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A friend of mine at work bought a house and wants to put Drivit on where the brick used to be. Anybody have any good links for the pros and cons of this stuff?
I’ve heard good and bad.
Thanks,
Ed.
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First, you need to licensed by the company (Dryvit, in this case) to purchase and apply the system. Most importantly, joints and intersections must be detailed like the literature states (Backer rod, caulk, etc.) and all of your flashings, penetrations, windows, doors, and roof details must be textbook perfect. In my opinion, and I did some research into different systems before I decided Dryvit training was right for my company, most failures are caused by poor detailing and flashing, allowing water behind the EPS. if that is a big concern, Dryvit is now marketing a drainage managed system, though I haven't used that one yet. If you need anything else, let me know. I can try to help.
Nate
*Hey Nate,Thanks for the response.I'm not interested in learning to do this, I've got an employee who just bought a house and wants to hire someone to put it on his house where he is removing a bad brick job.I've heard bad things about it and just want to get some information to help a friend.I tried "Consumer Reports", but they don't do building materials.Thanks,Ed.
*I agree with Nathan: roper installation is critical.I would only choose the drainage system approach, though. It is a form of back up system which should minimize problems with the primary sealing system(s)/details.
*Ed, you can do the research, but you ought to convince your friend to put brick back on the house.
*Ed,I also agree with Tim. Although I am a Dryvit contractor, I am also a GC and prefer the look of masonry. However, there are some other concerns with resetting the brick.Here in central PA, Brick work is about $12-14.00 / square foot (I think. Can't really remember) The going rate for Dryvit (With 2" foam) is $8-$10.00/sf. Unless your friend is a mason, cost will be an issue. In my opinion, if there are no crazy mouldings, trims, and details (quoins, columns, etc) flat Dryvit may be able to be installed for less than the price above. That depends on the contractor, of course. Also, 2 Applicators can realistically install & finish the system in the same or less time than 2 masons & tenders. Again time & money saved. Your friend is right, though. Research is is key to a good decision. If you (or he) want to email me, I can copy & send some great detail illustrations for residential EIFS, and they include literature about selecting a contractor & making sure that the roofers, wondow & door guys, landscaper, etc. are all on the same page so a quality installation is achieved.Good Luck!Nathan
*Right now EIFS and brick are about the same price per sq ft Eastern PA depending on who you talk to. I feel I am in the minority today as a proponent for EIFS. I think it is a really great system and we are fortunate to have a good local installer. Even with that I would still choose brick as my siding of choice. It is well proven.
*The main thing with Drivit installation is what happens to water and water vapor. My company was involved with a residential job where Dryvit was used with coventional wood framing(we were contracted to demo and replace with new cedar siding). I don't know the details, but suffice it to say that we found EXTENSIVE rot in the exterior framing- this house was only three years old! They were in the process of litigation with the orig. builder and there were tons of inspectors, engineers, insurance people, attorneys, and photographers visiting the site. Everyone working on site was instructed not to speak among themselves or to ANYONE about this job. The inspection firm they were using - sole business was involved with Dryvit installations. WHEW!
*Ken,Do you have details about flashings, sealants, etc?. Also, and I've never been clear on this one, if the building envelope is tight on the outside, and vapor penetrated from the interior, wouldn't the vapor have the opportunity to escape from the same points that it entered? I've also wondered about the role an air exchanger would play in mitigating the vapor issue on the interior. The systems that Dryvit introduced to deal with these issues are Residential MD and Sprint MD. I think that the technology is better now to use Dryvit residentially. Like most things in the trades, It's often bad work, not technology that causes the failure.By the way, what area of the country was the job you referred to in? Just curious.Nathan Meredith
*Hi, Nathan- Sorry, don't have any details for you since they never had me on that jobsite. It was a $300k+ job (as built) here in Olympia, Wash.. One of our crew guys had previously worked for the orig. GC and had nothing good to say about his integrity- and, in fact, that this GC had recently gone belly-up. It's likely, as you stated, to have been due to bad workmanship. Seems to me that, with the monolithic nature of a Dryvit exterior, the mitigation of any water vapor is indeed critical. Cheers- Ken
*Thanks to everyone for the input. I tried to talk him into fixing the brick veneer, but no go.I did find him a good Sto/Drivit contactor.The rest is up to him.Ed.
*The stuff leaves people pointing their fingers at each other in the courtroom.
*Nathan,I tried to tell him that......Some people have their minds made up regardless of advice.Ed.
*that's a difficult thing, letting go of a preconception.
*The main theme that was drilled into my head when I signed up for a beginners course with a dryvit installer/instructor was FLASHING, FLASHING, FLASHING.If it's not flashed and caulked accordingly, it will leak in moisture and cause a lot of damage to a wood framed strucure. During this 8 hour intro course, 7 hours was spent going over how to properly flash every conceivable joint/junction.I wanted to learn plastering/floating techniques...they glossed over this...spent about 15 minutes total on how to apply the acrylic "quartputz" to the foam backer.I think it would be cheaper(?) and less destructive to have house stuccoed with cement based stucco rather than the EIFS.Tell your buddy that after the dryvit job is finished, you're gonna come over and poke holes in it using just a pencil. This is easy to do. Can't do that with brick.....I too think brick is best choice.Davo