Tag Archives: toronto

Early Spring for Stucco in Toronto

Posted by Admin on February 4, 2011 None comments

According to the all-knowing groundhogs, we can expect an early spring in Toronto. It’s a silly tradition, but anything that signals that this cold weather will be disappearing is a welcome sign. There are a few groundhogs throughout the U.S. and Canada that seem to predict how much longer winter will last pretty accurately. While it wasn’t a unanimous decision, the majority of the groundhogs agreed that winter will be short this year. The exception was Calgary’s psychic groundhog, who did see his shadow, indicating another 6 weeks of winter. But that’s Calgary.

EIFS (known typically as Stucco) can not be installed when the outdoor conditions are below 5 degrees Celsius. While it’s possible to get around this cold weather stucco application limitation with the use of tarps and propane, it’s an imperfect system because tarps blow off with the wind and propane cylinders run out prematurely.

Hence our optimism that somehow, groundhogs make good meteorologists.

The Toronto Sun article can be viewed at: http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2011/02/02/17122971.html

Head over to Toronto Stucco Contractor to request your quote and get your project lined up for the spring.

Adding Soffit Lighting with Stucco

Posted by Admin on April 11, 2010 1 comments

Lighting can be used to accentuate parts of a stucco home, or draw attention away from unsightly parts. Soffit lighting in particular offers a dramatic effect, intensely illuminating a portion of the wall but quickly fading to dark just a few feet away. While they don’t create an enormous amount of light, it is enough to deter potential burglars or vandals, and can create an amazing visual effect at night. The lights can also be used to bring out the shape and style of window trim, sills, mid-wall bands and corners quoins.

LED Soffit Lighting

LED lighting used to highlight a wall and illuminate a walkway.

Modern soffit lighting systems typically use highly efficient 1.5 watt LED fixtures, which provide ample – bright – light, while using very little energy. This is particularly important if you plan on leaving them on over night.Some manufacturers have suggested that upgrading to a higher efficiency light can save over $50 per year on electrical bills, while lasting years longer.

Aside from simply making the home look nice, LEDs placed near a walkway can make the home safer by illuminating the walkway and ensuring you don’t accidentally step on that toy your kid left out, breaking an ankle.

LEDs in the soffit can be used to deter intruders

It is something that needs to be planned out in advance though. Typically, soffit lighting is placed in the centre of the soffit. This becomes problematic if you replace you soffit before the stucco (for more reasons than just the lighting) and add a cornice after. Exterior cornices placed at the intersection of the wall and the soffit often extend 5-6″ from the face of the wall, removing a large chunk of “soffit real estate”. LED lights that used to appear centered now appear to be too close to the wall, or even covered entirely.

Inspired by the good people over at North Shore Eavestroughing .

EIFS Outperforms Other Claddings

Posted by Admin on February 15, 2010 None comments

ATLANTA, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ –

50 Year Product Life Tops in the Industry – Sustainable construction with Energy Efficiency

Sto Corp., the innovative world leading manufacturer of energy-efficient cladding systems and high performance architectural coatings, has released a life-cycle study of Sto engineered claddings systems showing they outperform other wall claddings over a full 50-year product life.

This new Life-Cycle Inventory (LCI) of wall cladding products was conducted to compare energy use and environmental impacts associated with several residential wall types. Three Sto Corp. cladding systems – StoTherm® NExT EIFS, StoPowerwall™ NExT stucco, and StoQuik® Silver NExT cement-board stucco – were analyzed and compared to typical brick and stucco walls, with and without foam insulation, for a typical residential property.

The LCI results demonstrated good life-cycle performance of the Sto cladding systems in terms of waste, emissions, and energy used in production, construction and building operations. In particular, StoTherm NExT EIFS claddings excel in reducing life-cycle energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions. Key findings included:

  • StoTherm NExT EIFS (Exterior Insulation Finish Systems) required the least production energy (manufacturing phase) of the insulated claddings. In the “cradle-to-wall” phase, StoTherm NExT also requires the least energy.
  • In operations, uninsulated brick and stucco consume about twice as much heating/cooling energy as StoTherm NExT.
  • Over the full 50-year life cycle, energy demand is lower for StoTherm NExT than for uninsulated brick or stucco.
  • All the Sto Corp. systems, including StoTherm NExT, contribute less solid waste than typical brick or stucco.
  • StoTherm NExT has the lowest total greenhouse-gas emissions.

