EIFS applicators. Pros or cons.

(Judging from this letter, I think the author leans towards
 the latter.)
Hello, MR. Bullard ,  I am the plastering instructor here 
in B.C. Unfortunately E.I.F.S. has not been banned , not yet 
anyway . The current solution to the problem of leaky condo's 
( numbering to date fifty thousand plus ) is " rain screen " , 
basically peel and stick over the whole surface of the building ,
prior to the installation of anything else . Never mind that the 
building is now sealed to the pointwhere it can't breath , and any moisture
already in the walls willproduce insane amounts of mold , never mind that
the B.C. coast receivesthe same amount of rain as the average rain forest ,
i.e. where are theproper roof lines and overhangs ? it seems our local
architects likethings that look good in Arizona !  But enough about that,
lets talk synthetic stucco , and lets assume that the author of this article does
not have , vast experience , and a fancy title at a reputable trade
school. Lets talk stucco facts . And when we talk stucco facts , lets
not mention that for thousands of years , plasterers have been coating
every manner of architecture without any major problems . Lets not name
any of the plastering great's like Viturvius , Cennini , Donatello ,
Michelangelo , The Adam brothers , or Joseph Aspdin and R.W. Keene .
Lets not talk about the lifespan of the ancient lime plastered buildings
in Greece , Rome , and all of Europe . Lets talk about the last hundred
years in North America . Oh , and for the sake of argument lets be very
modest about our "conventional"  stucco facts .
Fact , a less than average building , with a less than average sand ,
cement , and lime stucco job , will have a life span of fifty years ,(of
course to a plasterer this is unacceptable , our bare minimum is a
hundred ), anyway for the sake of giving "synthetic INC " a fair chance
, our tried and true product will last fifty years . " synthetic inc"
claims that " if properly installed "  there product will last twenty
five years . Some sales reps even refer to twenty five years as
"forever" , I wonder if the siding industry would refer to twenty five
years as anything special ? The cost of synthetic stucco is not cheap ,
an infantile lifespan makes the product virtually useless , and the
sales people criminals . Remember that twenty five years is the length
of the average mortgage , therefore by the time the duped customer has
paid for his building , he will most likely have to re-mortgage his
castle to maintain and repair his "properly installed , long lasting
synthetic stucco" .  That is if nothing goes wrong in the meantime ! On
the other hand , properly installed conventional stucco , will outlive a
customers mortgage by at least double the time ,nine times out of ten
outlive the customer as well , and with an insignificant amount of
maintenance .
For those who care , lets talk environment . Portland cement ,
referred to by most as concrete , is made with limestone and clay . I
ask even the most radical environmentalist , is there any building
material more basic to the earth as limestone and clay ?  taken from the
earth , and to the earth it shall return . It can even be recycled if it
really has to be. What will be the effect of millions of tons of
chemical stucco on the environment when it starts to break down ? And it
does break down ! The process starts the day after its finished .
" Fire rating "; compared to conventional stucco , this term , is
nothing more than a legal sales pitch !  In theory " properly installed
e.f.i.s."  will , in the installation of the basecoat and fiberglass
mesh , provide for itself a " bag" or "membrane" of sorts . This
membrane "properly installed" will , in the event of a fire , hold the
molten Styrofoam to the wall . So that in theory , all that happens
while people are escaping , is there will be a moving, deforming
,membrane of molten plastic on the wall as they pass through the exits .
This is the best case scenario . Just one of the major weak spots of
these membranes is , above doorways!    One does not have to be an
environmentalist , to cringe at the thought of a building  covered with
synthetic products , burning. One does not have to be an Einstein to
know about the fire protecting qualities of conventional , concrete
stucco.
Damage control ; once the knowledge that there is nothing but
Styrofoam behind the product is common , well , children and baseballs ,
kids will be kids after all . I don't know any contractor that has not
run into this , or similar problems , at least once , with the e.i.f.s.
system. Woodpeckers also love e.i.f.s . And so does mold and mildew .
Concrete stucco , again is , well , concrete . If the applicator adds a
higher concentration of lime , the problem of mold and mildew is greatly
reduced as nothing grows on lime . In humid climates we can see mildew
and mold on e.f.i.s as soon as a year after it is installed . high
maintenance .
It would be easy to write a scathing book about the e.f.i.s. system ,
these points are the tip of the iceberg . e.f.i.s. does have validity
for certain applications .Customers as a whole , have never been made
aware of these points by "synthetic inc." and why should they , who
would want this product if they only knew a portion of the truth.

