EIFS Installation Yonkers
EIFS installation in Yonkers, where the ground is rarely level. On a hillside lot the system starts at a different height on each elevation, and what happens below that line matters as much as what goes above it.
EIFS installation in Yonkers, where the ground is rarely level. On a hillside lot the system starts at a different height on each elevation, and what happens below that line matters as much as what goes above it.
Yonkers climbs from the Hudson, and almost nothing here sits on flat ground. That matters for insulated cladding more than people expect. The system has to stop clear of finished grade, and on a sloped lot finished grade is not one number. Uphill it may be at first floor level. Downhill there may be eight or ten feet of foundation wall standing in the open before the cladding can begin.
The other thing that decides it is which part of the city you are in. The brick multi-family through Getty Square and Ludlow runs five and six stories, which brings assembly fire requirements for foam insulation into play. The detached housing around Crestwood and Lawrence Park West is low enough that they do not apply. We work out which situation you are in before quoting, and we file with the city rather than with the county.
Four things, and the first one is why a Yonkers quote takes longer to put together than a flat site would.
On a hillside lot the finished ground line runs at a different height on every elevation. The base of the system follows it, which means four termination heights on one house rather than one.
On a Yonkers slope, whatever stands between grade and where the cladding starts is exposed foundation wall. That gets a parge coat rather than insulation board, because neither belongs at ground level.
The five and six story brick buildings through Getty Square and Ludlow sit above the point where assembly fire requirements restrict foam insulation. The two and three story housing around Crestwood does not. One city, two answers.
Hillside Yonkers lots are full of them and the question comes up often. EIFS is not an earth retaining or below grade system and it will fail quickly if used as one.
Before anything is priced we establish finished ground level on each elevation. On a Yonkers slope those numbers can differ by eight feet or more, and they set the whole scope.
On a Yonkers hillside the exposed foundation below the termination is treated separately, usually with a parge coat detailed to shed water rather than trap it. That work is priced as its own line rather than folded into the cladding.
Board, base coat and finish go on above the line, with the termination detailed so water leaving the system is not landing on the wall below it. On a slope that discharge point matters more than it does on flat ground.
The line between the insulated cladding above and the exposed foundation below is the part of a Yonkers job that gets underestimated. Above it you have a drained system that sheds water outward. Below it you have masonry sitting against soil, taking moisture from behind. They are different problems needing different materials, and the detail where they meet decides whether either of them lasts. A quote that treats the whole elevation as one surface has not looked at the slope.
The slope runs through the whole city, so this comes up everywhere from Ludlow and Nodine Hill up through Dunwoodie to Crestwood and Beech Hill.
See stucco contractor Yonkers for our other stucco work in the city, or EIFS installation NYC for the system specification and how the layers work.
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No. The board and the finish are not designed to sit against soil, and nothing below ground can drain or dry. Manufacturers require the system to stop clear of finished grade, which on a Yonkers slope means a different height on each elevation. Below it the wall needs a parge coat instead.
Yes, but the scope is different. On a sloped Yonkers lot the base of the system terminates at a different height on each elevation, following the ground rather than a single line. That means four termination details on one house and an exposed foundation wall below them that has to be treated separately.
Usually a cement parge coat, detailed so it can dry outward rather than sealed. On a Yonkers hillside that wall has soil on one side and weather on the other, so anything trapping moisture in it fails from behind. We price it as a separate scope.
It depends on height. The five and six story brick buildings through the south and west of the city sit above the point where assembly fire requirements restrict foam insulation, which usually rules it out. Lower buildings are straightforward. We measure before discussing materials.
No, and it is worth saying plainly. EIFS sits entirely above grade, so it does nothing for water arriving below ground. On a Yonkers slope a damp basement is a drainage and grading problem, and cladding the wall above it will not change what is happening underneath.
