You’ve completed your stucco renovation, and hope the contractor did a good job. But did he leave you with any guidelines for maintaining your new wall system? Chances are slim that the contractor took a long-term interest in the condition of your home, but you should and we’ll show you how.
Whenever possible, contact the contractor who originally performed the installation to see if any maintenance or repairs is covered under warranty. If you underpaid and/or didn’t do your background research on a contractor, you may not be able to the original contractor and be left footing the bill for repairs yourself.
Here are a few basic things that you can inspect yourself:
Water Damage
Water damage is typically only visually apparent as bubbling on the surface of the finish coat. It looks similar to what happens when you get a bubble of water in paint – somewhere above the bubble there is a hole that is allowing water behind the finish coat, which is then keeping it from escaping and creating a water-balloon effect on your walls.
Water and moisture trapped behind the insulation because of a faulty installation (or because the contractor didn’t use the correct system) is not visible on the surface, and requires a building inspector with a thermal imaging camera. Ideally, this should be done at the one-year point to ensure you’re getting off on the right foot. Even a year with moisture in the walls can cause irreversible damage to your home’s structure, with mould and rot compromising the structural integrity of your wall studs. If the inspection is done and everything looks good however, it should still be done every 5 years to ensure nothing new develops.
With the exception of moisture being found behind the insulation, most visually apparent problems can be repaired by either patching the problem, adding proper flashing, or properly re-surfacing the wall with mesh, basecoat and finish coat.
Condition of the Finish Coat
Finish coat that wasn’t applied under the right conditions (if there was dirt on the surface, if it was too cold and it froze) will crack and flake off within the first year or two. Once the finish coat is compromised, the cement coating beneath is exposed to moisture which will cause efflorescence and further infiltration which will exasperate the problem. Cracking and flaking finish coat should be taken care of immediately by an experienced contractor to minimize the cost of repairs.
Any stains that can’t be removed using the cleaning method below should be cleaned as much as possible (removing all dirt/dust and chemicals) and repainted using an roller-applied Airless Finish coating – follow the EIFS roller finish guide for proper application.
Caulking / Sealant
The caulking around windows, doors and anything that creates a break in the EIFS is integral to ensuring that water doesn’t get in behind the wall system. It should be fully sealed from the EIFS to whatever object it’s attached to, and not cracking or peeling in any way. Manufacturers recommend replacing caulking every 3 years, though it will usually last between 5-10 years. Caulking should nevertheless be inspected on a yearly basis.
Durock PUCCS: Sealant Specifications
Old caulking should be removed and the backer rod inspected before installing new caulking, not simply covered up with new caulking. Make sure to use a low-modulus sealant compatible with your EIFS, such as the Sikaflex line of products. These can be picked up by the public at DuROCK’s location at 101B Roytec Rd, Vaughan, Ontario L4L 8A9.
Dirt Or Discolouring On The Walls – Cleaning
There is nothing wrong with dirt or dust accumulating on the walls, aside from it being visually unattractive. The small granules in the EIFS finish coat creates tiny crevices that dirt and dust can settle into, discolouring the wall in uneven patches. This is especially prevalent around parts of the house where water falls, splashing dirt against the wall or the side that faces a windy, dusty street.
EIFS should be washed with a solution of 4 gallons water, 1 gallon household bleach and 2 cups trisodium phosphate (TSP) (16:4:1 ratio). Begin by wetting the area, then apply the solution to the entire area requiring cleaning, wash lightly with a soft-bristled brush and rinse with water. Avoid using hard scrubbing or hard-bristled brushes as they can damage the wall. Pre-made cleaning solutions are also available from Demand Products, Windlock or Sureklean.
Make sure to test the solution on a small (inconspicuous) area of the wall before proceeding with the entire building.
If the discoloration is caused by chemicals (a nearby manufacturing facility, fertilizers, polluted rainwater) then your only solution might be to re-coat the walls. See the section above on “Condition of the Finish Coat”.
Fixing Problems
The repairs should be done professionally, since not using a professional is what caused the problem in the first place. We frequently get calls from home owners saying their home needs repairs then they try to haggle with us over price. You already made that mistake once, don’t be that guy again.
Request a stucco quote from the homepage and we’ll arrange a time to assess the problem.
