Tag Archives: durabond

Durabond at the Toronto Honda Indy 2011

Posted by Admin on July 11, 2011 None comments

Exterior Insulation Finish Systems have the ability to make your home beautiful, reduce outside noise, and use less fossil fuels. Racing and Indies on the other hand seem to be the antithesis -  in your face, targeted to a somewhat questionable audience and loud with a goal of using as much fuel and rubber as required to beat out the competition. The two are not something you would expect to see joined together.

Imagine my surprise then on Sunday while enjoying an ice cold beer (or three) and working on my redneck (I do have one now thanks to brilliant sun) when I see two cars shoot by with Durabond plastered along the sides. I posted last year about Durabond participating in the CTCC but wasn’t aware they would be at the Toronto Honda Indy 2011 until they went screaming by, close behind the leaders. While the event goes against nearly everything the EIFS industry stands for, I guess the millions of barrels of oil Durabond‘s systems have/will save by making buildings more energy efficient more than make up for their participation.

I’d post up the pictures, but they’re not much more than a blur.
More coverage on the event can be found at the Canadian Touring Car article.

EIFS / Stucco Finish Texture

Posted by Admin on February 14, 2010 None comments

See our page dedicated to Stucco Colours for tips on selecting colours and textures.

Exterior Insulation Finish Systems (EIFS) or “Synthetic Stucco” comes in a variety of different finishing texture options. Depending on what part of the country you’re in, different textures may be prevalent. Using the EIFS manufacturer Durabond as an example, the most common as seen around the Greater Toronto Area are as follows:

Marble Coat 1.0

Marble Coat 1.0

Marble Coat 1.0

Marble Coat 1.0 is one of the most popular EIFS finish coats. Often, this coating will appear darker on a wall than off of  a colour chart due to the minute shadows cast by the aggregates.

Marble Coat 1.5

Marble Coat 1.5

Marble Coat 1.5 is perhaps the most popular synthetic stucco texture. The quarts acrylics are larger than the Marble Coat 1.0 which gives it a rougher look. This EIFS texture will also appear darker on the wall than on a colour chart due to shadows.

Venetian Stucco

Venetian

Venetian is rarely used on homes – primarily commercial projects. The random grains/”worm holes” are created by sparse quartz acrylics being moved around by the applicator’s trowel. As such, it takes a little more skill than other finish coats to apply, and is slightly more expensive.

Spray Stucco Texture

Spray Texture

Sprayed textures are more common in the southern United States and Alberta. Sprayed textures are quicker to apply, but are messier and more wasteful than applying the stucco coating by trowel. Though not proven, it has been said anecdotally that sprayed textures do not stick to the wall as securely.

Brush Coat

Brush Coat

Brush Coat is a roller or paint-brush applied texture that contains extremely fine aggregates. Because it is applied similar to paint, it is easier to color mouldings and decorative trim. Using brush coat on exterior trim and a textured coating such as Marble Coat 1.0 on the wall provides a contrast that goes further than simply a difference in colour.

There is a brief summary. While the descriptions offered provide what is common (and perhaps even best practice) – in the end it all comes to personal choice. While the Marble Coat textures may be the most popular on homes, Venetian is sometimes used as well and if there are multiple homes clad with EIFS in your neighbourhood, it may even help your home stand out.

Your stucco contractor should be able to assist you in making a good decision for your own home if you are unsure. They should also be able to get you a 6″x6″ sample in the colour and texture of your choice so that you can get a good idea of what it will look like.

Your colour selection will also be a personal choice – most people like to play it safe and stick with a beige/sandstone/light brown colour, which gives a “warm” look. Use of different greys in a fine-texture for the walls and trim can assist in creating a “modern” appearance. Dark greens work surprisingly well with the tan colours, to see an example just look at the trim of the next LCBO you drive by. One factor to consider when choosing a colour that everyone might not like – is of course, resale value.

Other EIFS manufacturers such as Adex, Akrilon, Plaston, Durock, Sto, Dryvit and Senergy will have similar coatings, as well as completely unique textures.

