EIFS stands for Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems. The product is also called synthetic stucco, and refers to a multi-layered exterior finish that's been used on both commercial buildings and homes. They provide superior energy efficiency and offer much greater design flexibility than other cladding products.

EIFS in North America

North American builders began using EIFS in the 1980's, first in commercial buildings, then applying it as an exterior finish to residences using the same techniques that had been successful in Europe. Today, EIFS account for a very large portion of the Canadian commercial and residential exterior wall markets. EIFS typically consist of the following components:

Insulation board, made of polystyrene or polyisocyanurate foam, which is secured to the exterior wall surface with a specially formulated adhesive and/or mechanical attachment.

A durable, water-resistant base coat, which is applied on top of the insulation and reinforced with fiber glass mesh for added strength.

An attractive and durable finish coat (typically using acrylic co-polymer technology) which is both colour fast and crack-resistant.

Benefits of EIFS

The growing popularity of EIFS is due to the fact that few, if any, competitive materials offer such a wide range of desirable product benefits. Chief among these are superior energy efficiency and virtually unlimited design flexibility.

Energy Efficiency

If you've ever felt the comfort of being wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold winter night, you have some idea of what EIFS can do for a home or building.
EIFS literally wrap the exterior in an energy-efficient thermal blanket. By insulating outside the structure, EIFS reduce air infiltration, stabilize the interior environment and reduce energy consumption.
By contrast, traditional "between-the-studs" insulation, no matter how thick, leaves "thermal breaks" — gaps where heat and cold pass more freely between the outdoors and the space within — at studs, wall outlets, wall joints, and elsewhere.
In fact, EIFS can reduce air infiltration by as much as 55% compared to standard brick or wood construction. And since walls are one of the greatest areas of heat and air conditioning loss, improvement in the wall insulation can be very meaningful in terms of energy conservation.
What's more, EIFS add to the "R-value" of a home or building. (R-value is a measurement of the resistance to heat flow; the higher the R-value, the better the material's insulating value.) Most EIFS use insulation board with an R-value of R-4 to R-5.6 per inch as the innermost layer in the wall system. When combined with standard wall cavity insulation, this extra layer can boost wall insulation from R-11 to R-16 or more. Another point to keep in mind on new construction: Due to the energy efficiency of EIFS, it may be possible to specify lower-capacity heating and air conditioning equipment without sacrificing anything in terms of interior comfort.

Design Flexibility

The rich appearance of EIFS bears a resemblance to stucco or stone, but the systems are far more versatile than these and other materials. Not only do EIFS come in virtually limitless colours and a wide variety of textures, but they also can be fashioned into virtually any shape or design.
With EIFS, skilled applicators can create all sorts of exterior architectural detailing that would often be cost-prohibitive using conventional construction — cornices, arches, columns, keystones, cornerstones, special mouldings and decorative accents are but a few examples.
Most of this detailing is computer-generated. The designs are precision-cut out of insulation board, attached to the substrate or wall, then covered with the EIFS base coat, mesh and finish coat.
Using this ingenious process, EIFS applicators can give a striking, distinctive appearance to any building or residence.

There are three layers to EIFS

-Inner Layer Foam insulation board that's secured to the exterior wall surface, often with adhesive.

-Middle Layer A polymer and cement base coat that's applied to the top of the insulation, then reinforced with glass fibber mesh.

-Exterior Layer A textured finish coat.

Builders and homeowners like EIFS for the versatility they offer. They can be shaped to form seamless architectural features like windows sills and curved walls, and the finish layer can be textured with anything from a dimpled to a pebbled surface in almost any shade. And, like old stucco, it can be painted or recoated as your tastes change.

Plastotherm EIF System

The Plastotherm EIF System is similar to Plastonite in that it is a hard coat system using extruded polystyrene insulation.  The key difference between Plastonite and Plastotherm is that the first base coat layer of Plastotherm is 6 mm (1/4) thick and it is reinforced with diamond metal lath, instead of the 3 mm (1/8) thick first base coat with fibreglass mesh used in Plastonite. 

In addition, the Plastotherm base coat contains chopped glass fibre strands that are dispersed throughout the 6 mm (1/4) PMF base coat.  This initial base coat is much like a standard stucco wall, except that the base coat is a flexible and durable, polymer based formulation that also contains glass fibre strands for additional reinforcing and flexibility. 

After application of the first base coat layer, a second base coat layer is applied to prevent minor surface cracking.  The second base coat layer consists of polymer based 3 mm (1/8) PMF base coat with standard reinforcing mesh.  The extra reinforcement provides the finished base coat with superior impact resistance and superior crack control.

Stucco Works Canada installs stucco and moulding from the best product manufactures to assure our clients with highest  standards for all interior and exterior stucco restoring, building plastering, moulding and painting needs.

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