Does anyone have any experience with stucco applications?

 

I have a stucco house that has several “bulges” at the lower part of the wall, just above where the stucco and parging meet. The bulge is not original and has cracks accompanying it. There doesn't appear to be moisture in the wall, since its early in the year and we have had no rain.

 

I do building envelope investigations and from past experience, these usually end up being deteriorating OSB behind the stucco.

 

In this case there are no abnormal moisture levels showing up on the moisture meter.

 

Has anyone found a way to check this type of defect? There must be about a 1”-1/12” airspace in this bulge.

 

What I want to know is if the stucco is separated from the substrate due to deterioration of the OSB via long term wet/dry moisture cycling or if this is simply settlement.

 

The owners do not want to do destructive testing, so I am curious if infrared is even a viable medium.

 

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Darrell Paul
Building Envelope Specialist - Wood Frame
Certified Energy Advisor
Certified Moisture Control Technician
Level I Thermographer
403-586-1950
www.qualistat.com

I use IR for stucco or effis scans all of the time, works great. I go twenty minutes to one hour after the sun has gone down or when the sun is not hitting the house any more and scan it.

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Jeremy Kays Reliability Technician
Level II IR, MCA / UE Level I, In Compliance with the ASNT guidelines
X-Ray Eyes
xrayeyesjl@hotmail.com
www.xrayeyesonline.com

Here is the Digital

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Jeremy Kays Reliability Technician
Level II IR, MCA / UE Level I, In Compliance with the ASNT guidelines
X-Ray Eyes
xrayeyesjl@hotmail.com
www.xrayeyesonline.com

THanks Jeremy,

Was the reference area wet or dry? In my case I am looking at a dry wall.

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Darrell Paul
Building Envelope Specialist - Wood Frame
Certified Energy Advisor
Certified Moisture Control Technician
Level I Thermographer
403-586-1950
www.qualistat.com

Hi Darrell

Off topic but any of your family from Glasgow Scotland?

 

Regards

 

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Rory Paul
Independent Level II Thermographer
Barak Systems
www.baraksystems.com

It had rained a couple days before I got there. The wall was dry that day. What you are seeing is the wet 2" foam board (insulation), this application is just like a flat roof inspection.

Regards

 

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Jeremy Kays Reliability Technician
Level II IR, MCA / UE Level I, In Compliance with the ASNT guidelines
X-Ray Eyes
xrayeyesjl@hotmail.com
www.xrayeyesonline.com

Jeremy,

There is a big difference between real stucco and EIFS.   Your picture is EIFS and infrared is a great tool for that.

Real Stucco is real masonry with a metal mesh behind it.  In a lot of cases there is lath behind the surface.

I haven't tried IR on it yet but I do think it would be harder.

 Regards

Al

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Al Kravitz
Roof Consultants, Inc.
alkrav@roofconsultantsinc.com
www.roofconsultantsinc.com

Al you are right. Stucco is a different set up and is a bit harder to get good results but still can be done. I know a lot of people that call EFFIS Stucco and don't know the difference. Thanks for pointing that out. I will see if I can dig up some stucco images. In both cases is it all ways good to wait for a day of rain and then let it dry a day and then go scan the structure. As with all moisture scans it can be very tricky and some times very time consuming.

Regards

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Jeremy Kays Reliability Technician
Level II IR, MCA / UE Level I, In Compliance with the ASNT guidelines
X-Ray Eyes
xrayeyesjl@hotmail.com
www.xrayeyesonline.com

Jeremy,

We should always tell others on this post that they should be very careful of what they are looking at.

If you don't know how the thing was built, don't scan it.

I don't do electrical, motors or who knows what, because I haven't been trained at them. 

Regards

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Al Kravitz
Roof Consultants, Inc.
alkrav@roofconsultantsinc.com
www.roofconsultantsinc.com

Sorry, not from Scotland

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Darrell Paul
Building Envelope Specialist - Wood Frame
Certified Energy Advisor
Certified Moisture Control Technician
Level I Thermographer
403-586-1950
www.qualistat.com

Just to clarify, I have done lots of conventional stucco that is in the drying process and it is possible to see the results. I am wondering about finding damaged sheathing behind the wall. I have read a white paper on it, but can't remember where, nor if it was scanned wet or dry. I am trying to think of a process to allow it and see if there is damaged OSB behind. There is currently a buldge which appears to indicate deterioration.

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Darrell Paul
Building Envelope Specialist - Wood Frame
Certified Energy Advisor
Certified Moisture Control Technician
Level I Thermographer
403-586-1950
www.qualistat.com

Stucco- images taken 3 hours after sunset. Who wants to point out the delaminations??

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Ron Predmesky
Director
IrResearcher
ron@irresearcher.com

If the structure is dry, I would say the dark areas are delaminations (dark indicating that it is cooler). If there is heating during the day the more dense or solid materials will retain heat longer and show lighter, while the delaminations will be less dense and cool quicker, showing as darker. ??? not sure.

 If the structure is damp or wet, I would almost say that the reverse would be true. The delaminations would retain more moisture and hence heat, showing up lighter.

 What is the correct interpretation and is this building wet or dry at 3 hours after sunset?

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Darrell Paul
Building Envelope Specialist - Wood Frame
Certified Energy Advisor
Certified Moisture Control Technician
Level I Thermographer
403-586-1950
www.qualistat.com

What is the outside temp in that picture?  Do you have a visual?

Jason Kaylor – JJ
VP of Specialty Products
877/207-1244
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Outside temp: 81  (daytime high was 94)  no rain in last 2 weeks.

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Ron Predmesky
Director
IrResearcher
ron@irresearcher.com