In the over 10 years I have been inspecting homes, I have seen many "creative" uses by homeowners for duct tape. The general theory seems to be, if a little is good an entire roll is better. Now "professionals" rarely rely on duct tape for finish work or repairs. The adhesive, crack filler and all around fixer upper for the contractor has to be caulk. Now don't get me wrong, caulk has many proper uses in construction and is necessary in the installation of many components, but the creative contractor mind often knows no bounds.
Or can be uneducated and misinform.
Take for example this front exterior wall of this newer home. The cladding here is EIFS (Exterior Insulation Finish System) or synthetic stucco. EIFS has an imperfect performance history. To understand the issue , you must understand the cladding.
EIFS is basically foam board insulation installed onto the exterior of the building, then the stucco finish is applied over the insulation. The original EIFS was applied directly to the wood sheathing. The problem was that when, not if, water got behind the cladding, it had no way out. Wood decay and mold were the ultimate result. The design of EIFS was changed to a drained system. Now when water gets behind the cladding it has a way out, and the wall assembly stays dry.
The manufacturers of EIFS have a library of detailed installation instructions explaining how this cladding is to be installed. The information is all readily and easily accessible from the companies web site. One of pages deals with roof to siding seams, like we see in the first photo. This seam can be said to be universal as to its installation and finish detail. No matter what the exterior finish, a gap should be left between the roof and cladding. In this particular instance a two inch gap is specified.
A close up of the seam shows no such gap exists, instead the conscientious contractor has gone the extra step and caulked the opening...with white caulk. What he has done is not mentioned in those manufacturers instructions. The reason for the caulk being left out of this detail is it prevents the wall from draining.
Sometimes I think when a guy with a caulk gun sees a gap, he thinks he must fill it.
James Quarello
Connecticut Home Inspector
Former SNEC-ASHI President
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC
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