Tag Archives: roi

Replacing Cladding is The Best Bang For Your Buck

Posted by Admin on September 9, 2009 3 comments

Remodeling Magazine surveys thousands of renovations and home sales each year to discover which renovation is currently giving the best value for your dollar (or “cost recoup”) using real world data, in it’s Cost vs. Value Report. Sitting again at the number one over-all position with a whopping 86.7% return on investment is Fiber-Cement Siding Replacement. Coming in second (for it’s category) at 80.4% is foam-backed vinyl siding.

This information is simultaneously beneficial and flawed for the purposes of EIFS / stucco. While the cementitious base-coat layer of EIFS is indeed “fiber-cement”, the actual product they are referring to is more than likely a solid-cement factory-made siding (such as Hardie Board), which has become popular due to it’s ability to withstand hurricane-force winds and debris. The problems James Hardie siding is currently dealing with (and that EIFS has long since corrected) is how to allow moisture to drain out that becomes trapped behind the siding (take a look at the hall of shame for an idea of what I’m talking about). I suspect that in the coming years the problems will begin to surface more frequently and it’s high value will drop some.

Then there’s the issue of geography. This information is based on data from the United States, not Canada. It is averaged over many different climates, not solely a cold-climate such as the one we have in Toronto. This means that energy efficiency renovations such as exterior insulation, or replacing a water heater, won’t have the same impact as they would have in Canada. On top of that, Toronto is by all rights the largest consumer of EIFS in North America – Canada and the U.S.A. While it’s not as popular in some of the states because of it’s history with lawsuits, that problem has been largely avoided here in Toronto using a different type of EIFS: Dual-Barrier.

Nevertheless, it shows that re-cladding your home is the sure-fire way of getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to home renovations. Factoring in the advantage of lowered heating bills in our climate due to the exterior insulation, and the superior aesthetic of EIFS to Hardiboard (and vinyl siding by a landslide), I feel confident in saying that EIFS renovations actually increase the value of a home beyond what a home owner pays for it. As much as 110-120%. Being that there is no data to back this up however, I’ll limit my claims to the next closest thing — the fiber-cement siding 86.7% ROI from Remodeling Magazine.

Update: The 2010 Cost vs Value Report can be found here

Aurora Announces Additional $5,000 towards Eco Energy Audit Grant

Posted by Admin on March 30, 2009 1 comments

The city of Aurora, Ontario has announced a 2-year plan to gain an additional $5,000 towards renovating your home to be more environmentally friendly. The green home grant, among other things, includes rebates for insulating the exterior of your walls with styrofoam — exactly what EIFS (synthetic stucco) does! In order to qualify, you must first have an inspector come to do an energy audit on your home, which consists of taking “before” pictures, measuring air flow through your walls, and doing a physical walk-through of your home to inspect the walls, insulation and air-tightness. In total, home owners looking to “go green” may get up to $15,000 towards renovating their home to improve energy efficiency — essentially lowering their heating AND cooling bills and saving upwards of $2,000 per year.

Aside from the grant home owners receive from the government, and substantial reductions in heating bills, the home owners who take advantage of this program will experience an increase in their home value due to the ROI (return on investment) experienced from renovating and upgrading their home.

As an example, let’s say you put EIFS on a 1500 square foot bungalow. The wall surface may come to 1500 square feet, which would be approximately a $15,000 stucco job. Of that $15,000:

For a total of $16,700 returned to you for a $15,000 renovation, and $27,000 after 10 years (and it countinues to save and climb every year)!
By this point there’s no doubt you see the logic in doing “green” renovations. Among the renovations, EIFS (synthetic stucco) is the fore-runner in terms of actual dollars saved. Don’t waste time, contact us to get the exterior of your home renovated with EIFS.