Oregon State May Ban Use Of So-Called Synthetic Stucco
Salem Republican Jackie Winters rose to speak on the Senate floor recently to propose banning the use of synthetic stucco on Oregon homes.
Winters said she was acting on behalf of Salem constituents plagued by a mold outbreak, which they blamed on water leakage caused by defective stucco.
An 11-year-old girl developed a brain tumor traced to the mold. The girl’s mother experienced bouts of pneumonia and bronchitis. Her father suffered gastrointestinal illness and lost 30 pounds.
“They had to redo their house, and they had a dog that died,” Winters said. “This product should not be allowed in Oregon.”
Then she unleashed a bombshell.
The girl is Winters’ granddaughter Whitney McClain, daughter of the senator’s son Bill McClain and his wife, Pam.
This article shows the nature of politics in the context of complex technical issues. Due to a failure of Oregon legislators to understand EIFS (synthetic stucco), or more importantly – how it is installed, they are considering a ban on the use of the product entirely on both residential and commercial projects. As M. Scott Peck would put it, they are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. This legislation is an indictment of the manufacturers of the product, but as the article illustrates, the majority of problems related to EIFS are due to installation. If installed correctly, EIFS products will meet requirements of the International Building Code to prevent water intrusion into habitable spaces. In fact the ICC has to certify all such products to be used in construction and issues mandates regarding proper installation of those products. If the product was defective, would ICC certify it? The problem lies in improper installation.
This should be interesting pending the outcome of the vote in Oregon state….
19 June 2007 | Construction, Construction Defect, Construction and Law, Litigation | Comments
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