Stone has been used as a building material since the Stone Age and, unlike that period, it will not be an extinct construction material anytime soon. While natural stone is used in all aspects of home construction such as exterior wall claddings, in the early 1960s, companies began manufacturing synthetic or “fake” stones that replicated natural stones. Advancements in technology throughout the years have created more authentic artificial stones that continue to replace natural stones for use as exterior wall claddings.

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When I receive calls to look at a "stucco" residence or commercial building, I always ask the clients, "Now, is it stucco or is it EIFS?" The answers I receive range from, "Umm… stucco, I think. What is EIFS?" to, "I'm not sure"
to, "EIFS - I know the difference buddy."  Nonetheless, many home or building owners cannot distinguish between EIFS (Exterior Insulation & Finish System - or also termed "synthetic stucco") and stucco. I have even seen a reported building envelope "expert" mistake a stucco system for EIFS!  By simply visually observing the building from a short distance, it can be extremely difficult to distinguish between the two systems. But fear not! Armed with some basic knowledge of the two systems, along with a couple of simple hands-on "tests" described in this article, the reader will (hopefully) be able to distinguish between the two systems with utmost ease and confidence.

This article is also published on Insurance-Canada.ca
view the EIFS article on Insurance-Canada.ca:
http://www.insurance-canada.ca/claims/canada/I-ENG-Siding312.php

While no one may truly know when stucco was first developed or installed, it is known that stucco type applications where applied as early as 5,000 years ago when the Egyptian's and Meso-American cultures utilized gypsum and lime mortars to surface the exterior stone or block faces of the pyramids. Exterior plaster/stucco applications and advancements in mix developments can also be dated back as far as the Greeks and Romans.