EIFS Systems…Important Things to Know as a WCO!

By Gerrod Walker | August 7, 2024

Importance of Understanding EIFS Systems

Bird damage to EIFS systems is common!

Exterior Insulation & Finishing Systems – EIFS

EIFS stands for Exterior Insulation Finishing Systems. Animals such as birds and squirrels can cause a tremendous amount of damage to these systems due to their fragile nature. 

These systems are two benefits wrapped up in a single package. They offer insulating as well as an exterior coating. They can be applied over almost any type of existing exterior.

Learn to identify when you are dealing with an EIFS system!
One example of an EIFS system

These systems are highly susceptible to bird and animal damage. They are fragile systems that, once animals know they can get into them, it becomes difficult to keep them from continuing to damage the systems. 

Wildlife control operators (WCOs) are very likely to get calls to resolve these issues and then asked to repair them. 

Pictured here is several different versions of EIFS coatings that are common with these systems. They appear, at first glance, exactly like traditional hard coat stucco systems. Some even have an appearance similar to formed concrete.

These systems, once penetrated, are very prone to water damage and mold growth, especially the earlier versions of these systems. 

Some of these systems are designed with special exterior coatings that allow water vapor to pass through the exterior coating and exit the system. This makes it extremely important to use sealants and paints that are compatible with the system. 

Water that enters the system (say through a bird damaged hole) can accumulate within the system and cause severe mold and mildew issues as seen here that would then require professional remediation and damage restoration services. Health effects to occupants and even causing the structure to be deemed unsafe to occupy!

Say you have a client that calls with bird damage. You show up and see several holes in the EIFS system and birds actively using them. You remove the birds and now your client wants the holes repaired. 

Doing so can lead to increased liability for you and your company because these systems may have already had water get inside and the last person to work on the home, was you! Naturally, your client may have thought that you were one hundred percent to blame! Follow these simple steps:

  1. Educate yourself on how to ID and properly these systems.
  2. Educate your client on the susceptibility of some of these systems (and the fact that water could have already gotten in before you ever arrived on the scene). 
  3. Use written service agreements that spell everything out clearly.
  4. Use the proper repair techniques and the correct sealants & paints or refer the client to a qualified repair service.

Become familiar with these systems and obtain further training to know which sealants to use, and which sealants to avoid using. 

National Wildlife Control Consulting & Staffing has created a training course that discusses EIFS systems in further detail. Our “Sealants & Application Techniques for WCOs & PCOs” teaches all about how to properly apply sealants and ways to use sealants to create new ways of repairing and excluding animals as well as how you can make your repairs look fantastic and last a very long time!  Check it out at: http://www.nwcotraining.com

Need help creating service agreements that will both help you communicate clearly with your clients and protect you and your company? Reach out to our consultants and legal partners at: http://www.nwcoconsulting.com

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