice inspection
of my own home, I found a bubble in the exterior wall near the ground. My own
home inspector missed it.
I live in a home clad with synthetic stucco. Would this be the sign of a problem?
After reading so much on EIFS sites, how can anyone even recommend buying a
home with this stuff on it?
Have I got some questions for my home inspection inspector or what?
A: The bubble in the exterior wall may indeed be a sign of water that has found
a way into the wall system of the house. You should find a home inspector who
specializes in EIFS construction and have him or her come and do a moisture
reading on your house.
If you buy a home with synthetic stucco, you should certainly have an inspector
with plenty of experience in EIFS housing do the inspection. Most professional
home inspectors have no idea what to look for or how to test moisture infiltration
in these types of homes.
As for recommending these homes, I think they're much more trouble than they're
worth -- you should have your EIFS-clad house inspected once every six months
to make sure there is no moisture coming into the home.
NOTE: This column is distributed by Real Estate Matters Syndicate, PO Box 366, Glencoe, Illinois, 60022. This column may not be resold, reprinted, resyndicated or redistributed without written permission from the publisher.
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