EIFS repair · Commercial, Arizona
Commercial EIFS Repair
EIFS is not stucco, and patching it like stucco is why so many of these walls fail twice. We repair the system with the system.
The problem
Most damaged EIFS we get called to has been patched already. Usually with cement, by a crew that thought it was stucco.
Cement does not bond to an acrylic finish and it does not flex the way the wall around it does. The patch cracks at its own edge, water follows the line in, and now you have two problems on one wall.
We repair EIFS with EIFS materials, in the order the system wants. Base coat, mesh, finish, sealant. The patch behaves like the wall it sits in.
- Common on
- Retail, office, multi-family, tenant suites
- Usual causes
- Impact, failed sealant, water from above
- Repaired with
- Base coat, mesh, acrylic finish, sealant
- License
- ROC #356836, commercial-rated
Our fix
How we repair an EIFS wall
- 01
Work out what is actually there
Knuckle test, a look at the trim joints, and a cut where we need one. We confirm the system before we price the job, not after.
- 02
Find where the water came in
Damage almost never starts where you see it. A failed sealant joint, a leaking scupper or a parapet cap can feed a wall two floors down.
- 03
Cut back to material that is holding
We take the damaged area back to a square edge on sound board and sound base coat. Anything soft or loose comes out. Patching over it just moves the failure.
- 04
Rebuild the layers in order
New board goes in where the board is gone. Then base coat, with the mesh set in wet and lapped onto the old mesh so the two tie together.
- 05
Finish out to a natural line
We match the texture, then carry the finish to a joint, a corner or a change of plane. A patch that stops in open wall always shows.
- 06
Re-seal the joints around it
The sealant that let the water in gets replaced. Skip this and the new patch fails the same way the old wall did.
When a section gets replaced instead
Sometimes a patch is the wrong answer and we will say so. Three things tip it.
The first is size. When the hollow area runs wider than the sound wall around it, you are no longer patching. You are rebuilding in pieces, and rebuilding the section outright is cheaper and better.
The second is wet board. Once the layer behind the finish has held water for a season it does not dry out and go back to normal. It comes out.
The third is the pattern. Damage in one spot is an event. The same damage repeating along an elevation is a detail problem up top, and we fix that before we touch the face.
Other repairs
Seeing more than one of these?
- Water Damage RepairMonsoon and leak damage traced to its source, then rebuilt from the weather barrier out.
- Stucco Hole RepairImpact holes, old satellite mounts, and removed fixtures, patched back to a flat wall.
- Stucco InspectionA walk of every elevation before you buy, sell, or spend on repairs you may not need.
Questions
What homeowners ask us
Send us a photo of the wall and we'll tell you what we're looking at before anyone drives out.
Please do not. Cement or filler over an acrylic finish will not bond, and it cannot move with the wall. That patch opens at its own edge and lets water straight in.
Full services
The bigger jobs behind this repair
Keep reading
The guides behind this work
- What EIFS Actually IsThe commercial wall system explained, plus the two things people wrongly believe about it.
- EIFS or Traditional Stucco?A straight comparison for an owner or GC picking a wall system, and what we recommend when.
- EIFS Finishes, Colors and TexturesThe finish coat choices, how the color works, and what it takes to match a wall the sun has aged.
Ready when you are
Let's finish your exterior right.
New custom build, a full re-stucco, or a repair that needs to disappear into the wall? Send your plans or your address and get a straight, no-pressure bid.
Family-owned · Licensed & insured · Arizona ROC #356836 · Serving all of Arizona