Drainage EIFS Wall Section: Durabond EW17

Posted by Admin on November 8, 2008 2 comments

Here’s a diagram of a “dual barrier” EIFS wall cross section. Notice there are 4 substrates shown: Concrete, Masonry, Glass Mat Gypsum Board and Cement Board. A Water Penetration Barrier is designed to keep incidental water off the substrate, similar to a building wrap. Unlike a building wrap however, insulation can be adhered using insulation adhesive in drainage channels, to allow incidental water to run down the wall. Because the insulation is not mechanically attached (using screws) — you don’t have anything penetrating through the water barrier. The remaining components are similar to all other synthetic stucco cladding.

Drainage EIFS Wall Section: Durabond EW17

To have the EW17 system installed on your home in toronto, visit: stucco toronto and request that Durabond be used as the supplier.

Renovating House Siding With Stucco: Substrate Considerations

Posted by JamesCarnegie on November 5, 2008 None comments

On renovations and other non-new construction, the potential for hidden problems (read: costs) is always there. This holds particularly true in renovating your siding, where you never know what condition your substrate is in. Does this mean you should avoid the issue altogether? No. As they say: Kill the monster while it’s small, before it has the chance to become a full grown problem.

Replacing old Siding
You may be looking at EIFS for a multitude of reasons; saving money on your heating bill, damaged siding, or you may just be looking for a more modern look. A good portion of homes built in the 70s, 80s and even 90s used unattractive and incorrectly installed vinyl or board and batten siding. These days, not only is the siding considered retro and shows signs of aging, but in most cases it wasn’t properly sealed and may be covering serious rot and mold. The fact is you don’t know if the subdivision builder slapped the walls together as quickly and cheaply as possible, at a time comparable to medieval age in terms of knowledge about weather resistance.

Stucco Substrate Condition
In replacing your siding with stucco, you will be forced to take a good look at your substrate and it’s suitability for synthetic stucco siding. Any instance of mold or rot will need to be replaced before the trowel-applied weather barrier can be applied. The substrate is required to be free of surface contamination, including (not not limited to); dirt, form release agents, efflorescence, oil, chalkiness, and cracks greater than 1mm. Even in situations where the substrate is fine, it may not be approved to have EIFS applied over it. EIMA defines a suitable substrate as: “gypsum sheathing in compliance with ASTM C 1396 (formerly C 79), glass-mat gypsum sheating in compliance with ASTM C 1177 (Dens-Glass Gold® or BPB GlassRoc), and gypsum fiber panels in compliance with ASTM C1278 (Fiberock® Brand, Aqua Tough™)” and certain manufacturers such as Durabond have products for exterior grade plywood (which also acts as lateral bracing). Felt paper or building wrap is no longer recommended because it requires mechanical attachment, which penetrates the weather barrier, allowing moisture in. Certain substrates such as exterior-grade drywall (gypsum sheating) may also require lateral bracing between studs. Lateral bracing is used to prevent excessive horizontal movement and assist in absorbing wind loads transferred to it from the stucco wall. When in doubt, you may want to have an engineer look at your walls so as to avoid having your siding crack down the road. A final note is that most EIFS manufacturers require less than 1/4″ deflection per 60″ span (L/240) — a feat that a good portion of construction projects wouldn’t meet if measured.

Retrofiting Stucco with Brick and CMU
With brick and CMU (concrete masonry units), your sheating and cladding may not need to be touched at all. Brick contains an air gap between itself and the substrate — usually covered in a building wrap. This means that while you may need to level the brick face with basecoat to properly adhere the styrofoam, you need not worry about replacing the substrate, adding a drainage layer or the stucco causing moisture problems. Along the same lines, CMU construction can not rot or support mold growth and usually acts as a partial weather barrier (note: they usually have poly installed between the masonry and interior drywall.) In this case, the styrofoam may be applied directly to the CMU. Even on brick and masonry, it is a good idea to to have the drainage channel to prevent water from becoming trapped behind the EIFS cladding; and they still need to comply with sheating requirements (free of dirt, form release agents, efflorescence, oil, chalkiness, and cracks greater than 1mm.)

Overview
It’s important to realize that whatever is currently on your house will have an impact on how any siding replacement proceeds, and stucco is no exception. It is a good idea to have some extra money budgeted and an agreement with you stucco contractor as to what will happen in the event you run into unsuitable substrate. Stucco Contractors rarely do sheating replacement and you will likely need to find a general renovation contractor to do this before they can proceed. You will also need to have a large bin on site to dispose of your old sheating and substrate, or specify this as part of your general contractor’s job. In the case of applying stucco directly over brick or masonry, you may even be able to save some money because there’s one less layer to be applied.