Reason for banning Dryvit

[cdub]

Joe Schmo is not the one putting up Dryvit. Developers are. I guess it can be tied that we as consumers proliferate crappy construction by feeding the likes of Walmart and any other Big Box, but the fact is, developers will use the cheapest possible material allowed in order to maximize profits.

Are developments that go into more prominent locations that are required to clad their big box facade in brick struggling because of the extra investment? No, because the developer or corporation wants to be in certain areas at about any cost.

As for the common man and caring about the built environment, I truly doubt most people car that much, hence our current development expectations. This is where design guidelines and planning can come in and push for a better built environment in which people will become proud of. Is pushing a developer towards higher level's of quality wrong? To build something that might last, say, longer than commercial wastelands built in the 70's and 80's that could now be categorized at best as nuclear fallout zones?

Maybe we should let developers run rampant and do as they like, then maybe our society will wake up.

[permaplanjuneau]

Long before I had started my career in planning, I had a summer job as a laborer doing an exterior renovation project on my old high school. Much (but not all) of its exterior was Dryvit, and the south-facing (into the prevailing winds) walls were disentegrating from the inside out...students had poked hundreds, if not thousands, of holes in the Dryvit with pens, pencils, knives, sticks...just about anything will make a hole in Dryvit. The holes allowed water to pour into the walls, and the steel framing was rusting out. So we ripped off the Dryvit, ground out the spot welds to remove the rusted steel, and replaced the whole thing exactly as we had found it, sans holes and rust. That was in 1996.

We just finished a major renovation project on the school this year, and although many of the recent work was entirely new (new entrance, totally rebuilt commons, other interior changes), quite a bit of the work I did ten years ago had to be re-done again...and I believe that they did it with Dryvit again (I couldn't bear to look and find out for sure). Will we ever learn? I doubt it. Personally, I'd like to ban the use of the stuff because it sucks to work with, and doesn't last if exposed to the elements (not to mention kids with sharp objects). It seems like it would be in the public interest to prohibit its use in temerate climates, at the very least.

Perhaps the most telling statement regarding Dryvit comes from the project manager I worked for ten years ago: "I wouldn't use this stuff on my ex-wife's mother's house."

[craines]

Not only does it look ugly its the idea that inspires the concept that frightens me.

Out here in los angles they put stucco right over wood siding on two story victorian homes.

[cvanempel]

Since when is "not bad" good enough? I have observed that few buildings rate comments of good, attractive, graceful, beautiful, or well-designed anymore. Instead, these "A" grades have been replaced with C or D "not bad" buildings. Classic grade inflation.

OK, so the dryvit was well-applied and the color doesn't clash with the brick. It nevertheless has a negative effect on the building and the streetscape.

I don't know why or how Americans turned away from quality toward quantity and away from society toward self (and a quick buck), but these changes are affecting our society profoundly. This is merely one example.

[permaplanjuneau]

Since when is "not bad" good enough?...
I don't know why or how Americans turned away from quality toward quantity and away from society toward self (and a quick buck), but these changes are affecting our society profoundly.

I highly recommend reading James Howard Kunstler's The Geography of Nowhere for a reasonably detailed look at how this happened.

[Vlaude]

I think EIFS has its place... Just like most things and I tend to lean towards the property owners rights on similar issues. However, if EIFS are permitted, ESPECIALLY in a commercial setting, it is important to make sure they are installed correctly due to water infiltration. Second, it is very important the right grade is installed too. I have seen contractors use light grades to cover an entire building, when a heavier grade should always be used at lower levels where people, lawnmowers, cars, shopping carts, etc... can hit the exterior of the building. I think its quite common to see this issue. I drafted an ordinance a few years ago that addressed some of these issues. As far as the original building in the post, I don't care for the EIFS, but to each his own. I think EIFS in the right setting (especially new construction) can allow a builder to add architectural features it otherswise might not put in due to the cost... Just my 3 cents...