CBS
Responce To Alan Golds
September
30, 2002
Mr. Alan Golds
Producer CBS News
524 West 57 Street
New York, New York, 10019-2985
Dear Mr. Golds:
I want to take this opportunity to follow-up on the
story that appeared on the CBS Evening News on Friday,
September 27 2002 Buyer Beware.
Your story included various images of the interior
of the home that focused specifically on water damage
around a skylight in the homes roof. The homeowner
featured in your story, Ms. Navarras, is heard exclaiming,
The house is falling apart. It's rotting from
the outside in. It's literally rotting. You just walk
around the ceiling and find another spot!"
The story goes on to state, At issue is the
siding called exterior insulation and finish systems,
or EIFS.
Mr. Golds, simple logic and common sense dictates
that water damage around a skylight in the homes
roof has absolutely nothing to do with the homes
siding, whether the siding is clad in EIFS, brick,
vinyl or wood. You dont have to be a licensed
engineer to recognize the obviousthat water
runs down from the roof, not up from the side exterior
of the home.
Unfortunately for your viewers, they never heard from
the licensed engineer, Mr. Woods, as to what he considered
to be the actual cause of the water intrusionalthough
it was not lost on us that the water damage in the
wall appeared from the video to be concentrated under
the homes windows.
Also, I must for the record correct one statement
attributed indirectly to Mr. Mault. Your story has
Mr. Mault identifying the real culprit
as contractors who dont know how to properly
install the product. This is not accurate. Mr.
Mault cited contractors who failed to properly install
non-EIFS components such as windows, gutters, doors
and flashings that interface and interact with the
performance of an EIFS system. In fact, when asked
by Ms. Brzezinski So why are these contractors
putting this on wrong?, Mr. Mault responded
Our contractors are not putting it on wrong.
Thats the issue. This is an important
distinction as EIFS trained contractors by and large
do an excellent job of installing EIFS.
Still, despite these issues, I want to thank you for
affording us the opportunity to participate in the
story. As your story does fairly note, EIFS insulation
value, low maintenance costs, and stucco like look,
have made it increasingly popular across the country.
Sincerely,
Steven E. Wachtler
Vice President, Marketing
Courtesy
of Dryvit