Efficient and Quality EIFS Services
Professional and skilled installation. Incredible finish textures. Countless design possibilities.
EIFS
(Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems)
best wall system
for alberta weather
EIFS stands for Exterior Insulation and Finishing Systems. It’s a multi layered stucco finish that can be applied on both residential and commercial buildings with ease, providing the best cost effective and energy efficient option among all wall cladding systems available in the market.
Gaining popularity in relatively cold areas in Europe first in 1960s, the system proved itself to be one of the best wall cladding systems for its aesthetic, resource and energy efficient uses. Completely maintenance free for over 50 years thanks to its amazing water and moisture management, EIFS provides the best wall cladding for your investment’s worth.
EIFS Stucco System
Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) offers very efficient and continuous insulation by design. It’s a non-load bearing, exterior wall cladding system consisting of several layers. These layers can be described as the following;
- Flashings and water-proof EIFS tapes where necessary on substrate.
- A water/air resistive barrier that covers the substrate.
- Vertical notched trowel adhesive applied to either water resistive barrier on substrate or insulation board.
- Insulation board (commonly foam based, however cement boards can be used as well)
- Glass fiber reinforcing mess applied and embedded in the base boat.
- A water resistant base coat applied on top to act as a weather barrier.
- A crack resistant acrylic finish coat that is reinforced with co-polymer technology.
Every building, whether it’s residential or commercial can immensely benefit from EIFS. Wrapping the exterior walls in a water/air resistive barrier and insulation provides incredible energy efficiency, resulting in non-matched moisture and water control. Most common and recommended insulation used in EIFS applications is expanded polystyrene. (EPS) Of the many insulation types that are available in the market today, EPS offers an amazing R-value. Between the recommended minimum thickness of 2″ (inches) EPS at 7.6 R-value and 4.5″ (inches) EPS at 17.1 R-value, it provides an incredible energy savings in both short and long term. This leads to consistent, long-term energy performance and contributes greatly operation costs of the buildings life-time, providing a much better cost-benefit ratio compared to many other wall cladding systems.
EIFS today are one of the most and well researched claddings in the Edmonton and Alberta construction industry. When compared with brick, stone, regular stucco and cementitious fiberboard siding, EIFS provides the best performance in regards to thermal and moisture control. Available in two main types, barrier wall system and wall drainage system. While barrier wall system mostly relies on exterior basecoat and acrylic skin for water and air protection, wall drainage system -being the dominant and popular system out of two- helps to eliminate the moisture before it even has a chance to enter the wall cavity.
EIFS Benefits
EIFS provides incredible energy efficiency by providing complete control of air, moisture and heat flow, therefore eliminating the thermal bridging through exterior walls.
Durable for a life-time, EIFS is highly resistant to cracks, fading, chalking and dirt. Thanks to its design of flexibility, when walls expand due to tempature, EIFS absorbs the movements.
EIFS is far more versatile than other wall cladding systems. Not only it comes with over 100+ color choices, EIFS can be fashioned into any design and shape.
With proper installation, EIFS is one of the most water resistant wall cladding systems you can put on a building. Due to its design, water and moisture is controlled before it even has a chance to get it.
EIFS Stucco Frequently Asked Questions
EIFS outlasts most of the other wall cladding systems excluding natural stone & brick. It provides an easily over 50 years of service life if applied correctly. There are many projects from Northern Europe from 1950s which still stand strong.
EIFS consists insulation foam boards, when you tap on the walls using a little force, you should be able to hear somewhat a hollow sound. However, it could be a cement board insulation, or the basecoat could include a strong material reinforced with panzer mesh, which are similar to concrete in strength therefore it’s better to ask your builder/contractor.
Regular stucco and EIFS has many differences in both materials and application process.
In regular stucco, instead of an insulation board, the protective barrier consists of a very thick cement portland plaster on top of a self-furring metal lathing. It’s very durable, however quite vulnerable to Canadian weather’s effect on expanding the cladding, therefore causing cracks and holes in time.
EIFS on the other hand, is applied first by covering the wall substance with protective air&water proofed layer, reinforced with flashings and stucco tapes around windows & doors, then insulation foam boards, a basecoat layer embedded with fiberglass mesh and acrylic finish coat. Combining these layers provides excellent expansion protection, water and moisture control and energy efficiency.
Unless you have years of experience and skilled hands, EIFS is not considered to be a DIY project. We strongly suggest that you leave it to experts to fix and repair your EIFS.
A lot of residential EIFS projects are installed using mechanical fasteners with washers holding them in place and to distribute the pressure on walls. However, the fasteners are metal and washers are plastic, therefore the temperature change during the day cause the color change due to moisture and making it looks like many spots on the wall.
This is quite harmless, however could be easily prevented by applying a thick base coat with skim coat on top. If it’s causing problems aesthetically, you can contact us, and we will be applying a new coat of base and skim coat on top, with a fresh acrylic finish coat.
With capable hands and experts on the job, any stucco repair should be invisible. Initially, due to fresh coat of acrylic finish coat, the color seem brighter, however with time, the patch blends in completely.
Due to the texture of acrylic finish coat applied, it’s hard to paint EIFS yourself without making it obvious. However, we’d be more than happy to come in and paint it perfectly.
Absolutely. EIFS by nature allows infinite number of design possibilities. We can apply the mouldings, trims or rivels that you wish to see on your building. Contact us and we will work with you on every step to ensure your satisfaction.
EIFS has over 100+ colors to choose from. You will be given a color catalog to choose.