Stucco & EIFS Inspection Training Course

This online student discussion thread is dedicated to students who are currently enrolled in InterNACHI’s free, online “Advanced Stucco & EIFS Inspection Training for Home Inspectors” course.

Students may pose questions, discuss topics with other students, post images, and write essays. This thread will be monitored by the instructor.

Need assistance? Ben Gromicko ben@internachi.org

As part of this course and the course for roof inspection I visually inspected my stucco home. We had the home built 8 yrs ago, here in central Florida and I found that there is no kick out flashing. The is no stains apparent but inside the home on one of the walls I see evidence that the dry wall nails appear to beginning to protrude and they appear to be roofing nails. Is this being caused by having no kick out flashing? I want to contact a building inspector to verify that kick out flashing was required 8 yrs ago and then the builder. I believe the house has a 10 yr warranty but I need to confirm. I look forward to others thoughts and comments. Since I don’t see any activity I hope to here from you Ben. By the way your courses are great. Thanks. You can email me at smaclean2006@yahoo.com. I’m not sure I’ll be notified if someone responds.
Scott

Hi all,

This has been a great learning curriculum. Provided for observation is a dwelling built in 2004 with exterior cladding consisting of stucco, brick and vinyl on the upper level. Focus of attention for this course is the stucco cladding. It appears to be a DEFS application. Cement board was observed through the electrical outlet on the lower level. Also on the upper level the dormers have a decorative plant on feature.

Wesley Wilson
Delta Home Inspections, LLC
wwilson@deltahomeinspections.com

Inspecting homes that are in a historical district with many representing stucco cladding, it was revealing after reading the article “The Preservation and Repair of Historic Stucco” to learn the composition of stucco, lime or Portland based and remedies to restore or repair damaged or stained stucco. This will remain an asset with evaluating homes with stucco cladding.

Wesley Wilson
Delta Home Inspections, LLC

1 Like

Chicago chapter Had a nice class on this last night

Hello Everyone,

I inspected a home that is currently under major renovations. It is a standard three coat stucco system as can be seen on the deficiencies.It has numerous cracks and areas that need to be patched.
In your opinion do you think this is repairable or should the stucco be re-applied?

Regards,
Gerald de Kok

As part of the stucco and EIFS inspection course I have visually inspected a home currently under construction.
For this report the front is considered facing south.
The home has a three coat conventional stucco application. The following deficiencies are noted.

  1. There are new windows installed on the west and east side which require drip flashing and properly lapped building paper. Stucco is missing around the windows and in patched or closed up windows.
  2. Observed corners cracked
  3. Observed cracks in stucco at rim joist and no termination flashing.
  4. Numerous cracks throughout the home.
  5. Caulk at windows and doors missing
  6. No exterior cladding under the deck. Paper is visible. No metal flashing installed.
    This stucco requires further investigation for moisture intrusion by a certified stucco inspector.

Regards,
Gerald de Kok

Reading about the “Preservation and repair of historic stucco” has made me realize the historical significance of stucco. This will be a definite asset for me while inspecting such homes.

Gerald

Gerald.dekok@gmail.com

As stipulated in the coarse curriculum this provides an exterior home inspection.

This photo is of a house built it 2007 which has been clad with a Hard Coat Stucco system. There are some items which were cause for concern. One being that the stucco is installed tight to the jambs and sills of all the windows and there was no space between the stucco and the flashings above the windows and doors.

This course has definitely been a great learning experience. I have a broad background in the construction industry but have never had the opportunity to break down the different types of Stucco installations. Great course. Thank you.

This stucco appears to be a traditional hard coat system. The picture indicates two areas of concern. The flashing where the steel roof meets the vertical wall should have a kick-out flashing at the bottom where it feeds into the gutter. Also note that the cap flashing on the parapet wall appears to let water into the system where it intersects an adjoining vertical wall surface.

tuck your raincoat in your waders and see how dry you stay

general report template either sux or needs work

what about weep screed and deck flashings

fyi: properly installed flashing won’t allow water entry
absent wall materials, flashings and deficiencies in the wrb application will

i’m not beating y’all up
just want you to be aware there is more to “certification” than just taking a course
i’d advise all readers that aren’t 3rd party certified beyond nachi to recommend and adopt the verbiage or similar as many other inspectors in my market have that refer me to their clients and agents…ymmv

"A Certified EIFS/Stucco Inspection is a specialized inspection, is advised and beyond the scope of a general property inspection.

