You don't see a lot of stucco around Denver, but if you payattention for it, you will find it, especially on condo and office buildings. Whilestucco can be a great siding chose, there are certain types of stucco that youneed to look out for. If you are condoshopping and end up buying in a building with the wrong type of stucco, youcould be looking at major work down the road for the building, something youprobably don't want any part of.
Lots of builders will use stucco because it is somewhataffordable, offers a nice, clean look and is fairly maintenance free. However, it is very labor intensive toinstall and will show cracking after a number of years that requires patching.As an alternative, in the 80's builders started using a synthetic stucco or œEIFSExterior Insulation Finish Systems. EIFS is an affordable alternative totraditional stucco because it does not require the skilled labor and can beapplied in a fraction of the time it takes to apply traditional stucco.
The problem with EIFS however is moisture. Moisture canenter behind the EIFS and get trapped. This can lead to severe mold problemsand eventually structural issues for the building. For this reason, EIFS istypically frowned upon and most qualified inspectors will warn against it. Agreat example of this is the Beuavallon Towers. To read more about the problemsthe EIFS caused to this building, click here.
With traditional stucco, you shouldn't have to worry aboutthese moisture problems down the line. Luckily, buildings with EIFS can be fixed to preventmoisture from getting in and more modern EIFS systems are installed with amoisture drainage system built in so this will never be a problem.
So how do you tell which is which? The easiest way to get anidea is to knock on it. If it sounds hollow, probably EIFS and if it soundssolid, probably stucco. But this is by no means a full proof way to know andwhy it is such a crucial step in the home buying process to hire a professionalinspector, even on a condo. By no means should you avoid buying in a buildingthat has stucco, just make sure you do your homework before so you know whatyou are getting into.
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