ISSN: 0090-3973
Page Count: 12

Water Management and Moisture Transport in Direct-Applied and EIFS Wall Assemblies

Tonyan, TD
Program manager,Architectural Systems Laboratory, USG Research,IL,

Moyer, KW
Program manager,Industrial & Building Plasters Laboratory, USG Research,IL,

Brown, WC
Senior research officer,Building Performance Laboratory, National Research Council,Ontario,

(Received 19 August 1997; accepted 3 March 1999)

Abstract

An experimental program has been completed investigating water management and moisture transport in direct-applied finish system (DEFS) and exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS) wall assemblies. The first objective of the study was to understand and quantify drainage through water-managed DEFS and EIFS. A second objective was to understand moisture transport through the wall cladding under a variety of climatic conditions. A third objective was to better understand the role of the sheathing membrane on the moisture transport characteristics of the system. A drainage test has been developed, and a variety of water-managed DEFS and EIFS wall assemblies have been tested. Also, DEFS and EIFS wall assemblies have been tested in an environmental chamber using five different sets of climatic conditions to create a vapor drive through the wall. Results from the drainage and environmental chamber testing are presented, along with an evaluation of sheathing membranes with different performance characteristics.

Keywords:
direct-applied exterior finish system (DEFS), drainage, exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS), moisture content, rainscreen, sheathing membrane, wall cladding, water managed, vapor drive, vapor permeance

Paper ID: JTE12064J
DOI: 10.1520/JTE12064J
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