The Dreaded Stucco Saga

One of our concerns when making the decision on purchasing the home at 211 Hunt Road, was the exterior cladding in EIFS — short for “Exterior Insulation and Finish System” — a faux stucco material manufactured by Dryvit that is known to be problematic if improperly applied and has been the subject of much litigation.  How bad is EIFS?  So bad that, according to this online forum for contractors, people can’t even get homeowner’s insurance now for a house that has it installed.  "Is Dryvit dead???" one of them asks.  And another responds:  "Dryvit has been plagued by water penetration issues. It is very rare that the installer detailed the flashing properly so it's not uncommon to find moldy, rotten walls lurking under the surface.”  

Yep, true enough — and that’s exactly what happened to us.  And every bit of evidence we uncovered suggested strongly that the sellers knew it and covered it up, that our so-called real estate agent knew it and helped them, and multiple contractors knew it…. The only ones that didn’t know it was us.  

Failed fake stucco looks like this, when it's not being hidden.  (Representative photo.)

And it leads to structural rot that looks like this.  THIS IS AN ACTUAL PICTURE OF THE ROT WE BOUGHT.
Cleverly hidden by Mark and Robin Exler, the sellers,
along with (in our educated opinion) the assistance of "our" real estate agent,
Roslyn Neiman of Howard Hanna Real Estate.

Here's some more mold and rot we didn't want but got.

If you're considering a house whose siding consists of artificial stucco of any kind, please be careful, and don't let anyone talk you out of it when you raise objections -- that's what happened to us.  And despite what Roz and the sellers said, EIFS is in fact NOT "really good exterior siding."  In a word, it sucks.  

Here’s a recap of how we got snookered into buying a house with failed EIFS siding atop the (cleverly concealed) rotten, moldy walls underneath.

June 23, EIFS inspection performed by Scott Brown of HouseMaster at buyer’s expense. 

Roz, our so-called advocate and agent, promises to stop by to make sure things are going okay for us, since we can't be there ourselves.  She does, and reports to us that "all is well."  What she doesn't tell us is that, while she was there, she actually instructed our inspector to stop performing standard tests to evaluate potential moisture problems, the soundness of the siding and the substrate underneath.  We would only learn this months later, after we were already stuck with the lousy stucco and a moldy rotting house.

Later that same day, Mark Exler phones HouseMaster rudely and obnoxiously demanding a copy of the inspection report that has not yet been prepared, and is not his property in any event.  He yells, screams, berates and hangs up on Kim, the receptionist, accusing her of incompetence and impropriety (his logic evidently being that since the inspected house was his, so was a report prepared at someone else’s expense.)  In retrospect, it seems very clear to us that Exler was trying to control for anything that might expose his lying and fraud, trying to get to any potential damaging information before we did.  Of course, what we believe to be the collusion between the Exlers and Roz Neiman kept any such truth from being included in the report -- because they prevented the tests from being performed!

June 24 – EIFS inspection report is issued. The buyers contact Moisture Warranty Corporation (MWC) to request an accelerated estimate of repair costs. Beyond speaking to George Kalanish, Mark Exler’s “stucco guy”, who is not certified by MWC to perform the necessary repairs, Exler apparently does nothing in furtherance of his obligation of “procure” the warranty for which Lorri and Lisa had agreed to pay after he reneged on his promise to pay for and procure it as an inducement to the offer.

June 21-24 - In a discussion of stucco warranty issues, Roz reminds Lorri and Lisa that Mark has applied new stucco to “almost all” of the EIFS areas of the home, except for “one small corner.” She noted in passing that Mark had recently mentioned something about replacing “quite a bit” of wood framing due to water damage beneath he EIFS, but the problem had been fully redressed. 

Neither this damage nor its repair is included on the seller disclosure form, nor had Lorri and Lisa heard anything about any wood rot until after they had signed on the dotted line. In a burst of rapid-fire speech, Roz utters the words “new addition” and “older” parts of the house, the implications of which did not fully register as Lorri and Lisa were furiously packing for their move. Nothing else was said on the subject until July 2, when they asked Roz if there was an addition to the house. She replied she did not know, but could find out. She followed up by saying she asked Mark Exler, but he did not know either. That was the last they heard on the subject.

June 26 - George Kalanish contacts Scott Brown, EIFS inspector, to discuss repairs necessary to secure the home warranty. During the conversation, it becomes apparent that George expects he will be making the repairs himself, despite the fact he is not certified by MWC. He expresses nothing but disdain for these "newfangled" application methods, explaining that he has been doing this for 30 years, knows the house, and knows best what is required. Scott explains this is not in keeping with the warranty. Underwriters require repairs be done according to very precise specifications.  Scott asks George to hold off doing any work until the issue is addressed by the buyers in consultation with MWC.

July 8 - Mark Exler states that George will be arriving the next morning at 8 am to do his part of the stucco estimate. Lorri and Lisa arrange for a representative of MWC to speak with him about it that afternoon.  However, on July 9, Lorri walks to the garage to hear George shouting at Mark.  George declines to proceed with the estimate and angrily drives away.

July 12 - Mark Exler retreats from negotiations and his lawyer (a fellow with questionable ethical values, in our opinion) Jonathan Kamin looks for a compromise by which Exler would allot $18K for stucco repairs. No estimate for stucco repairs has been forthcoming. George has contacted the stucco warranty company, but allows he has never heard of the materials, has no knowledge of the method of installation, or the water drainage devices (sill pans or drain pans) that the warranty company expects to be placed under the windows of the home before a warranty can be issued.

August 12 - Architect Todd Swann and partner Stuart, visited to determine best way to proceed in an efficient and cost effective manner. Stuart immediately notes problems with EIFS installation, referring to the application around the front door as “a bad advertisement” for the material.

Scott Brown performs follow-up EIFS inspection and shares information with Lorri and Lisa, and this information knocks them off their feet. He reports a call from Exler prior to closing wherein he was treated to a stream of invective regarding his stucco report. He reports a conversation with George Kalanish earlier in the summer in which George said Exler had only done a portion of the repairs needed and had never paid him for repairs done several years prior. Scott has considerable respect for George, stating he has been around this business long enough to know he has to protect himself first (from a client like Exler). They also learn for the first time that Exler forbade Scott Brown from entering the home at any point during his inspection, and that Roslyn Neiman -- our ever so (very not) helpful "agent" -- participated in keeping the inspector out of the house on the day of the so-called inspection. 

August 24 - During a conversation with George Kalanish, he shared he had done extensive repairs to the EIFS 6-7 years ago as it had been "improperly installed." Repairs took two months, he said, and he didn’t do everything required because Exler didn’t want to pay for it.  When Lisa refers to concealed damage in the house, George states, “Exler bought the house damaged” (and notes that damage was also supposedly concealed from him). After admitting he was not allowed to talk to “you people”, and being asked why, he stated “it had something to do with the real estate people.” 

August 29 - George Kalanish fails to show up for our 12 pm appointment to discuss prior stucco repairs. 

The cover-up continues.  Hey, thanks Roz!