“Using StoTherm NExT is the ideal way to clad a project that will perform efficiently and protect the way no other cladding can,” said David Boivin, President and CEO of Sto Corp. “The system approach of using EIFS plus a superior waterproof air barrier allows architects to confidently design a structure that is both energy efficient and durable.”

Copies of the LCI are available at: Sto Corp. LCI Report

About Sto Corp.

Sto Corp., based in Atlanta, Georgia, is an innovative world leader and producer of a broad range of versatile cladding and coating systems for building construction, maintenance and restoration. Sto Corp. is ISO 14001:2004 (environmental management) as well as ISO 9001:2008 certified.

For more information, visit www.stocorp.com or call toll free (800) 221-2397 or (404) 346-0755. Follow Sto Corp. on Twitter as well as the Sto blog “Building with conscience” at http://www.buildingwithconscience.com/

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sto-corp-life-cycle-study-proves-eifs-outperforms-other-claddings-84236577.html

To find an toronto exterior insulation contractor, head over to the mainsite at http://TorontoStuccoContractor.com/

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

Exterior Insulation Government Rebates and Renovation Tax Credits

Posted by Admin on September 9, 2009 1 comments

The Canadian Government is currently running two concurrent programs to help home owners with home renovations. These programs provide monetary incentives to home owners who perform renovations on their home, stimulating the economy by providing work for skilled trades, and benefiting the home owners by helping them increase their home value.

Retrofit Rebate Program

The first program is the Retrofit Rebate Program, in which the home owner contacts one of the Auditors listed on the  Home Energy Audit Program website. The auditor performs an evaluation of where your home currently stands in terms of energy consumption and efficiency. This audit typically costs around $400, of which $150 is covered by the Government of Ontario. If you currently have a mortgage with Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), they have a program which covers the rest of the cost of the initial inspection, and unfortunately for the rest of you, they seem to be the only bank to do so. From the time of the inspection, home owners are given 18 months to complete any and all eligible energy efficiency renovations and have the auditor return to do the final inspection. Once the final inspection is complete, you are assessed for a rebate for upwards of $10,000 in the form of a cheque, split between the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada, which tends to take 8-10 weeks to arrive. The genious behind this program is that these subsidized renovations actually DECREASE your expenses. This income gets spent instead on paying back the loan you took out (whether it was line-of-credit, or re-mortgaging), increasing your equity and investment in your largest asset — your home.

So why, with all the other renovations available, would you choose to re-clad your home with EIFS (exterior insulation finish system)? Simply put, it has the biggest pay back. Of all the renovations, exterior insulation (the “EI” in “EIFS”) provides the largest single rebate at $3,750. Furthermore, re-cladding your walls with EIFS has the largest potential to reduce your heating bills. See Saving Money on Heating/Cooling Bills. Additionally, EIFS helps improve air sealing — potentially adding another $480 to your rebate.

Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC)

The second program is the Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC), put on by the Canada Revenue Agency. Under this program, you are reimbursed for 15% of renovations between $1,000 and $10,000, for up to $1,350 [($10,000 ? $1,000) × 15%] on renovations done between January 27th, 2009 and February 1st, 2010. While the math may seem funny, it is nonetheless real money you get back. This money comes back to you in the form of a tax credit.

Simply keep your receipts/invoices for the renovations you had done (making sure that it is first eligible under the program), and present it to your accountant when you have your personal income taxes done.

Total Rebates and Credits

For the average $15,000 home EIFS renovation in Toronto, most home owners are looking at getting back $5,100 (plus possibly air sealing), putting the actual cost around $10,000. Factor in the increase in your home’s value and the money you save on heating/cooling bills and only a fool wouldn’t take advantage of this opportunity.