EIFS Topcoat

For a chronological listing of our building projects with ICF (or insulated concrete forms), be sure to look through the ICF Building Index. Can you believe it? The grey house is turning yellow! That is what happens when you apply the EIFS topcoat in a beeeeeuuuuutiful shade of yellow! You may be wondering if I am speaking in code with ICF and EIFS but it is really simple. ICF stands for insulated concrete forms that we built the house out of. They are like legos for adults that snap together and are then filled with rebar and concrete. Except that they are made from styrofoam. EIFS stands for exterior insulation finishing system which is a synthetic stucco and is applied in two parts, the EIFS basecoat (the concrete layer) and the EIFS topcoat which is the color coat. The EIFS topcoat comes in 5 gallon buckets and since the color was not mixed for us, two tubes of colorant are added to each bucket. The bucket contents are then stirred well and to insure uniformity, the contents poured from one bucket to another. Applying the EIFS topcoat is done with a trowel as you can see in the photos. It is like spreading icing on a cake except the cake is vertical. The topcoat has grit in it to give the stucco look. Once a section of wall is covered, another person comes along and does the texturing with swirls and what not. The key is to try to have a consistent texturing that says, "you're a pro!". Here are a few photos of the finished house. Oh, before I show you,  keep in mind that trim around each window will also be done with EIFS topcoat and will be a contrasting brown. That will make a HUGE difference in the finished appearance! So, here is the front - notice the red doors! The southeast side of the house. The back view from the patio. The carport and deck side of the house. I am so excited at the progress being made that I am ready to move upstairs... On second thought, maybe I'll wait for the kitchen, walls, bathrooms electricity and heating/AC!