The subject property is clad with either a Stucco or Exterior Insulation and Finishing System (EIFS). Due to the nature of these systems persons specialized and that have the necessary tools required to perform proper inspection is advised and beyond the scope of a general property inspection.

I/We strongly advise having this specialized inspection performed prior to the end of your inspection contingency options.”

You may be able to locate a Certified Inspector through one of these two organizations:

EDI http://www.exterior-design-inst.com/members.html

AWCI http://www.awci.org/pros.pl?type=inspector

Further information about Stucco and EIFS can be found at this link:

tuck your raincoat in your waders and see how dry you stay

general report template either sux or needs work

what about weep screed and deck flashings

fyi: properly installed flashing won’t allow water entry
absent wall materials, flashings and deficiencies in the wrb application will

i’m not beating y’all up just highlighting the obvious & just want you to be aware there is more to “certification” than just taking a course
i’d advise all readers that aren’t 3rd party certified beyond nachi to recommend and adopt the verbiage or similar as many other inspectors in my market have that refer me to their clients and agents…ymmv

"The subject property is clad with either a Stucco or Exterior Insulation and Finishing System (EIFS). Due to the nature of these systems persons specialized and that have the necessary tools required to perform proper inspection is advised and beyond the scope of a general property inspection.

A Certified EIFS/Stucco Inspection is a specialized inspection, is advised and beyond the scope of a general property inspection.

I/We strongly advise having this specialized inspection performed prior to the end of your inspection contingency options.”

You may be able to locate a Certified Inspector through one of these two organizations:

EDI http://www.exterior-design-inst.com/members.html

AWCI http://www.awci.org/pros.pl?type=inspector

Further information about Stucco and EIFS can be found at this link:

Thanks Badair for your input. I believe there are plenty of liability-limiting clauses inserted throughout 1) my initial contract with my customers and 2) written into the documents built into my inspection template.
Enough? That is your opinion against mine. You can riddle your inspection reports with enough weasel clauses to make it worthless in the minds of most. CYA to your comfort level (don’t get me wrong, I’m not dismissing your advice - I do appreciate it), but when I have a high level of confidence in what I’m inspecting, I lighten up on the Weasel clauses. Less confidence? More disclaimers.

I inspected a modern style stucco sided home in a booming neighborhood of Denver. About half the houses on the block were brick bungalows and duplexes from the 20’s and the other half were scrape-off infill projects. The home was built twelve years ago and was showing its first signs of wear and tear. I was relieved to find that it was a traditional hard surface stucco and that there was pretty good attention to detail around the doors and windows. No MD EICF to deal with, but some minor cracks and weathering issues around the bottoms of door jambs. I noted some common flashing issues that I’ve seen on homes of every type of construction, and was comfortable with recommending sealing with 35 year poly/latex clear caulk along with other paint prep techniques before their anticipated paint job this spring.
Great InterNACHI educational program to increase the knowledge base that us Generalists have of all aspects of home construction.
Thanks Ronald Huffman, Ben Gromicko, and all the rest who put the time and energy into creating this course.

The “Preservation and repair of historic stucco” article was a good perspective on the historical significance of stucco. It will help establish rapport with any future clients who have stucco homes (whether they are historic or modern). Demonstrating competence, knowledge and interest in a customer’s home is key to gaining their confidence and help them realize the value of my service.

stucco.jpg

Here is a photo of what appears to be an MD EIFS on a school in my town. I found the presence of weep track underneath as well as a hollow sound when tapped on. The coating was also flexible under hand pressure.

I chose the article titled “Water Damage & EIFS” for additional reading. It was interesting to learn of a method of further inspection of EIFS by inserting a probe through the wall into the substrate/frame area to determine moisture content.