EIFS over top aluminum siding on a house?

[celticchrys]

I'm new to the forum, so I apologize in advance if this question is in the wrong place.

Intrigued by a local real estate listing, I stopped and walked around the exterior of a house yesterday that has strange siding. After some research, it appears that it is EIFS. There's the thick foam board with plastic mesh and sprayed-on stucco-like finish. Reading here and elsewhere, I see that can be very bad. The thing is that it looks like this EIFS was installed right on top of older aluminum siding. To be more clear, it looks like there is aluminum siding, and the foam board was stuck directly onto the siding. There is a spot where the old elctrical box was removed at some time in the past, and now there's just aluminum siding in that spot because someone had installed the EIFS around it, not behind it. Would the siding underneath protect the house from the usual problems associated with EIFS?

Thanks to other posts on this forum, I certainly know what to look for as the big red flag problem on this house - potential leaking and rotting! I wanted to ask though, have you ever seen it installed onto aluminum siding like this, and was it a disaster? I do plan to go back for a properly scheduled viewing, so that I can see the interior.

I appreciate any feedback or experiences anyone shares on this oddball situation.

[Marc]

It's a lousy idea to use an existing cladding as a substrate to attach EPS foam board. The manufacturer would likely void the warranty for one thing. Then there are structural integrity considerations since EIFS is a cladding system that relies on the substrate to transfer wind loads back to the building structure. Variations in the plane of the aluminum might telegraph through the EPS causing aesthetic issues. Most importantly, that aluminum will still affect the overall performance of the wall in ways not entirely predictable and might result in issues such as condensation within the wall. Are you able to determine if there's a drainage plane behind the EPS foam?

Marc

[Bill Kibbel]

It's a lousy idea to use an existing cladding as a substrate to attach EPS foam board. The manufacturer would likely void the warranty for one thing. Then there are structural integrity considerations since EIFS is a cladding system that relies on the substrate to transfer wind loads back to the building structure. Variations in the plane of the aluminum might telegraph through the EPS causing aesthetic issues. Most importantly, that aluminum will still affect the overall performance of the wall in ways not entirely predictable and might result in issues such as condensation within the wall.

Lemme translate. If someone doesn't like the smell of cowshit, covering it with pigshit will just make it worse.

[Terence McCann]

It's a lousy idea to use an existing cladding as a substrate to attach EPS foam board. The manufacturer would likely void the warranty for one thing. Then there are structural integrity considerations since EIFS is a cladding system that relies on the substrate to transfer wind loads back to the building structure. Variations in the plane of the aluminum might telegraph through the EPS causing aesthetic issues. Most importantly, that aluminum will still affect the overall performance of the wall in ways not entirely predictable and might result in issues such as condensation within the wall.

Lemme translate. If someone doesn't like the smell of cowshit, covering it with pigshit will just make it worse.

[:-party]

[Ben H]

It's a lousy idea to use an existing cladding as a substrate to attach EPS foam board. The manufacturer would likely void the warranty for one thing. Then there are structural integrity considerations since EIFS is a cladding system that relies on the substrate to transfer wind loads back to the building structure. Variations in the plane of the aluminum might telegraph through the EPS causing aesthetic issues. Most importantly, that aluminum will still affect the overall performance of the wall in ways not entirely predictable and might result in issues such as condensation within the wall.

Lemme translate. If someone doesn't like the smell of cowshit, covering it with pigshit will just make it worse.

Best thing I've read all month.

[charlieb]

Classic TIJ

[Tom Raymond]

Thanks Bill, I just spit coffee all over my laptop.

[allseason]

That's only because the chicken s--t won't stick.