The Plague of EIFS

[thecharioteer]

they have got to be kidding. this stuff is SUCH a menace. sadly, the companies hawking it are as relentless as zebra mussels, and about as welcome to anyone with taste.

Not that I like it but surely they are only part-way through this process. To date they seem only to have put the Styrofoam on the edges and I assume will soon fill in the middle and cover it with cheap stucco. (Though I hate the look and it won't last, it DOES actually offer a way to insulate buildings from the outside. )

One has to remember that one of the prime motivators in this whole phenomena is wall failure (water penetration, not structural), as can be seen in the pic I posted of 101 Roehampton. The Tower Renewal Programme tried to address this (among other things), but there still needs to be some effort put forward by the design industry that can be both appealing aesthetically and affordable to apartment building owners. A task for the OAA, RAIC or Toronto Society of Architects?

 

[salsa]

This is hands down the worst addition I have ever seen on a bungalow. Pictures don't do it justice. I hope the owner is happy with this tasteless mutation.

A better fate for that bungalow would have been to simply tear it down and build a new house, like this next one...

Or better yet, stop being greedy for more space and blighting the neighbourhood with these oversized monstrosities.

 

[salsa]

I wonder how many millions did people pay to live in these ugly townhouses. This is at Bayview and Sheppard.

 

[UrbanFervour]

OMG priceless. TG they're in a per of the city nobody ever goes to anyway.

 

[AlbertHWagstaff]

This is hands down the worst addition I have ever seen on a bungalow. Pictures don't do it justice. I hope the owner is happy with this tasteless mutation.

Not as bad as the one above, but this one is pretty egregious as well. Third Line, south of the QEW in Oakville. Most of these bungalows have soft pink or light brown brick with the 1950s accent bricks, but these people went all in on the EIFS.

 

[salsa]

Queen St E, in Leslieville.

Here's a 2007 streetview of what the building used to look like.

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

There's a few other examples further east in Leslieville on Knox south of Queen

and when I was up seeing that local brewery that has the NIMBYs up in arms I saw this lovely on Ivy Avenue

 

[adma]

Actually, if that's EIFS, that's *good* EIFS (even the 46 Ivy)

 

[greenleaf]

This google maps photo only shows part of the renovation. They have moved further along with railings and other details. I didn't have my camera, but if someone is nearby they should really go take a picture of this. There are an indescribable number of things happening here. It is truly a sight to behold:

House reno on Major St, north of Harbord

 

[christiesplits]

One for the wall of shame, just off Clinton in Seaton Village. This is worthy of a city complaint.

 

[adma]

Then there's the reno of the Rohan house on Coxwell (read about it recently; forgot where)

 

[christiesplits]

How difficult is to remove EIFS? Does it damage the original exterior and how much manpower is required?

 

[Skeezix]

How difficult is to remove EIFS? Does it damage the original exterior and how much manpower is required?

I often ask myself that exact question when I see homeowners who, instead of restoring nice old brick facades, cover their house in the tackiest EIFS possible (not even modernist in design, but often meant to mimic classic Toronto architecture from an era when they typically built nice houses with BRICKS).

 

[greenleaf]

This google maps photo only shows part of the renovation. They have moved further along with railings and other details. I didn't have my camera, but if someone is nearby they should really go take a picture of this. There are an indescribable number of things happening here. It is truly a sight to behold:

House reno on Major St, north of Harbord

Here we go: 210 Major

 

[AlbertHWagstaff]

Here we go: 210 Major

"lovingly rebuilt" ... barf.