Gene Zacharias

(Special thanks to RT Bullards' website)

Although Mr. Zacharias makes many good points, it is obvious he has a biased
point of view in that he is an old school plasterer and has little use for modern
technology. That said, he makes good points.

EIFS Certification Renewal?

Give me a freaking break! For any of you professionals out there, do yourself a favor and don't fall victim to the certification crap that EDI, AWCI and EIMA constantly try to get you to purchase.

EDI's certification cost about $900.00 to take a dopey test created by some of the same morons that were responsible for all the crap that arose in the 90's. ( If you want to learn EIFS email me and I'll forward you my book.) After sitting through the ridiculously irrelevant 3 day course you will then recieve your handy name badge which you pay for. That's it. Now you are EDI certified. At least until the certification expire next year and you have to pay a couple hundred for your renewal. Is that dumb or what?

AWCI is no better. They offer an EIFS certification for about $800.00 that anyone can take and become instantly certified. Wow! Just remember to renew your certification for $100.00.

EIMA on the other hand doesn't want to teach you anything they just want your $500.00 to list you as a member.

Enough is enough. I'm talking to EIFS applicators. Stand up and don't let industry bureaucrats tell you how to do your job. Remember, these organizations were all in business when EIFS was going up all over the country the wrong way and they did nothing to stop the madness. They are in it for the money and that's all. Now they go around claiming to be the experts and basically calling us ignorant yahoos that can't do it without them. They couldn't be further from the truth.

Take a look.

AWCI communication log.

From:	'Jennifer Heinz' heinz@awci.org	Sent: Mon Sep 10 12:58
To:		Priority: Normal
Subject:	RE: your email	Type: Text

Really? You'll have to provide me with more information if you expect
some action - I have no idea to whom you are referring. You're welcome
to substantiate your accusation with facts and we'll look into it. And,
thanks, I'm actually having a marvelous day!

JENNIFER HEINZ
SENIOR MANAGER, EDUCATION and CERTIFICATION
Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry
513 West Broad Street | Suite 210
Falls Church, VA 22046
703.538.1612 | 703.538.1732 Fax | www.awci.org/eifs/



-----Original Message-----
From: Robert F. Santana
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 3:57 PM
To: Jennifer Heinz
Subject: Re: your email

Jennifer,

I just wanted to let you know what type of garbage work some of your
certificate holders are doing. Have a marvelous day.

Rob Santana

EIFS Certification is a joke.

The other day I received a phone call from someone interested in a proposal for EIFS work and I was happy to give him the best price that I could. Now what struck me as completely asinine was that the distributors that the owner was thinking about using, (Tidewater Interior Products) told my prospective client that:

a. I never purchased any material from them.
b. I was not an approved applicator for Dryvit.

Well, I don't know which statement was more ridiculous. First of all I've been purchasing from those a_sholes for almost twenty YEARS! Secondly, not an approved APPLICATOR!
They have got to be shitting me. I have more experienced with EIFS, stucco, stone, you name it, in my little finger than the TIPs' entire staff. I've been doing EIFS the right way for close to 20 years. Anyway, after I called them and informed them that they were either suffering from amnesia or selective memory loss, Doug Johnson (so-called approved applicator) from TIP informed me that he didn't give a rats' ass about what I had to say. Probably because I haven't purchased any material from them because they jack prices up every 3 months it seems. And by the way, Doug Johnson couldn't float a wall if his life depended on it. Now Shannon, (longtime employee of TIP) on the other hand was far more helpful and apologized for the mix up.

Now for the million dollar question. Are the clowns that are doing this job located at Holland Plaza in Virginia Beach approved applicators? Is the owner (Samco Properties) an approved applicator? I think not. My point is this, even at press time, so to speak, Dryvit, AWCI and the rest of the so-called experts including the vast majority of distributors don't have a clue what's actually going on in the field and it's a damn shame. I can not believe that they said I'm not an approved applicator. Could it be because I tell it like it is? Maybe. Why people put their trust in these companies and the so-called certification companies when they were the folks responsible for the fiasco that took place in the 90's is beyond me. I have no idea.

I have been doing EIFS for a long time and I find it insulting that simply because I haven't sat through a boring seminar that I am an "unapproved applicator". Well if the being an approved applicator leads to quality jobs like the pics below than they can keep their certifications. As far as I can see, the job below is certified garbage.

Don't believe me? Look at the pictures and decide for yourselves. These pics were taken in July for Sam Speigel of Samco Properties. The work continues as of today 09-10-07.

These aren't the only pics I have and I will be posting alot more in the near future. Just wait until I post the finish coat pics.

If you want a job done right call Rob Santana @ 757-673-6103 and put your trust back into real masons and not into salesmen.